GOLDEN Square yesterday inflicted Gisborne’s heaviest defeat in the Bendigo Bank Bendigo Football League since 2001.
Playing at Country Vet Oval, Golden Square proved far too good for Gisborne, winning all four quarters in a comprehensive 18.11 (119) to 11.4 (70) victory.
The 49-point margin was Gisborne’s biggest defeat since it lost to Golden Square by 73 points in round 18, 2001.
The loss was Gisborne’s first of the season, with the result leaving a logjam at the top of the ladder.
After eight rounds, top-three sides South Bendigo, Gisborne and Golden Square all boast 7-1 records, with a two-game break to fourth-placed Kangaroo Flat.
“We thought one of the areas we knew we would have to match Gisborne in is being more competitive and physical than what we have been,” Golden Square coach Mark Adamson said.
“I think we did that today; we at least matched them, and at the times when we had the opportunity to run and move the ball we did that well.”
Golden Square continued its trend this year of starting games well, holding a 13-point advantage at quarter-time.
“I wanted us to set the tone right from the start and I certainly think the guys did that,” Adamson said.
The victory has come at a cost, though, for Golden Square, with Nick Carter and Jason Griffin both suffering hamstring injuries.
Gisborne coach Ty Elliott said his side was outclassed by “a better” Golden Square, which beat its Bulldogs’ namesakes for the third time in their past four meetings.
“We were beaten by a better side on the day,” Elliott said.
“Obviously, Golden Square set themselves for this; they have a really good mix of players and I thought their ball-use was better today than ours.
“We just stopped in the last quarter, but they continued to run and got the ascendancy and blew us away, which was disappointing.
“Full credit to Golden Square, and we now have to go away and work on the things we need to work on. We look forward to meeting them later in the year.”
Golden Square made the perfect start to the game, with Shaun Young kicking the first of his three goals just 24 seconds into the match.
Inside the first 19 minutes, Golden Square had built a 19-point lead as it led 4.1 to 1.0.
Two goals in the space of three minutes to the returning Luke Saunders and Darren Farrugia had Gisborne back within seven points, before a goal after the siren to 100-gamer Aaron Hawkins handed Golden Square a 13-point lead at quarter-time.
There was plenty of niggle in the contest right from the outset, and it remained a fiery battle between the two teams.
Gisborne responded to the Golden Square challenge early in the second quarter.
Gisborne kicked the first three goals of the quarter through Farrugia, Callan Potter and captain Anthony Belcher to lead by four points at the 15-minute mark.
However, when the strong-marking Nick Carter kicked his second goal at the 20-minute mark, Golden Square led by two points and wouldn’t surrender the advantage for the rest of the match.
Golden Square kicked the last three goals of the second term - two to Carter and one to the talented Callum Sharp - to lead by 14 points at half-time.
It could have been more though, with Sharp and Matthew Klein-Breteler both kicking set shots from 40m out on the full in the last minute.
Gisborne again challenged early in the third quarter, having the first four scoring shots for a return of 1.3, which cut the margin to five points.
But over the last 49 minutes of the match, it became one-way traffic as Golden Square soaked up the Gisborne challenge and then ran away with the match, kicking a further 10.9 to 4.1 to win in what became a blowout.
For the second week in a row, Hawkins starred from half-back for Square in his milestone game.
Matt O’Toole presented well across half-forward, the pacy Klein-Breteler was lively and kicked the goal of the day late in the final quarter, while Carter (four goals) before injured, and ruckman David McMeekin also stood out.
For Gisborne, Ollie Messaoudi battled bravely in the midfield, Farrugia kicked five of his side’s 11 goals, Tom May was tireless, and Daniel Favaro worked hard to restrict the influence of Golden Square speedster Mark Lloyd.
In his return, Saunders took four marks, kicked one goal, and suffered a major gash to his knee.
Match statistics:Centre breaks: Golden Square 14; Gisborne 18.
Inside 50s: Golden Square 47; Gisborne 40.
Stoppage clearances: Golden Square 22; Gisborne 26.
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