Another month down in the Bendigo Football League. Luke West takes a look at what happened during May.
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BEST PERFORMED TEAM: A flawless month again from the ladder-leading Sandhurst, which went through May 4-0.
Two of the Dragons' victories were by more than 100 points, while they also knocked over three teams that were all sitting in the top five when they played them - Kangaroo Flat, Gisborne and Golden Square.
The Dragons kicked the highest score of the season so far with their 30.19 (199) against Castlemaine in round six.
Strathfieldsaye also rolled through May unbeaten, with the closest any team got to the Storm the 33 points Gisborne was beaten by last Saturday.
May was also a positive month for Kyneton, with the Tigers the third-ranked team behind the Dragons and Storm the past four rounds.
The Tigers won three of their four May games - two by single-figure margins - including their first triumph over Golden Square since 2005 in round five.
MONTH TO FORGET: It was a challenging month for Kangaroo Flat after its solid start to the season.
After being ranked No.4 in April, the Roos won just one game in May, which has cost them their position in the top five.
Two of the Roos’ losses were 107-point hammerings against pace-setters Strathfieldsaye and Sandhurst.
After it was ranked No.2 in April, Gisborne dropped to No.6 in May on the back of consecutive losses to Sandhurst and Strathfieldsaye.
Maryborough endured another winless month, but almost pulled off one of the upsets of the season against Eaglehawk last Saturday before going down by nine points.
GAME OF THE MONTH: You could take your pick out of any of last weekend’s single-figure thrillers.
From a pure entertainment point of view, Kangaroo Flat and Kyneton provided a free-flowing spectacle last Saturday in their 37-goal shootout that the Tigers won 19.12 (126) to 18.15 (123) at Beck Legal Oval.
At the same time over at the QEO, Sandhurst and Golden Square played out an absolute belter in a more defensive game.
It was a hard and tough game played at a finals-type intensity, with the Dragons kicking the last two goals of the match to win 12.17 (89) to 13.2 (80).
And over at Canterbury Park, barely a kick separated Eaglehawk and Maryborough all day in what was a game the Hawks won by nine points, 13.12 (90) to 12.9 (81).
I give the nod to the Sandhurst-Golden Square game as the pick of the contests in May.
Special mention also to Kyneton’s seven-point win over Golden Square on May 3 for the accompanying storyline of the club that didn’t field a senior team last year beating the five-time reigning premiers.
The average winning margin in May games was 58 points.
PLAYERS OF THE MONTH:
Castlemaine: Jarryd Graham.
Eaglehawk: Glenn Daly.
Gisborne: Shannon Greetham.
Golden Square: Jon Coe.
Kangaroo Flat: James Saville.
Kyneton: Ryan Carafa.
Maryborough: Tyson MacIlwain.
Sandhurst: Codie Price.
South Bendigo: Daniel Frew.
Strathfieldsaye: Stephen Milne.
CLUB-BY-CLUB RESULTS:
CASTLEMAINE: lt Eaglehawk by 110, lt Sandhurst by 151, lt Kyneton by 36, d South Bendigo by 41.
EAGLEHAWK: d Castlemaine by 110, lt Gisborne by 16, lt Golden Square by 69, d Maryborough by 9.
GISBORNE: d South Bendigo by 67, d Eaglehawk by 16, lt Sandhurst by 73, lt Strathfieldsaye by 33.
GOLDEN SQUARE: lt Kyneton by 7, d Maryborough by 51, d Eaglehawk by 69, lt Sandhurst by 9.
KANGAROO FLAT: lt Sandhurst by 107, d South Bendigo by 44, lt Strathfieldsaye by 107, lt Kyneton by 3.
KYNETON: d Golden Square by 7, lt Strathfieldsaye by 125, d Castlemaine by 36, d Kangaroo Flat by 3.
MARYBOROUGH: lt Strathfieldsaye by 78, lt Golden Square by 51, lt South Bendigo by 21, lt Eaglehawk by 9.
SANDHURST: d Kangaroo Flat by 107, d Castlemaine by 151, d Gisborne by 73, d Golden Square by 9.
SOUTH BENDIGO: lt Gisborne by 67, lt Kangaroo Flat by 44, d Maryborough by 21, lt Castlemaine by 41.
STRATHFIELDSAYE: d Maryborough by 78, d Kyneton by 125, d Kangaroo Flat by 107, d Gisborne by 33.
MAY LADDER:
1. Sandhurst 16 pts, 253.8%
2. Strathfieldsaye 16 pts, 244.7%
3. Kyneton 12 pts, 81.8%
4. Golden Square 8 pts 139.0%
5. Eaglehawk 8 pts, 110.5%
6. Gisborne 8 pts, 93.8%
7. South Bendigo 4 pts, 64.8%
8. Kangaroo Flat 4 pts, 62.7%
9. Castlemaine 4 pts, 50.7%
10. Maryborough 0 pts, 63.3%
MAY GOALKICKERS:
Stephen Milne (Strath) 23
Sean Williams (Ehk) 18
Matthew Bond (Mary) 15
Cameron Rinaldi (KF) 14
Mitch Dole (Sand) 13
Ben Weightman (Kyn) 12
Ryan Haythorpe (Sand) 12
Corey Jones GS) 11
Josh Whelan (SB) 11
Lachlan Ross (Sand) 10
Ryan Maldenis (Sand) 10
