Sometimes, it's just not your day.
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That was definitely the case for the Goulburn Swans when they went down to the Murrumbateman Eagles in round five of the Canberra Times Fourth Grade Men's AFL competition.
The Eagles were too strong in a lot of the marking contests during their 60-27 win at Goodhew Park on Saturday, May 7.
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Swans player coach Simon Treloar said his side got off to the worst possible start, conceding the opening five goals of the match, and at half time, something had to change.
"We were very slow off the blocks," Treloar said.
"We didn't come out switched on the way we would have liked to.
"At the main break, I told the boys to go back to the basics and to want the footy more than the opposition.
"We kicked and hoped for the best a lot of the time."
The half time pump up definitely worked, as the home side came out firing with the opening three goals of the third term to get within a couple of goals.
However, an injury to Swan Buster Strickland caused a lengthy stoppage and stopped most of the momentum his side had.
Going in for the Sherrin, the 17-year-old copped a blow to the head and was sent to Goulburn Base Hospital for concussion and a bit of whiplash.
He was released from Goulburn Base Hospital later that day.
Unlike Buster, the Swans weren't able to recover and the Eagles ran over the top of them.
The Swans seemed to struggle to have even numbers at a lot of the contests and Treloar put that down to team chemistry.
"They seemed to know where they were going, especially in the first half," he said.
For Eagles player coach Brent Fraser, the most pleasing thing was the effort his side showed.
"The boys didn't give up," Fraser said.
"Besides the little lapse at the start of the second half, it was a better fourth quarter overall."
Fraser also said the stoppage came at a good time for his side.
"It's unfortunate when you see injuries like that," he said.
"We don't want to see it, but it did help us."
The Swans go to Canberra to play the Ainslie Tricolours next while the Eagles have a home game against the Southern Cats.
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