Springbank 14.8 (92) d Daylesford 7.5 (47)
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By Tim O'Connor
SPRINGBANK stretched its winning run to eight matches ahead of a blockbuster showdown with rivals Gordon next weekend.
The Tigers, which dropped their only match of 2016 against Beaufort in round two, kicked clear from Daylesford after half time on Saturday to seal a 45-point victory.
Paul McMahon steered through four goals and joint-coach Nick Couch was named best for the winners, while Emlyn Nettleton led the way for the hosts.
Newlyn 9.7 (61) d Learmonth 6.19 (55)
By Tim O'Connor
FOR the second year in succession, Newlyn has celebrated a narrow victory over Learmonth.
The Cats won by a solitary point in this fixture during 2015 and repeated the dose with success by a goal in Saturday’s round 10 encounter.
Learmonth will no doubt be ruing a horrible conversion rate in front of the big sticks, with the home side booting a wasteful 6.19 (55) to the Cats’ 9.7 (61).
Saturday’s defeat was the Lakies’ third by less than 10 points this season and leaves the side 14th on the ladder, two spots behind the Cats, which have now won four games for the campaign.
Defenders Jason Slater and Matthew Cosgrave and onballer Dan Wehrung were Newlyn’s best contributors, while ruckman Ryan Barnes stood tall for the hosts along with defender-turned-forward Will Simpson and Todd Curran down back.
Looking forward, the Cats have Daylesford, Springbank and Gordon to plan for, while Learmonth travels to Skipton next weekend before battles against Waubra and Carngham-Linton.
Hepburn 23.21 (159) d Smythesdale 2.4 (16)
By Tim O'Connor
ALAN Ware ended his 250th senior game for Hepburn with two goals and a spot in the team’s best in a drubbing of Smythesdale on Saturday.
The Burras celebrated the milestone in emphatic fashion, with the 143-point drubbing maintaining their place in second on the ladder.
Hepburn coach Jason Olver said Jacob Brown, who kicked three goals, and ruckman Michael Watt were the standout players for his side.
Bungaree 42.9 (261) d Carngham Linton 2.3 (15)
By Tim O'Connor
BUNGAREE coach Heath Pyke booted a career-high haul of nine goals in a thumping 246-point victory over Carngham-Linton.
Pyke was one of 12 goal-kickers for the home side, which conceded just two majors in a dominant display on Saturday.
David Benson was a star in the ruck and floated forward to boot four goals, while Henri-Claude Griffiths managed seven as a small target in attack.
Josh Benfield was the only Saint to hit the target.
Skipton 9.13 (67) d Clunes 9.10 (64)
By Tim O'Connor
SKIPTON joint-coach Peter Brokenshow has applauded his side’s attitude and desperation in a hard-fought first win of the Central Highlands Football League season on Saturday.
Brokenshow, who shares the role with coaching legend John Northey, said his team turned up in the right frame of mind and refused to be beaten in a thrilling three-point victory over Clunes.
“They took it to another level on Saturday – they really had a crack and didn’t want to walk away losers,” Brokenshow said of his team’s never-give-in attitude.
Clunes led the contest by 10 points heading into the final term, before the Emus kicked the only two goals of the last quarter to clinch victory.
Brokenshow said a masterful move by Northey to put Cameron Sudholz on the wing in the final quarter paid dividends, with the midfielder proving one of the home team’s best alongside forward Jarred Crabtree, who kicked three goals, and defender Luke Bish.
Skipton finished with significant injuries to Danny George (back) and Angus Mason (shoulder), with both in doubt for next weekend’s clash with Learmonth.
Ashley Anderson booted three majors for the vanquished, which rated Callum Newton, Toby Johnston and Mark Paramonov as standouts.
Clunes remains one of two winless teams in the competition ahead of the round 11 encounter with Waubra.
This comes before a run of winnable contests against Carngham-Linton, Rokewood-Corindhap and Smythesdale.
Creswick 9.10 (64) d Rokewood-Corindhap 5.3 (33)
By Tim O'Connor
TIM Rieniets kicked a sealing goal in the final term to mark his 300th open-age game for Creswick with a victory.
It was a fitting moment for the veteran, who steered through a set shot from a tight angle to help snuff out any hope of a Rokewood-Corindhap fightback on Saturday afternoon.
His goal helped the Wickers to a 31-point victory, which lifted the team to 10th spot on the ladder.
Early-season recruit Ryan Knowles marked his first senior appearance for the club with two goals as the hosts led the encounter from start to finish.
Mick Griffin and Liam Hepworth were important around the ground for the Wickers, which held the Grasshoppers to just two goals in the second half.
A knee injury to Lachlan Allison took some of the shine off the win.
Jake Carr kicked three of the visitors’ five majors for the afternoon and was among the best alongside ruckman Ben Reese and onballer Brendan Wall.
Buninyong 13.4 (82) d Dunnstown 1.4 (10)
By Scot Nicholson
JARROD Morgan capped off his 200th senior appearance for Buninyong with an empathic 72-point victory over Dunnstown on Saturday.
The Bombers joint-coach, who kicked two goals during the encounter, said that winning on such a significant day was a highlight of his playing career.
“It’s good to bring up a games played record like this, but football is a team sport and I get a bit embarrassed about individual performances,” Morgan said.
“I live down the road from the oval, I love the place and the club is my second home.”
It may have been scrappy and wet, but the Bombers looked past the on-field conditions and remained confident from the opening siren.
Morgan combined with Matt Caris and Ned Gilbert in the centre of the ground to restrict opportunities for their opponents.
The pressure across the midfield resulted in Dunnstown being scoreless at half time.
Glen Phelps was targeted often during the final phases of the game and converted his three majors to be the leading scorer for Buninyong.
Other contributors in the forward line consisted of Joel Ottavi, Keelan Fejo and Mitchell Phelps, who all managed to kick two goals.
With only three minutes left on the clock, Evan Mason jumped on a rare offensive opportunity and booted the only goal of the entire match for the Towners.
Dunnstown coach Justin Abrams declined to comment to The Courier post-game about the performance of his side, which beat Beaufort by three points just a week earlier.
Waubra 15.8 (98) d Ballan 3.8 (26)
By David Bilbrough
BALLAN’S finals chances now sit on a knife’s edge after copping a 12-goal thumping from Waubra at home on Saturday.
Sitting just one a game outside the Central Highlands Football League top eight, the 2015 preliminary finalists face a series of winnable games before a tough run home where they meet four of the current top eight.
The round 14 clash against Dunnstown looms large as both sides battle for eighth place on the table.
Waubra, meanwhile, has returned to its winning ways and moves to within striking distance of the top four.
Since going down to Hepburn in round seven, the Roos have won three on the trot. They beat Creswick the week after and then managed a thrilling one-point success against Bungaree before Saturday’s result.
This is form that coach Grant Luscombe attributes to a settled line-up.
“We've barely made any changes in the last three weeks. The key has been to keep the existing team together,” he said.
“It's always tough coming to Ballan, they knocked us out of the final last year and also beat us mid-year so I was really happy with our team effort, I thought no individual stood out.”
With eight separate goal-kickers, the Roos were never troubled en route to victory, while the Blues would manage just three majors for the day.
Tim Boyle had three goals on the board early in the second quarter and Ash Ballinger and Matt Dawson were clinical in the midfield, with Ballinger's intercept and running goal in the third term earning generous applause.
Waubra's dominance was established very early via an outstanding defence led by the two Nicks, Lawrance and Aringo.
Josh King was impassable down back, as was Billy Douglass, who took a knock to the shoulder but should be available for next week’s clash against Clunes.
The visitors led by six goals well into the second term before the Blues’ coach Justin McConnell got his team off the mark. McConnell ended with two majors, while Kyle Doyle was the only other player to hit the target for the hosts.
Zac Peoples ran himself into the ground in an effort to lift his side, while Sam Sims and Jake Wilkinson battled on despite the odds, the latter holding Boyle to just one late goal after half time.
Gordon 13.14 (92) d Beaufort 14.6 (90)
By John McGregor
WHAT a thriller it was at Gordon on Saturday with the Eagles knocking off the Crows by two points.
It was a great performance for the second week running by Gordon’s Ash Munari, who turned the contest in the third term.
Gordon was chasing Beaufort in the first half and made the job harder for itself by inaccuracy in front of goal.
By half time, Gordon had 15 scoring shots to Beaufort’s eight and had drawn to within three points of the lead.
Crow forward Lachlan Murray booted six goals to the main break and finished with eight for day.
Gordon dominated the third term, with Munari getting three goals in a row in the first 10 minutes to have the Eagles in front.
Munari had a tally of four majors up until then, but was flattened before the last break and had to leave the ground.
It was a five-goals-to-one quarter for the Eagles and they went into the last term with a 21-point lead.
Beaufort stepped up another notch or two in the final quarter and scores were level at the half-way mark.
The Eagles’ star recruit Brendan Sutcliffe, in his second game back from a knee injury, kicked his second major of the day for a seven-point buffer.
There were desperate players from both sides trying to find an advantage and two minutes before the siren, Murray snared a free kick in front of goal and his conversion drew the Crows to within a point.
A minor score from Eagles big man Luke Gunnell then saw Gordon hold on for a two-point win.
Best for the Eagles were Sutcliffe, Munari, Ryan Aquilina, Matthew Raworth, Jordan Clampit and captain Mark Gunnell.
The Crows’ big performers were Lee Marshall, Rupert Sangster, Steven Lodge, Alex Petrie and Joseph Mason.
Eagle James Poppe was stretchered from the field in last term with suspected broken leg.
Mark Gunnell, speaking for senior coach Gary Learmonth who had to leave for further coaching commitments in Queensland on Sunday, told The Courier he was happy with the win in the muddy and cold conditions.
“We fought hard when we needed to ... and we got up. We got over the line,” he said.
Referring to the third term, Gunnell said: “Ash Munari really turned it on. He kicked three or four goals… he swung the momentum.”
Beaufort coach Dale Power blamed a depleted team list for falling short.
Saturday’s result sees the Crows slip two games adrift of the top four and Gordon still in third spot.