Buninyong 10.10 (70) d Waubra 7.9 (51)
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By Scot Nicholson
BUNINYONG fought back from a deficit at the final change to inflict Waubra’s first defeat of the season on Saturday.
Down by seven points at three quarter time, the Bombers rallied together in the last term to score four unanswered goals and clinch the 10.10 (70) to 7.9 (51) result.
Buninyong joint-coach Jarrod Morgan said that it was important for this team to earn a challenging win.
“Coming from behind in any game during the last quarter is always a great win,” Morgan said.
“It was good that we could run out the game and stick to our processes.”
A large spread of multiple goal-kickers was present for the Bombers with Jake Dunne, Tyron Fejo, Glen Phelps and Alec Wiltshire scoring two majors each.
Liam Rigby won a large percentage of tap outs from ruck contests for the Bombers, while Alex Bomitali was an integral factor in the back line.
Waubra coach Grant Luscombe said that the loss gives his squad plenty to focus on over the interleague break.
“Buninyong just ran over us in the last quarter and their midfield dominated play,” Luscombe said.
“It’s now a good time for us to reflect and look at what we need to improve on.”
Tim Boyle was the leading scorer for the Roos with three goals, Lincoln Barnes had a standout performance in the centre of the ground, while Matt Dawson assisted in defence.
Buninyong has a clash with Carngham-Linton in round seven, while Waubra takes on Hepburn.
Daylesford 16.7 (103) d Ballan 12.13 (85)
By David Bilbrough
THE Daylesford Football Club theme song rang out loud and clear up and down the Western Highway on Saturday after the Bulldogs stormed home to record a thrilling 18-point win at Ballan.
The young Doggies trailed for much of the second and third terms and were staring at defeat after Ballan's Zac Peoples put the Blues 20 points up in the opening minutes of the final quarter.
Enter Max Risstrom.
Risstrom ignited the Bulldogs’ stirring comeback when he screwed through the goal of the day from the wrong pocket for a left footer and then followed up just minutes later with a pack-busting mark and long goal to cut the margin to just eight points.
Best on ground Seb Walsh then got the grandstand shaking when he struck twice in two minutes to put the visitors in front for the first time since early in the first term.
The Blues had some golden opportunities to reclaim the lead, but could only manage to level the scores with four straight behinds.
Another young pup, Pat Rowe, then kicked truly under enormous pressure and the Bulldogs never looked back.
"I thought Ballan should have put us away probably by half time to be honest, but I was pretty pleased that even when we're not playing good footy we've been able to hang on in games,” winning coach Marcus Goonan said.
Ultimately, Ballan couldn't defend a four-goal lead from early in the last term despite the best efforts of Jake Wilkinson, Dan Nielsen, Jason McNamara and People's game-high four majors.
Springbank 9.6 (60) d Bungaree 6.11 (47)
By John McGregor
SPRINGBANK brought unbeaten Bungaree down to earth with a thud on Sunday thanks to a gutsy 13-point win.
The Central Highlands Football League reigning premiers jumped from the blocks early, with the first major of the match coming from joint-coach Nick Couch, who was returning from injury.
A four-goals-to-one first term by the Tigers was highlighted by their crisp and accurate use of the ball.
Billy Driscoll booted two goals in the first quarter and made a big impact on the final outcome.
After concussion fears from the week before against Daylesford, Demon Shaun Finlayson looked a threat with a late goal, but the hosts were still adrift by three majors going into the second term.
The Demons got rolling before half time, pegging back the Tigers’ lead to just four points with great drive from Martin Dufty, who kicked two goals.
Finlayson was well held by Springbank’s other joint-coach Michael Searl and that blunted the Demons’ firepower.
Bungaree took momentum in the third term, but failed to put the pressure on the scoreboard and went into the last quarter with a five-point lead.
Moving Searl from defence to the forward line was a brilliant tactic as he kicked a major within minutes of the final term starting.
Springbank kept Bungaree goalless after the last break, while Tigers Paul McMahon and Driscoll added another major each.
Driscoll sealed the result with a big booming kick with only minutes left on the clock.
Searl said it was the momentum in the last term that “dragged the whole team along with it”.
“We had the calibre of blokes who could get the ball out of the middle. If we could get a couple of early clearances, we would put the heat on them. Which is exactly what we did,” he said.
“It's a strange thing momentum. Once you've got it and are running with it. It just drags the whole team along with it.”
Bungaree coach Heath Pyke was disappointed the Demons weren't able to keep up in the last quarter.
“It's probably the one that got away. But we knew they were going to throw everything at us. They outplayed us,” Pyke said.
“It was a chance for us to skip away and remain unbeaten, but it was not to be.”
Beaufort 31.16 (202) d Carngham-Linton 4.2 (26)
By Tim O'Connor
BEAUFORT made light work of another league battler on Saturday, scoring a percentage-boosting victory over Carngham-Linton.
The Saints kicked a couple of early majors, but from there the contest was dominated by the home side, which had 14 goal-kickers in the 176-point thrashing.
A 13-goal second term set the tone for the match, with the hosts racing clear of a 10-point lead at quarter time to establish a 93-point advantage by the long break. From there, it was only a matter of the end margin.
Beaufort livewire Jack Duke booted nine goals from a wing, while ruckman Jake Garvey drew praise from coach Dale Power, who believed onballer Michael Foster was the standout player on the ground.
Jock Coutts and Jacob Dawson were rated best by the Saints, which had Nathan Ringin kick two goals.
Carngham-Linton now prepares for a clash against Buninyong after next weekend’s interleague bye, while Beaufort gets ready for its trip to take on Rokewood-Corindhap.
Newlyn 10.7 (67) Creswick 9.8 (62)
By Tim O'Connor
NEWLYN nullified Creswick’s wind advantage in the final quarter to secure a five-point win against its arch-rivals on Saturday.
The Cats held their slender advantage at three quarter time to clinch their second victory of 2016.
Newlyn coach Kal Young said it was a pleasing result given the momentum should have been with the team kicking with the breeze late in the match.
“The way we really attacked the ball hard, tackled well and done all those hard things got us across the line in the end,” he said.
Young was one of the better players for the Cats alongside brother Will, who booted six goals, and Nathan Skewes, who might poll the three Geoff Taylor Medal votes for his efforts off half back.
For the Wickers, Caleb Hepworth, Aaron Hepworth, Joel Antonio and Mick Griffin were good in the engine room and Clint Robinson was named in the best given his display down back.
Hepburn 26.16 (172) d Skipton 8.6 (54)
By Tim O'Connor
HEPBURN sustained a brief period of resistance from Skipton on Saturday, but eventually pulled clear to record an 118-point victory.
Playing at home, the Burras led by just two points at quarter time before kicking clear over the remaining three terms.
Andy McKay booted five majors to be among Hepburn’s standouts alongside ruckman Michael Watt, while Tom Breed kicked four goals for the Emus, which named Angus Mason as their best.
Gordon 23.18 (156) d Smythesdale 6.6 (42)
By Tim O'Connor
SMYTHESDALE’S 429-point drubbing at the hands of Gordon 12 months ago would have been on the minds of many ahead of Saturday’s return fixture.
And while the Bulldogs put in a much better showing on home soil this time around, the Eagles still cruised to a 114-point victory.
Gunnell brothers Mark and Luke were among Gordon’s best players, while Mick Nolan’s six majors took him clear at the top of the league goal-kicking chart.
Learmonth 16.20 (116) d Clunes 7.8 (50)
By Tim O'Connor
LEARMONTH suffered a handful of significant injuries while marching to a 66-point victory against Clunes on Saturday.
Lakies president Matt Hines said forward Tyson White had a suspected anterior cruciate ligament injury, while ruckman Ryan Barnes (hamstring) and defender Nathan Ross (shoulder) also went down during the clash.
Learmonth led by 71 points at half time before the home side finished with six goals to five.
Dunnstown 15.9 (99) d Rokewood-Corindhap 11.5 (71)
By Tim O'Connor
IT WASN’T the finish Dunnstown had promised early in the match, but its performance on Saturday was still good enough to clinch the result it set out to achieve.
The Towners kept their place inside the Central Highlands Football League top eight with a hard-fought 28-point victory against Rokewood-Corindhap, which responded after half time to keep the game in the balance deep into the final term.
Dunnstown cruised to a 44-point lead at the main break, but was challenged strongly by the visitors, which trimmed the margin to less than three kicks early in the last quarter.
When Denis Biscan converted five minutes into the last term, the Grasshoppers were just 14 points behind, but it was as close as they got as the home team responded with a couple of late majors to seal the result.
Dunnstown coach Justin Abrams wasn’t overly fussed about how his side won, just pleased with the success.
“It doesn’t matter whether you get an ugly win or a good win. It’s irrelevant,” Abrams said.
“Four points is what matters and our boys had a hard fought game and we got the points and that’s all we’re after, really.”
Forward Peter McGettigan finished with five goals in another classy display for the victors, while Abrams praised the efforts of ruckman Aaron Brennan and onballer Sam Jenkins, who was part of a midfield group that moved the ball swiftly at different stages during the afternoon.
Rokewood-Corindhap was led brilliantly in defence by Caius Barranger, who took a stack of strong marks and used the ball well on the rebound. Forward Brendan Wall was part of the resurgence in the third term, while Jonty Wall, Biscan and Jason Hutchins showed some good signs.
Grasshoppers coach Mick Hynes was pleased with the performance in the second half, but was left to rue the effort of his players in the opening two terms.
“Our first half was pretty ordinary in regards to contested footy and we leaked really soft goals,” Hynes told The Courier.
“We’ve just got to be better than that.”
After the interleague break, the eighth-placed Dunnstown has a clash with Smythesdale in round seven, while Rokewood-Corindhap, now 10th on the table, hosts Beaufort.