Gippsland Times | YARRAM'S experience came to the fore in the Good Friday Easter showdown against neighbour and rival Woodside.
Ironically, it was the Demons' experienced campaigners who crossed over from Woodside, that proved telling in the 85-point thrashing.
The Demons began their North Gippsland football season with a stunning opening half before winning 20.23 (143) to 8.10 (58).
The bookends at either end of the ground, former Wildcats full forward Justin Staley and defender Chris Pettitt ran amok.
Pettitt took control as the general of the back line ably assisted by Ryan Coulthard and Shem Rendell, while Staley was at his best with a seven-goal haul, a number of which came during a blistering opening term.
Yarram began strongly in front of a large crowd at home, kicking the first three majors.
The Wildcats defenders found themselves out-muscled and out-played in their defensive 50 as Staley led strongly to win contest after contest.
Corbin Sutherland looked to get among the goals early, the recipient of a Grif Underwood handpass the small forward went steamrolling into the forward line to hit the post from 40 metres out.
The defensive pressure of the Demons forwards was sublime, an unforced error seeing Staley pounce to put the Demons in front by four straight kicks.
New Woodside coach Daniel Risol wanted more talk from his side, and that's what he got.
A Wildcats goal reeled the margin back to 14 points.
The home side then booted three on the run, Sutherland adding two to his tally with Jarryd Swifts' major on the run extending the margin to 27 points ahead of quarter time.
Strong winds played havoc with shots on goal in the second term. The Demons boasted 12 scoring shots for a return of 5.7 as the home side's inaccuracy prevented the floodgates from opening up.
The Wildcats toiled hard, but their inability to hit targets and lack of options in the forward line proved telling as the contest drew on.
The second half didn't get any easier for the visitors as the Demons peppered away at the goals, registering the first three majors of the third term before a rare mistake by Pettitt resulted in Zac Guttridge recording Woodside's fourth major.
Scoring dried up before a heated altercation which saw Underwood yellow carded out of the contest for 15 minutes, which allowed the Wildcats to score consecutive majors.
Travis Scott made the most of his opportunity scoring from the pocket, followed by a major from Chris Witchell.
The final term honours went the way of the Demons as they added a further five goals.
Gippsland Power squad member Jari McDonald was a stand-out in the Demons engine room.
The pacey midfielder broke the packs time and time again, and when an opportunity in front of goal presented he stood tall.
The Demons leading goal scorer last season, best-on-ground Sutherland, spent most of the contest in the centre of the ground pushing forward to finish the contest with a bag of five majors.
For the visitors, Risol created run and opportunities when they were presented.
Ryan Foat provided a target when he was able to shake his tag and Shane Kilgower showed some flashy passages of play along the wing.
This Saturday, round one will conclude with Churchill hosting Heyfield in the rematch of last year's grand final, Sale City heading to Rosedale, Glengarry hosting Cowwarr and Gormandale at home to Traralgon-Tyers United.
