RFNL Australian rules football
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A BARNSTORMING opening half set up Leeton-Whitton's 32-point victory over Narrandera at Narrandera Sportsground on Saturday evening.
The Crows kicked off the 2014 season on a positive note under lights, booting 11 goals to two by half-time and going on to down the Eagles 14.11 (95) to 9.9 (63).
While Narrandera did fight back, kicking seven goals to three in the second half, the visitors had done enough.
It was the nimble Crows' mobility and pace set the tone for the first half, although with moisture drawn to the surface by the cooler night air, ground conditions became heavy in the second and allowed Narrandera to gain some leverage.
Coach Dave Meline said it was nice to get a win first up.
"Our first half, it was our ball use and options," Meline said.
"We've been training pretty hard on a fairly mobile game plan and we carried it out to a tee. I couldn't be critical at all in the first half.
"Our options and foot passing were excellent, we rarely missed a target.
However, with conditions changing after the sun went down, the Crows went away from the game plan.
"The ground was pretty heavy," Meline said.
"It was good enough in the first half, but water started coming up out of the ground.
"It turned into a real arm wrestle and it played into their hands.
"They're a big side and it wasn't conducive to the way we played in the first half.
"But we had done enough damage to get us across the line."
The main issue was having the confidence to stick to the game plan devised by Meline after the long break.
"We didn't help our cause through our options," he said.
"(Narrandera) were physical and we went away from even trying what we were doing in the first half."
Niggle between players all day resulted in five yellow cards - three for Narrandera players and two for Leeton-Whitton, with Bryce O'Garey and Ben Curley in the bin at the same time.
Lachlan O'Callaghan and Calum Garvey kicked three goals each for the Crows, while Curley and Sean Browning kicked two each.
Curley was a standout in his rebounding defender role, while Mason Dryburgh in the ruck was also important.
The Crows fielded six debutantes - including five 16-year-olds - and all showed they were ready for senior football; Jacob Young kicked a goal, as did Jayden Lehman, who was listed among the Crows' best, alongside Lucas Meline.
"There was no one that didn't contribute," coach Meline said.