READ MORE - SATURDAY SCOREBOARD - August 3, 2019
THERE were headlines aplenty out of a weekend of high footballing drama across the region.
Among a host of headline-grabbers out of the weekend were:
* Joel Donehue taking over as Leitchville-Gunbower coach after the Bombers parted ways with Danny Teskera with three rounds remaining;
* The game between Bears Lagoon-Serpentine and Newbridge being abandoned in the second quarter following a "whiplash" injury to the Bears' Harry Gadsden, who has been cleared of any major damage;
* After four misses while on 99, Strathfieldsaye star forward Lachlan Sharp kicking his 100th goal for the season in the dying minutes of the game as the Storm routed Kangaroo Flat by 185 points;
* A 1 v 2 clash for the ages in the Heathcote District league between North Bendigo and Lockington-Bamawm United that finished with a scoreline of 127-126 in favour of the Bulldogs; and
* Umpires calling an early end in the last quarter to what was a fiery reserves match between North Bendigo and LBU.
Heathcote District league chairman Peter Cole said the reserves match at Atkins Street was abandoned with about six minutes remaining in the final term.
"The situation was two umpires were to officiate the game. One was a 15-year-old, the other was a senior Bendigo umpire, who didn't turn up," Cole said.
"Therefore a North Bendigo club umpire helped out the 15-year-old in what was a game that started to get a bit out of hand towards the end and the decision was made to call the game off early.
"I've spoken to both club presidents and they have commended the young umpire for the decision he made and we as a league support him.
"We're disappointed that the game came to an early end, but players have to play the game in the right spirit and as Saturday shows, if we don't have umpires we don't have a game. In what were difficult circumstances both clubs did a really good job in supporting the umpire."
Meanwhile, Leitchville-Gunbower instilled Donehue as its new coach in place of Teskera on Friday.
"The club parted ways with Danny on Friday after a lack of support from the playing group due to personal circumstances. We now look forward to Joel coaching the club for the remainder of 2019," the Bombers said in a statement.
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