With a new-look senior men’s side, the Monash Blues were unable to put all the pieces together in their Division 1 season opener.

The Old Peninsula Pirates finished the match as 42-point winners, at Harry McDonald Oval earlier this month.

After a back-and-forth first half, the Blues were within four points at the main break, but a string of late goals saw the Pirates win 14.21 (105) to 10.3 (63).

The Blues entered the contest as newcomers to the division, having been relegated from Premier C for the first time since 2009.

Monash also had a new coach in Andrew Batten, who coached the Blues Under 19 team last season.

The first quarter began with a heavy breeze towards the Pirates’ goal end, which made it difficult for the Blues to transition out of their defensive half.

But two goals against the run of play for Monash, paired with inaccuracy from the Pirates, kept the Blues within three goals going into quarter time.

The Pirates’ poor kicking in front of goal continued in the second quarter, totalling seven points without a major, while the Blues’ tall forward Mitchell King booted two goals from close range.

Going into half time, the Blues had steadied with three unanswered goals, but the Pirates’ onslaught of points kept them ahead by four.

The Blues remained in the game deep into the third quarter, with goals from debutants Oliver Armstrong and Toby Mew, but two quick Pirates goals in the dying minutes pushed the deficit to 21.

Despite a heroic effort from Monash’s Andre Headberry, who kicked the Blues’ only two goals in the last term, the Pirates’ forward line sealed the victory with five goals for the quarter.

Blues coach Batten was optimistic after the loss, saying that the key matchups were good, but the playing group is still young and has yet to reach their full potential.

“You know a little bit about the players you’re playing against, but not a whole lot,” Batten said.

“The two or three matchups that we went in with, I was pretty happy with, to be honest,” he said.

“You can’t fight fire with fire. So, if I said, ‘Well, go in there and have a stronger focus on our stoppages and get some bigger bodies in there’, they just don’t exist," he said.

“We have to try and play the game on our terms and play to our strengths as much as possible and mitigate and negate their strengths. There’s not much more I would’ve done differently.”

But Batten said "in the end, they had some classy players through the midfield and we’re still gelling as a young team and there wasn’t much we could do about it”.

Headberry and King both finished in the Blues’ best for the match with three goals each, while Bailey Payze was the standout for the Pirates, ending the day with four goals.