The Sea Eagles travelled to Narooma's Bill Smythe Memorial Oval for the opening round of the shortened Sapphire Coast AFL season, but the Lions kicked clear of their opponents in the later stages of play to win 11-13-79 to 7-7-49.

The contest began evenly, but slowly with both clubs returning from an extended stay of play with both teams trading points on the scoreboard throughout the opening two quarters.

By the main break the Sea Eagles were just a couple of points adrift of the home outfit, but the Lions were able to fire a flurry of quick goals late in the piece to extend the margin.

The Sea Eagles were hindered by an early knee injury to Luke Taylor who had been among the best on ground, providing a neat six-pointer before being sidelined for a quarter.

However, the visitors stayed competitive with the Lions with Louis Coulton providing some of his high-flying antics to kick two goals for the club.

Jordan and Lachlan Rettke also found themselves in the fray with one major each, with strong forward Adam Blacka providing the last six-pointer for the Eagles.

On the opposite end of the field it was Narooma bolters Jai Reed and Luke Talty providing the goods as the pair bagged four goals apiece, which provided the winning margin for the Lions.

It wasn't quite the result coach Tom Lipsham was looking for, but the club still got behind him for his 100^th senior game with players linking up to carry him from the field on Saturday.

The Eagles had a bye in other grades, but their under 14s got a run and carded a strong result over Moruya/Broulee at Moruya's Gundary Oval on Saturday.

The Eagles soared to a 14-7-91 win over the Giants with 3-1-19.

George Stratourides, Toby Parker and Rhylan Russell each bagged three goals to put the junior Eagles well in front.

In other matches, the Merimbula Diggers and Pambula Panthers faced off in a local derby for the league's maiden night game under lights at Berrambool Oval on Friday night.

In cool, but clear conditions, play began clustered and a little scrappy in the opening minutes before both clubs started finding their range.

The Diggers began opening up a lead with some dominant marking displays in the air, while Will Stroud and Will Regan showed some accuracy with the boot to curl in goals from any angle.

Stroud nabbed three off the boot, while Regan kicked two, with Jono Di-donato providing a pair for Pambula at the opposite end.

Both seniors games were well attended over the weekend with large crowds enjoying the opening round, while the night game spectators were treated to a few laughs when a pair of kangaroos bounded around the ground in the opening quarter.

The Bermagui Breakers and Eden Whalers had wins in the reserve grade and women's fixtures, with Pambula also winning its women's clash.