By Ken Moore
NAR Nar Goon was alight early against Bunyip and raced to a fivegoal lead with Scott Murphy providing a target, slotting through three firsthalf goals. But the Bulldogs rallied and hit back hard in the second half to run away with a 67point victory. Bulldog assistant coach Ryan Ablett proved almost unstoppable with 11 goals but soured the performance with 11 behinds. After halftime the Bulldogs dominated thanks to Peter Davenport, who hurled himself into the fray and had able midfield support from Clint Meyer, Aaron Henwood and Troy Holmes. For the Goon, onballers Luke Dore and Matt Wade won plenty of disposals, Craig Lewis provided stoic defence and ruckman Dave Johnston battled hard and made his presence felt on debut.
Longwarry was made to fight all the way against Ellinbank for a 22point victory. After taking a lead into the second half the Eagles kicked poorly in the third quarter, missing four set shots that proved costly. Crow sharpshooter Glenn Browney was the star for the Crows, notching nine goals to reach his 100th for the season. Browney led and marked strongly, treating spectators to six firstquarter goals and three in the last to reach the magical threefigure milestone. Gun Crow midfielders Tye Holland (40 possessions) and Matt Campbell (20 secondhalf kicks) dominated after the main break. The Bankers’ competitiveness was largely due to three firsthalf majors by Jason Hill and drive from centreman Mark Johnston. Defenders Neil Parke, Peter Joyce and wingman Ash Wallace all put in good showings. Statistically, the Eagles can still make the finals but, being six points in arrears of Kooweerup and with games against Bunyip and Nyora, its chances are remote.
Catani thumped NilmaDarnum by 268 points. Burly Blues forward Owen Fitzpatrick used his body strength to good advantage to steer home 11 goals despite being rested in the last quarter. Regular defender Antonio Benvenuto enjoyed the freedom of the forward line and got into the act with six goals. Such was Catani’s dominance, 14 players put their names on the goal sheet. Ren Wyatt tried hard in the ruck for the Bombers and Shane Youngman never relented midfield. NilmaDarnum struggled from the outset with injuries and unavailability that meant six reserve players had to double up and play in the seniors and after quartertime the Bombers had no run in their legs.
Kooweerup returned to form with an 81point victory over Lang Lang. Demon assistant coach Scott Morrison underlined his status as one of the leading players in the competition with a splendid 11goal performance. Midfielders Chris Stanley, Gavin Marusic and Peter Doll all cashed in on the feed from ruckman Adam Biszko and Ben Miller offered plenty of drive off the halfback flank. For Lang Lang, utility Kurt Batt won kicks all over the field, Daniel Barwick did well on Doll in the first half and captaincoach Troy Datsun managed to curb Demon playmaker Rhys Morgan’s usual dominance.
Fuelled by seven goals by Rohan Best, Poowong staged a comeback 46point victory over Warragul Industrials. The Magpies had the jitters early and trailed by 28 points at the first break but from then worked their way back into the game. Poowong hit the front in the third quarter and never looked back. Veteran Matt Joseph shared the limelight with Best to guide through five majors and the onball division of Matt and Luke James thrust the ball forward all game. The Dusties were well served by ruckman Gerard Bongiorno, utility Dave Bracken, defenders Matthew Willis and Chris Ostojic and rover Nathan Vanderplight.
Buln Buln’s finals hopes were dashed after it suffered an unexpected 25point loss to NeerimNeerim South. The Cats were six goals down in the second term but did an aboutturn, ramming on 11 unanswered goals to set up victory. The Lyrebirds struggled to contain Paul Whelan who notched eight goals, Keane Bannister and Damien Rhind shared the ruck duties and both instigated plenty of drive. Danny Sheehan did well on Mick Baker, who played his 302nd game for the Lyrebirds, a club record and Gade Marsden and Steve McGillivray both provided solid defence. Buln Buln captain coach Brent Eastwell was at his ballgetting best but, aside from halfback Joel Ferguson, Dave Worrall, ruckman Brad Peters, wingman Dean Bramstedt and Dale Brew in his 100th game, the Lyrebirds had many players down on form.
