GOLDEN Square romped home to their sixth consecutive victory of the year on Saturday extending an unbeaten record over Eaglehawk to three complete seasons.
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On their own deck at Canterbury Park the Hawks hardly troubled the scoreboard operators, booting just five majors for the day.
By contrast, key Bulldog forward Dylan Johnstone virtually outscored Eaglehawk on his own.
He nailed six goals, five of them in the first half, and took a turn in the ruck figuring from time to time in the Dogs’ defensive end clearing moves.
Co-captain Jack Geary was at his creative best for the Square setting up countless forward moves in the 16.13 (109) to 5.7 (37) whitewash.
The signs that a big win was coming was clear by quarter-time.
Seven scoring shots to two, against the breeze, assisted the Square to a 20-point first change lead.
With Johnstone on fire in the front half - he nailed the match’s first three goals - the Square defenders also played their part.
Key backmen Brayden Dorrington and Dale Young, backed up by Chris Ryan and John Coe, shut down the Hawk attack.
Only Eaglehawk on-baller Ben McPhee was able to break the defensive screen. He finished the match with three goals as Young nullified Matt Gretgrix while co-captain Dorrington constantly created the overlap to start forward thrusts from half-back.
Four more goals in each of the second and third terms blew Square’s lead out to 51 points by the last change.
Watching Geary at work was a delight. He twisted and turned to avoid tackles and even when in the clutches of an Eaglehawk opponent was still able to fire out a crisp handpass. And his disposal by foot was as clean as ever.
Gretgrix finally got his one and only major of the day when he marked 35m out from the Simpson’s Road end, deep into time-on in the third term.
Then another four Square goals in the final quarter again shut Eaglehawk out. Johnstone nailed his sixth major with an around-the- body snap, very creative for a big man. Hamish Morcom held onto a tumbling mark at the Simpson’s Road end and nursed home his second of the day.
Travis Baird wrapped up the goal-scoring when he snapped an over-the- shoulder shot while off-balance.
Square coach Nick Carter said his players’ application and concentration, even when the game had clearly been won, was admirable.
“The players’ application right from the first ball-up was really good, allowing us to get a good start against the breeze in the first quarter.
“It’s all about a simple philosophy: get the footy first. As well we wanted to hold the opposition to one or two goals a quarter and we did that,” he said.