A SPIRITED second half comeback wasn’t enough for the Beechworth Bushrangers, who suffered their first loss of the 2023 season to Yackandandah 12.7 (79) to 9.15 (69).

The Roos were on fire from the opening bounce in front of a healthy home crowd at Butson Park, restricting the Bushrangers to just the solitary goal in the first half to take a 29 point lead at the main break.

Beechworth looked to have come out of the sheds a different side, slashing the lead to 16 points at three quarter time behind the performances through the middle of Liam Stephens, Tristan Stead, Brent Ryan and Kayde Surrey, who was swung forward after half time.

The Bushies have made a habit of leaving their best football until the last quarter of games this season and Saturday was no exception, as spearhead Lachie Armstrong slotted a second fourth quarter goal midway through the term to put the Bushies in front for the first time in the match.

Yackandandah showed nerves of steel to kick the last two goals of the game and run out 10 point winners and jump the Bushies into second on the ladder.

Co-coach Tom Cartledge said his side took some time to adjust to the 10 changes made from their win against Wahgunyah last week which contributed to the slow start.

“We welcomed a few blokes back into the senior side and that was always going to be a challenge, no matter how good of a player they are you’ve still got to come back into the team and gel and that trust has to be built again,” he said.

“Yack started very well, they were there to play and we can’t take anything away from them, they played a really good first half and we were below par.

“They’re very good on the ground; they were quite quick and spread fast out of the contest and they’ve got some really good users of the footy.

“When you combine those things and when you’re a couple of steps off the pace, it doesn’t take much to be exposed and I’d say that’s where they had it over us.”

Going into the league-wide bye the Bushies fell from top spot to third on the ladder.

Following the bye Beechworth will have an immediate chance to make amends playing new ladder leader Kiewa Sandy Creek at Baarmutha Park, with an opportunity to inflict the Hawks’ first loss of the season.

Cartledge said his side will take a lot of confidence out of the way they finished against the Roos going forward as they look to rejuvenate over the next week.

“Even though it wasn’t going our way there were still lots of things we were doing right, we just had to change the dynamics of it a bit,” he said.

“We’re certainly pleased with the start [of the season] but we’ll be looking to take another scalp next weekend, it’s all well and good to beat the sides you think you can beat, but it’s the ones that are the challenging wins that really set you up for later in the year when you’re looking to pinch a few games.

“We don’t need to change too much, we just need to remember every team is there to play and they’re looking to knock us off as much as we’re looking to knock them off so you can’t take anyone lightly.”