GISBORNE recorded its sixth consecutive Bendigo Football League victory for 2009 on Saturday with a 39-point win over Strathfieldsaye at the Tannery Lane oval.
The Bulldogs had full control of the match by the half-way mark, leading by more than seven goals on their way to a 13.15 (93) to 8.6 (54) win.
With damaging spearhead Callan Potter well held after quarter-time, Tristan James stepped up with five goals for Gisborne.
The Storm again scored well against a top-three side in the last quarter.
As it had done at home against South Bendigo in round three, Strathfieldsaye had a big final term.
Coach Clint Whitsed bagged two of his side’s four goals as the Storm finished full of running.
Ruckman Jason Duff-Tytler led the way for the Bulldogs early on.
Constantly palming the ball cleverly to ball-carriers Ollie Messaoudi, Luke Power, Casey Summerfield and Damien Slater, Duff-Tytler was the dominant big man.
He booted a long-range second quarter goal as well, using the tricky breeze to perfection.
The gusty, swirling wind blew diagonally across the field periodically, switching to favour the Sheepwash Creek end.
It took Gisborne until just past the 14-minute mark of the opening term to post a major, through the running Messaoudi.
Strathfieldsaye’s Kris Lea and Lachlan Sharp had nailed the first two goals of the day with Sharp’s bobbling, bouncing shot just able to roll through.
Then the Bulldogs started to bite.
Potter booted his match tally of three goals at the Tannery Lane end - the third after the quarter-time siren had sounded.
Brenton Hall then blanketed Potter, with assistance from Rhys Crapper and Dermott Smythe in a busy Storm back six.
But their teammates couldn’t penetrate the Bulldogs’ defence, led by Matt McKenzie, Grant Baseggio, Cameron Medica and the free-running Rodney Sharp.
Apart from Duff-Tytler, the creative Slater and James booted second-term goals to give the Bullogs a big lead by half-time.
Another three Gisborne goals, all slotted by James, handed the Dogs an impassable 53-point three-quarter time lead.
The Storm played the match out strongly and could be pleased by the heartening form shown by on-baller Matthew Patterson and defenders Smythe and Crapper.
Gisborne coach Ty Elliott said it was a little disappointing the way the side had finished the match.
“When there’s an opportunity for us to put our foot down and really dominate a game, we didn’t do that today,’’ Elliott said.
“To the guys’ credit, when the game was there to be won we did that and obviously won.
“But when a game’s there to be really taken advantage of, we aren’t doing that yet.’’Whitsed said he’d spoken to his players at the long break about the necessity to win the second half.
“According to our stats we won the second half and certainly outscored them six goals to four, so that was encouraging,’’ he said.
Whitsed said Crapper’s effort body-on-body with James and ability to “thump the ball clear’’ was top rate.
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