Redland Bombers coach Greg Seton-Lonsdale has fired a parting shot at the ACT government, questioning the early closure of Kippax Oval for Sunday and the postponement of the NEAFL clash between Belconnen and Eastlake until round 16.
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His Bombers had just completed a slick 38-point victory over Ainslie on Saturday, 16.12 (108) to 10.10 (70), on an Alan Ray Oval that barely had a blade of grass out of place despite Friday's rain.
There was anger at clubland at the early closure of Kippax, with many thinking it could have been delayed until Sunday before deciding whether to pull the pin.
Seton-Lonsdale echoed that sentiment following the Bombers' impressive win.
They burst out of the blocks to a commanding 23-point lead at quarter-time, before the Tricolours slowly worked their way back into the game.
A Nick Salter goal early in the final quarter put Ainslie two points up, but then Redland responded in emphatic fashion with six unanswered goals to run away with the game.
Former Richmond forward Cleve Hughes kicked five goals for the visitors, with Daniel Dzufer (three goals) and Rhys Estall (three) also chipping in.
Despite the reasonably comfortable win, Seton-Lonsdale still backed Ainslie to be a contender late into the season.
"It was good to play, look at it now and they should be playing tomorrow," Seton-Lonsdale said.
"I was [surprised they postponed the other game], to be honest.
"I rang up Ainslie about 12pm because we were boarding at 1.30pm, 'Are we still on?', because I heard they'd just cancelled everything in Canberra and we still weren't sure when we got here."
Ainslie coach Chris Rourke said they were beaten by a better team as his side ran out of legs in the final quarter.
Already missing Nic Paine (hamstring) and Jason Fleming (work), they lost forward Michael Lawless (shoulder) in the opening quarter.
There was an outside chance Paine would return for next week's game against Eastlake.
"[Redland are] very polished, very structured and very fit. They've got some really good players," Rourke said.
"[But] they're not supermen. We've been told they're going to be fantastic and I thought we took it up to them at times. We just ran out of legs."
Round two will conclude with the Queanbeyan-Sydney Uni clash at Queanbeyan on Sunday at 12pm.
NEAFL ROUND TWO
AINSLIE 1.3 3.7 9.9 10.10 (70)
REDLAND 5.2 7.5 10.8 16.12 (108)
Goals - Ainslie: N. Salter 2, I. Lawless 2, N. Heyne 2, L. O'Neill , C. Barrie, E. Stone, M. Lawless; Redland: C. Hughes 5, R. Estall 3, D. Dzufer 3, B. Passfield, J. Smith, M. Thomson, L. Rogerson, P. Carse.
Best - Ainslie: A. Harris, S. Ellis, A. Vandenberg, J. Iudica, M. Mulroney, D. Bowles; Redland: A. Smith, D. Dzufer, B. Passfield, L. Rogerson, A. Williams, J. Smith.
