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IT hasn't taken long for Drysdale coach John Fitzgerald to make his mark on the Bellarine Football League.
The experienced taskmaster is a veteran of grand finals in charge of Bell Park in the GFL.
But Saturday's loss to Queenscliff was a reminder that you can't win them all.
At every break, although his side was behind on the scoreboard, Fitzgerald remained positive.
The Hawks, gallant in defeat, were simply outclassed by a much better side.
"I would have taken the first quarter, I probably would have taken (the score at) half-time," Fitzgerald said
"We wanted to just stay in the game with them for as long as we could, but their third quarter was just fantastic and blew us out of the water.
"We certainly didn't use the football very well, but I think you've got to give Queenscliff a fair bit of credit; their midfield pressure was excellent all day.
"They lifted a cog on the second semi-final."
Ever a grounded man, Fitzgerald maintained a rational approach in the lead-up to the match.
"There's no way we were overconfident or thinking we were right because we won the second semi-final," Fitzgerald said.
"They've won back-to-back flags and were undefeated for the year, so we were under no illusions about what was required.
"We just didn't take chances.
"We were sort of juggling all day on just trying to get their talls under control.
"Their height was an issue for us; we're not a tall team.
"At three-quarter-time we still thought it was within our range of scoring, that if we could come home strong then we'd be in the mix, but we just missed a couple of shots." Captain Reece Holwell solidified his teammates in a stirring speech after the match.
Holwell implored the players to stick together.
