THE Bega Devils men’s side suffered its first loss of the year on Sunday.
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A youthful and exuberant Merimbula Grasshoppers outfit upstaged the Bega squad.
It wasn’t a narrow loss either, with the Merimbula side boasting a 6-2 scoreline at the final whistle.
Regular Devils keeper Ben Ubrihien was unable to play on the weekend, forcing field players into the net.
The club usually has Cody Hazelgrove-Danvers as a back, but he was on duty with the Roosters in the rugby league.
The absence forced midfielder Chris Dwyer into the goals in the first half.
However, he said the Bega squad didn’t play its best soccer and was simply outplayed by the Merimbula squad.
“They absolutely hammered us and we were outplayed to tell you the truth,” Dwyer said.
It was a strong showing by some of the young stars for Merimbula that proved the difference.
Quentin led the charge up front to kick three goals, while young Sean Kennedy also wreaked havoc on the Bega defenders.
Dwyer commended the Merimbula squad.
“The results have been against them, but they’re a quality side,” he said.
“Their inexperience means they might not have been playing consistently, but they were a side to be reckoned with [on Sunday].”
The Grasshoppers boast a large number of young players, some fresh out of the under 16s competition.
The loss doesn’t impact Bega’s spot on top of the competition ladder, but may give the club a kick to stay focused.
“You try not to get complacent, but its a big challenge,” Dwyer said.
“Obviously, you never want to lose, but it might give the boys a bit of hunger and proves that if we don’t play well, we’ll lose.”
However, it is the first lapse the Devils have shown in 12 rounds of competition.
A large part of it has been down to coach Jordan Stafford, who works to motivate the squad every week.
Dwyer hoped the loss would see the Bega team refocus and consolidate its run to the finals.
“There is a few games left, hopefully we just get back on track,” he said.