Drouin midfielder Pat McGrath was a star against Bairnsdale on Saturday, combining well with teammates.
By Ken Moore
DROUIN travelled to Bairnsdale on Saturday and came home with an impressive 42-point victory.
The Hawks were forced to fight all the way by the Redlegs, but the league newcomers did not have the forward strike power to hurt the visitors on the scoreboard.
While the final margin was not excessive, playing at an unfamiliar venue and winning all four quarters pleased Hawk insiders.
Fullback Jay Barr, who recently played his 100th game and is coming of age as a footballer, made life tough for key Redlegs forward and captain James Gibbs, whose output may have been impeded by an Achilles injury, that had him enter the game under a big injury cloud.
Daniel Barrand (four goals) and Sam Proctor (three) gelled superbly with midfield dynamos Pat McGrath and Andy Soumilas, who once again were prolific kick winners. Wingman Sean Proctor used the ball constructively and Tasmanian recruit Cam de Gooyer read play well, took some handy marks and chopped off many opposition advances.
Bairnsdale’s momentum was often started by half-backs Luke Dyer, Andrew Nelson and hard-as-nails midfielder Reagan Kyle. Shane Jamieson, in this third game impressed and looks a ready made senior player, Paul Bills did not let up in defence and ruckman Tom Sturgess put in a game display.
After three victories on the trot followed by a draw against Traralgon in round four, the Redlegs’ form has petered out and they have gone winless since.
WONTHAGGI is firmly entrenched in fourth spot after a resounding 65-point victory over Warragul.
The Power’s prime mover was half-back Andrew Seccull, who finished in the double figures for marks, and counter-attacked with real intent.
Ruck-rover Lucas White, wingman Phil Solohub, coach Leigh McDonald and former coach Paul Brosnan were all catalysts behind the wave after wave of forward thrusts and the Gulls found Matt Kremmer (three goals) a hard man to stop across the forward line.
Warragul was overshadowed in all departments and struggled to match the superior body strength of the visitors.
Brad Nott used his experience to good effect behind the centreline and through the middle of the ground and was lent good support by Jason Hibbs, Ben Drew and Josh Lea.
Tom Carey stood firm in the last line of defence and ruckman Matt Gray was his irrepressible self. Warragul is yet to win a game and perhaps its best chance to chalk up a maiden victory is in round 11 when it hosts the injury-riddled Morwell in its form slump.
TRARALGON jumped to top of the ladder after an entertaining 15-point victory over Sale. In front of a big crowd and on a windy day, the game spawned 28 goals and had nine lead changes before the Maroons finished a mite stronger with a five-goal-to-two final term.
Dan McKenna (four goals) was a focal target for the Maroons and his job was made a trifle easier in the second quarter when his direct opponent John Gooch, who had held him to only one kick, hobbled from the field with a hamstring injury.
Coach Josh Jennings showed he had an eye for goal, slotting through four and Nick Quenault (three) cut a swathe through the Sale defence in the last quarter when the game was on the line.
Jackson Hall and Jordan Symons played an active midfield role and rebounders Jamie Aitken and Leigh Cummins set up many attacks from defence.
The experienced Sale trio of Kane Fraser (three goals), Kane Martin and Taylor Collins troubled the Maroons backs, ruck-rover Chris Laverty had a profitable game and Jamie Sweeney blocked quite a few menacing attacks.
Missing half a dozen regular players, Sale has now lost three games in row and its depth is being tested.
MAFFRA made short work of an undermanned Morwell, winning by 99 points. The Tigers had no answer for the classy two-pronged attack of Brent Connolly (six goals) and Daniel Stubbe (five). Jason Langshaw, despite having played an entire game in the reserves, was selected on the interchange bench and helped himself to three goals from limited opportunities.
Sam Walker gained plenty of metres running the ball from behind the centre, central defender Matt Johnston did not budge when the ball came his way and for the fourth consecutive week Kelvin Porter sourced over 40 disposals.
Not for the first time this season, emerging star Jack Brown was by a long way Morwell’s best defender. Rob Michaelides, Adam Bailey and Joel Soutar garnered plenty of the ball and plucky back pocket Devon Soutar stuck to his task all afternoon.
LEONGATHA kept its push for a top five position going after a comprehensive home-ground 33-point victory over Moe in damp conditions and in a game best described as a hard slog.
Midfielders Dylan Westaway, Beau Vernon, Julian Stone and Tom Marriot pumped the ball forward with regular monotony, energetic half-back Jack Hughes and key defender Ben Geitz seldom put a toe out of line and ruckman Chris Rump worked tirelessly.
Unusually, despite the win, the Parrots lost a position on the table, dropping from fifth to sixth.
Moe squandered many opportunities when it controlled play in the first quarter, kicking only one goal from six scoring attempts otherwise it may have stayed in the game a lot longer.
Gun recruit Ryan Donaldson was the main culprit, kicking three behinds in the opening term. As usual midfielder Gary Blandford and half-back Peter Ainsworth gave it their all while tall timber Dan Halstead and Chris Hancock did surprisingly well in conditions that did the big men no favours.
ROUND 10 TIPS:
BAIRNSDALE v Warragul
Morwell v WONTHAGGI
Sale v MAFFRA (Sunday)
LEONGATHA v Traralgon
Moe v DROUIN
