SFL live stream: Improved Claremont take on speedy Brighton in big round three match-up

Brighton showed their class late as the wheels spectacularly fell off Claremont’s bid for two wins in a row to start the new SFL season. Catch the REPLAYS of the big doubleheader.

After keeping pace with Brighton for three quarters of the match, the Claremont wheels fell off spectacularly in the final stages as the Robins grabbed an impressive 46-point SFL round two victory.

Just three points separated the teams at three-quarter time - 39-36 - but Claremont hardly troubled the scoreboard again, kicking just two behinds as Brighton piled on 45 points to win 84-38.

Meanwhile, Claremont downed Brighton by 70 points to win the late SFLW contest. See the REPLAY below.

PREVIEW

A resurgent Claremont sees Saturday’s clash with Brighton as an early-season litmus test of just how far they have progressed following some lean years at Abbotsfield Park.

On the back of just two wins last year, the Pies put the SFL on notice in Round 1 with a 106-point drubbing of New Norfolk at Boyer Oval.

Following a Round 2 bye, Claremont will now look to equal last year’s win tally in as many games as they travels to Pontville on Saturday seeking revenge on the fleet-footed Robins.

KommunityTV is LIVE STREAMING both the seniors and women’s encounters from 2pm on Saturday. See the schedule below.

Star Claremont onballer Marty Allison said the club was buoyant about their prospects this season following its big opening round win over the Eagles.

“It definitely gave us confidence,” Allison said.

“The first half wasn’t the best we could have played, but the second half was really pleasing and a good win like that definitely gives a group a lot of confidence.

Claremont skipper Marty Allison with his Brighton counterpart Samuel Lewis-Johnson.

“There’s a big buzz around Claremont now. Last year and the year before was a struggle, but we’ve added some quality players and the group is really tight. We have some good chemistry going and good training numbers.

“It’s really exciting and the group’s age bracket is at a good spot as I’m probably the second oldest at 30, so we’re in a good position.”

Allison said the Pies would know much more about where they sit in the SFL hierarchy following Saturday’s matchup with the improving Robins.

“It’s really hard to gauge (where we sit) but obviously we had that one game against New Norfolk and it was a pretty solid win in the wet,” he said.

“We’ve looked at other results and Brighton played New Norfolk as well with a similar result, so it’s pretty hard to gauge at this stage of the year, but we are looking forward to the game on Saturday.

“They’re a good young team and have some quality players. They beat us twice last year so we really want to get one back on them.

“It’s a challenge for us and we are really looking forward to going to their home ground and creating our own atmosphere. We’ll really see where we are at after this game.”

Jye Bearman has moved to Claremont.

The gun midfielder said the formula to taking down Brighton was to bully them on the inside in order to take away their trademark speed outside of the contest.

“Our strength is obviously our physicality at the footy and we’ve always been strong over the ball,” he said.

“We learnt a lot last year when we played Brighton, we let them run at their home ground and they beat us by 60-70 points, but then at home we were a lot harder and first to the footy, which was a closer game.

“It’ll be our game plan again on Saturday to be first to the footy and really use our mature bodies against their young guys. If you’re getting in there first and not letting them spread it goes a long way to stopping their pace.”

While he didn’t want to get ahead of himself, Allison said the offseason additions of Jye Bearman, Kobey Phillips, Keren and Dylan Howlett, Jye County, and Dylan Huxley, had the Pies hopeful of being part of September action in 2023.

“We haven’t spoken about finals but obviously last year we only had the two wins for the year, so we’re continually trying to improve. We’ve added some quality players to our list and, if we can continue to improve, we’ll hopefully look at playing some finals footy.”