Waubra 12.9 (81) d Hepburn 7.11 (53)
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By Tim O'Connor
Hepburn has fallen deeper into unfamiliar territory following a disappointing display at Waubra.
The Burras barely turned up for the contest on Saturday, only showing glimpses of promise in a 28-point defeat on foreign soil.
That result leaves the side two games adrift of the top eight and moves the Roos into outright top spot on the ladder.
Despite all of their shortcomings in the first two-and-a-half quarters, Hepburn closed the gap to just seven points early in the final term before the margin eventually blew out to a more realistic reflection of the Roos' control on the game.
It was hard to find standouts for the Burras, but Ken Cummings seemed to bob up at important times and finished the day with three majors, ruckman Tom Godsell was always in the game and Finn Anscombe battled hard all afternoon in the heart of defence.
For the Roos, there were some more good signs from a side that continues to step up to the mark against the better opponents in the competition.
James Lukich had another impressive game in the centre and took some good marks in attack to boot two goals, sidekick Tom Nash racked up a stack of possession around the ground and Austin Murphy was dangerous up forward, kicking two goals.
In further bad news for the Burras, coach Segifili Asa Leausa was left with concussion and taken to hospital via ambulance after falling heavily following an attempted high mark in the second quarter.
Next weekend, Hepburn must travel to take on Rokewood-Corindhap, while Waubra is again on home soil for a battle with the in-form Springbank.
Ballan 14.8 (92) d Creswick 6.9 (45)
By Tim O'Connor
Jack Gibbs booted seven goals to lead Ballan to its second win of the season on Saturday.
Gibbs’ bag took his season tally in the seniors to 16 majors and helped his side claim a 47-point triumph in front of home fans.
The Blues led the contest at every change, kicking clear from a 21-point half time advantage with seven goals to three in the last two terms.
Bradie Thomas, Sam Hitchings and Jake Wilkie were rated among the Ballan best in a win that allowed the side to climb to 14th on the ladder.
For a disappointing Creswick, Clint Robinson kicked three goals and Sam Gibson and Pat Taranto were among the standouts.
A broken collar bone to defender Ryan Pompe made the day worse for the Wickers, which are 12th on the ladder and now three games adrift of the top eight.
In round 11, Ballan will meet Carngham-Linton and Creswick will host Dunnstown.
Buninyong 22.16 (148) d Carngham-Linton 2.0 (12)
By Tim O'Connor
Buninyong piled on 12 goals in the opening term to snuff out any hope of a shock Carngham-Linton victory on Saturday.
The Bombers led the contest 76-0 at the first change and eventually went on to record a 136-point success.
Fraser Russell kicked five goals and Harli Givvens and Isaac Baker four each, while onballers Sam Russell and Jacob Coxall also shone.
Buninyong’s main injury concern was Jake Dunne’s rolled ankle, which coach Jarrod Morgan believed might mean a few weeks on the sidelines.
Carngham-Linton coach Matt Beaston paid tribute to what he described as the best opponent his side has played this season and rated onballer Lachlan Isbister as the Saints' clear best player.
Springbank 7.8 (50) d Newlyn 5.11 (41)
By John McGregor
It wasn’t pretty, but Springbank rose to the challenge and knocked over ladder leader Newlyn by nine points on Saturday.
The Cats started off with plenty of attacking football, but failed to capitalise on the scoreboard with a miserable seven behinds in the first term.
The Tigers held on grimly to level the quarter with a Billy Driscoll goal and a minor score.
It was a tight and scrappy game, but by half time Springbank had squeezed ahead and led by six points.
Newlyn came out all guns blazing in the third term with an early goal and dominated for 10 minutes in its forward half.
Springbank wrestled the ball forward in heavy traffic and in the chaos Tiger veteran Michael Searl swooped in and kicked a major.
Newlyn’s leading goal-kicker Patrick Parr relieved some of the pressure on the Cats with a timely conversion, but Tiger Justin Simpson quickly answered with a major.
By the skin of their teeth, the Cats locked up the scores by the last change with a goal from joint-coach Dan Wehrung.
Again the final term looked set to go Newlyn’s way with an early major from Luke Prendergast.
Each side needed to dig deep and it was Springbank’s Sam Cue who answered the call. A free kick to Cue in a pocket sailed dangerously close to the goal line, but cleared the players.
There was a roar from the Springbank crowd as the GJ Gardner Tigers took a three-point lead.
It was Springbank’s indomitable Driscoll who finished off the Cats’ hopes of victory by snapping a thrilling goal.
Both sides lost a player each to injury. Cat Dan Mahoney was helped from the ground with concussion and Tiger Paul O’Shea injured a hamstring.
Springbank coach Troy Beamond was happy with the result as the Tigers tackle the top sides in the Central Highlands Football League.
“From the Queen’s birthday bye we set ourselves to beat the next three teams. Hepburn, which we did. Now Newlyn. Next week Waubra,” he said.
“If we can win those three it should set us up for top four or top two.”
Newlyn joint-coach Chris Dwyer blamed the poor kicking on goal for the defeat.
“We probably lost the game in the first half. We were well on top but couldn’t convert,” Dwyer said.
After round 10 matches, Springbank now sits fifth on the ladder, while Newlyn has tumbled from top spot to fourth.
The Tigers have Waubra next weekend, while the Cats meet Daylesford.
Beaufort 15.17 (107) d Rokewood-Corindhap 1.2 (8)
By Tim O'Connor
Beaufort gave up just one goal in a convincing display against Rokewood-Corindhap.
The Crows won the clash by 99 points at home, with Tim Haase leading the way with five majors.
Ruckman Josh McDermott and onballer Daniel Venditti starred for Beaufort, which lost Joe Mason to a nasty finger injury.
For the Grasshoppers, Jeremy Richardson played well in his senior debut, while Jonathan Willey was named the side’s best.
Learmonth 12.23 (95) d Daylesford 7.2 (44)
By Tim O'Connor
Learmonth scored a wayward 12.23 on Saturday to run out convincing 51-point victors over Daylesford.
Todd Curran booted three majors to be one of the stars for the Lakies, while Scott Whiting in the middle and Nick and Tom Martin down back also led the way.
Bulldogs veteran James Evans had a solid game in his 250th open age appearance for the club, while Tom Powell and Max Risstrom were also good under constant siege in defence.
Gordon 23.19 (157) d Clunes 4.7 (31)
By Tim O'Connor
Gordon’s senior side kicked off the club’s 1988 premiership reunion with a thrashing of Clunes on Saturday afternoon.
Past players from that triumph 30 years ago joined in on the club song after the Eagles beat the Magpies by 126 points on home soil.
Brendan Sutcliffe kicked seven goals and Adam Toohey six, but it was Mark Gunnell that was Gordon’s standout across half back.
For Clunes, Nic Clarke booted two majors and Aidan Thompson was rated best.
Skipton 11.5 (71) d Dunnstown 7.15 (57)
By David Bilbrough
Like Mount Warrenheip in winter, Dunnstown's finals hopes remain shrouded in fog after going down to a ferocious Skipton outfit by 14 points at home on Saturday.
Going into the game as favourites, the Towners are now three games adrift of eighth spot on the Central Highlands Football League ladder, but with a string of winnable fixtures in the run home.
“It's undone all of our good, hard work. To drop a game like that really hurts us and they (Skipton) deserve every accolade they'll get. They played well,” lamented Dunnstown coach Justin Abrams after the defeat.
“I don't think our contested footy was acceptable at all and we missed scoring opportunities. We've got a lot more hard work to do.”
In heavy conditions, Skipton shot out of the blocks with goals to Andrew Fay, Curt Townrow and skipper Adam Romey all inside the first five minutes.
Best on ground Townrow was superb at centre half forward and his four goals in the wet were invaluable for the visitors.
Centremen Andrew Pitson and Kal Dubbeldam maximised the deft ruck work of Hamish Young, ripping the ball from the centre bounces as the Emus opened up an early 18-point lead.
As the clock ticked over to time-on, Dunnstown's Peter McGettigan found a sliver of daylight between the big sticks and when milestone man Lachlan Poulter kicked truly, the home side had whittled the deficit to just four points at the first change.
By mid-way through the third term, however, the writing was on the wall for the home side as Skipton extended its lead to four goals after Romey booted his second and Dubbeldam added his name to the list of goal-kickers.
The win lifts Skipton to 10th place on the ladder, two wins away from eighth, but with tough games against Beaufort, Hepburn and Waubra in the next three weeks.
But victorious coach Greg Middleton wasn't thinking of finals.
“Last year there was talk about the club going under and it was a huge effort from the club just to field two sides last year,” Middleton said.
“This year we wanted to build on that foundation to spring from for the future and also try to be consistent with our performances.”
A dampener for the Emus was the report made by umpires on Dubbeldam, who had his number taken for making unreasonable or unnecessary contact to the face of Dunnstown’s Riley Adams.
Dubbeldam has requested the matter be heard at tribunal, which will take place this week before Saturday’s clash with Beaufort.
Next weekend, Dunnstown can bounce back when it travels to take on Creswick. After that, the Towners have games against Carngham-Linton and Clunes before the bye.