FOR the fourth time in its past five games Leitchville-Gunbower won by a triple-figure margin on Saturday – this time against Heathcote – in another one-sided round in the Heathcote District Football-Netball League.
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In their first game for 21 days, the Bombers cruised to a 27.18 (180) to 7.8 (50) win over the Saints at Pigeon Park, with the 130-point margin following victories by 107 points (v LBU), 108 points (v White Hills) and 122 points (v Mount Pleasant) as part of a five-game winning streak.
“There was always a bit of a risk being the first game for 21 days that the boys could be flat, but they were really good,” Bombers coach Matt Hawken said.
“Timmy Lincoln was superb in kicking six off a wing, we were able to dominate the ruck through Cam Ross and Lee Pollock and our midfield of Tom German, Bart Walsh, Daniel Couwenberg and Jackson McEwan gave us a lot of supply.
“And our backline was really good… Ryan Prendergast backed up his inter-league game from last week and Steve Pretty is getting back to his best, so it was a really good performance across the ground.
“I’m really pleased with what we’re putting out at the moment and we didn’t relent all day.”
The Bombers led by 21 points at quarter-time, 62 at half-time and 93 at three quarter-time, before the final margin of 130 – the eighth of 32 games in the HDFNL this season decided by triple figures.
As well as Lincoln booting six goals, the Bombers also had dynamic forward Matt Perri bag six and ruckman/forward Cameron Ross slot four, with the trio among 10 goalkickers.
Among the team for the Bombers was Brady Hore, who made his senior debut.
The defeat was the fourth in a row for Heathcote, with the past two having been by triple figures, having lost by 107 points to Huntly the previous round.
“Leitchville is a very strong side and is going to be figuring very late in the season,” Heathcote coach Paul Kennedy said.
“I thought our boys tried really hard, but we’re just under-manned at the moment. We’re missing five of our key players and we can’t cover them, so that hurts.
“We were a bit under-sized today and Leitchville was able to take full advantage of it.”
For the fourth time in their eight games this season midfielder Jake Condon was named the best for the Saints.
Liam Jacques (two goals) and Marc Millard also battled hard for the Saints, while Rikki Stephens kicked four of their seven goals.
• North Bendigo staved off a gallant challenge from Mount Pleasant to record a 29-point victory at Superior Roofing Oval.
A major boilover looked possible when the Blues trailed by just four points at the 20-minute mark of the final quarter, but the Bulldogs had the answers, kicking the last four goals to win 17.9 (111) to 12.10 (82) – their 15th-straight win over Mount Pleasant.
“We muffed a couple of chances, but overall, the boys did really well against what’s a good team,” Blues coach Derrick Filo said.
“It was a good effort… I couldn’t have asked for much more from them.
“There’s a lot of young fellas in the side, so with where we’re at with a young list, to have our chances in the last quarter was a good effort.”
The standout player on the ground was North Bendigo midfielder Tyson Findlay, who kicked six goals in a top game.
Ryan Alford and Blayne Ryan-Storey were also prominent for the reigning premiers.
Nicholas Grigg was strong up forward for the Blues in bagging seven goals, youngster John Harvey continues to impress, while Jeremy Blencowe held North’s Brady Herdman to three goals and Riley Thiesz kept Sam Barnes to two.
• Colbinabbin won its sixth game in a row, and in doing so handed another heavy loss to White Hills.
The Grasshoppers beat the Demons for the ninth-straight time, 16.9 (105) to 2.6 (18), in slippery conditions at M.J. Morgan Oval.
“I thought we adapted really well to the heavy ground and heavy ball,” Colbinabbin coach Nick Knight said.
“For four quarters our contested footy and pressure was really good.”
Midfielders Cameron Hall (three goals) and Russell Douglas (two goals) both revelled in the conditions, while Tom Hill (two goals) continues to make the most of his new lease on the wing.
White Hills’ two goals were both kicked by Jake Ward – one in the first quarter and one in the third.
Matt Tyrell, the returning Hayden Wright and Liam Ireland were the best for the Demons, who have kicked just three goals in their past two games.
• Huntly gave Elmore an 84-point hiding, winning 18.25 (133) to 7.7 (49) in a result that moved the Hawks back to the top of the ladder.
The Hawks wasted no time in blowing the Bloods away, already leading by 62 points at half-time – the fourth time in their seven games this year they have been at least 50 points up at the main break.
“We treated this as a real danger game on Elmore’s home ground, but it’s probably the best we’ve played in terms of our accountability and the boys were really switched on,” Hawks coach Jamie Hogan said.
“We knew Elmore would be coming for us, but a big focus was to make sure we started well, which we were able to do and were fairly solid all day after that.”
Braidy Dickens, Jacob Greenwood (five goals) and Harry Whitte (three goals) all backed up from inter-league the previous week with strong games for the Hawks, while Steve Kairn held Elmore dangerman Danny Brewster (three goals) in check for most of the match.
The best for the Bloods – whose three-game winning streak ended – were defender Spike Ingley and Matt Gilmour.