AFL Central West: Bathurst Giants suffer first men's tier one loss of the season

While Giants had the lead at two and three quarter time, they were out kicked four goals to one in the final quarter, going down 12-11-83 to 10-6-66 at George Park 1.

Kennedy said he'll look towards training this week to improve ahead of this Saturday's match against Orange Tigers.

"It was a pretty good game. It was a pit scrappy in parts but for us to match with them and only go down by about three straight kicks in the end, it was a good result," he said.

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"We've got some stuff to work on. It was probably wasn't our best performance. We were quite scrappy around the ground and we didn't perform to the standard we've set for ourselves.

Even though Giants' undefeated start to the season has come to an end, Kennedy has been pleased with how his team has played in 2021, considering a number of injuries in the team.

"I've been really impressed with the team. We're still building and we've got new guys coming into the team," he said.

"We're still working on combinations and we've had some significant injuries. We've got Nic Broes to come back after rib damage and Luke Macauley after a broken arm.

"Josh Broes is having a shoulder reconstruction and we've still got Jack Goodsell, our number one ruckman to come back.

"I'm not making excuses about injuries playing a significant role, but once you put those names into the side and throw in Chad Monaghan, who was out on Saturday through illness, they might've made a difference.

"But at the end of the day, you play with the players you have."

The loss sees Giants go down to second place on percentage.

The Bathurst Panthers players' player award went to Mitch Taylor, while the Zambrero coach's player went to Leigh Monaghan.

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