TEN MINUTES into Bears Lagoon Serpentine’s clash with Inglewood and gun Bears full-forward Josh Mellington had four goals on the board. It seemed a case of how many Mellington and how far Serp?
In the end, it was 10 goals to the former Fremantle Docker, and a comfortable 58-point win to the Bears, but the Blues managed to put the poor start behind them and compete bravely against the odds.
Cody Stobaus initially had the unenviable job of standing against Mellington, who had kicked 10 a week earlier against last season’s runners-up Pyramid Hill.
Mellington proved too strong and too canny for Stobaus, using his body brilliantly to work his opponent under the ball, and playing on consistently while the defender was off balance.
His preference for snapping across his body on his left foot paid dividends early.
Despite his first-quarter haul, Mellington was frustrated by the Bears’ delivery into the forward line, and made his view clear to the bench, demanding longer and quicker entries inside 50.
Inglewood switched the taller Will Allen into Mellington after the first four-goal onslaught, and he managed to subdue the forward’s influence for the rest of the game.
Allen took advantage of Mellington’s habit of retreating to the back of packs competing for a mark – one man’s “cheapies out the back” is another man’s good reading of the play – and defended well.
Stobaus, meanwhile, was given a free role on the backline after half-time, and he dropped into the hole in front of Mellington to repeatedly stymie the Serp star’s leads as well as marking strongly to repel attacks.
It took until the third quarter, in which the Bears kicked five goals to one, for the match to be largely decided, and the final term saw only one goal scored by the winners.
The Bears will put plenty of sides to the sword this season, but Inglewood suggested in its first match of the season it would be competitive with the better teams.
The victors took home the Bonnie Ward Cup, which has been competed for by the two teams since 2001, named in memory of long-serving Inglewood official Margaret “Bonnie” Ward.
Mellington was the Bears best player, while ruckman Justin Laird gave his midfield first use of the ball throughout. Captain Charlie Gadsden, onballer Doolan Nihill and Josh Taig also had strong games. 
Allen and Stobaus ended up among the Blues’ best, along with Mitchell Conlan, Lachlan Ford and Liam Marciano.
Bears Lagoon Serpentine faces Newbridge in round three, while Inglewood takes on neighbours Bridgewater and star forward Lachlan Sharp. Another interesting round on the horizon.