Buninyong 11.11 (77) d Ballan 3.7 (25)
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By Tim O'Connor
The weather caused havoc at Ballan on Saturday, but it didn’t stop Buninyong cruising to its first win of the new season.
Lightning forced teams from the ground during the second quarter as the Bombers bounced back from the round one loss to reigning premiers Springbank with a 52-point triumph over the Blues.
Forward Isaac Baker kicked three goals for the winners, while the defensive line – led by Tyler Dittloff and Nick Shell – impressed along with forward Aaron Hart.
For the Blues, ruckman Dan Christie rolled his ankle early in the contest and was replaced by young Jack Shaw, who proved one of the side’s best performers alongside onballer Sam Hitchings and coach Jason McNamara.
Gordon 22.12 (144) d Dunnstown 9.7 (61)
By Tim O'Connor
Gordon booted the biggest score of the round for the second-straight weekend when it blitzed Dunnstown by 83 points on Saturday.
Chris McGuigan (five goals), Steven Nicholson (four goals) and Cameron Richardson (three goals) did the bulk of the damage in attack, with Jordan Clampit and Tye Murphy others to play well for the winners.
Aaron Brennan, Sam Jenkins and Thomas Botter were rated best for the home side.
Beaufort 13.6 (84) d Bungaree 4.7 (31)
By Tim O'Connor
Beaufort flicked the switch to produce a scintillating second half on Saturday.
The Crows were frantic and wasteful in the opening two terms against Bungaree, but emerged from the sheds after the main break like a new side.
Their nine-point lead quickly turned to 18 by the last change and 53 by the final siren in what ultimately proved an impressive performance from one of the Central Highlands Football League flag favourites.
Beaufort was quick, direct and deliberate going forward, with Tim Haase getting on the end of many forward attacks to finish with six goals.
He was a standout for the winners alongside Alex Petrie, who bobbed up at important times to kick three majors.
Others to impress coach Rohan Brown were onballer Tom Stapleton and defender Lee Marshall for his job on Demons livewire Luke Mirtschin, who managed just one goal.
“The boys were good,” Brown told The Courier after the match.
“Before the half time break, we fell away a little bit by bombing it to half forward and they're a quality side (with) how they set up behind the footy.
"I put it on our leaders just to find a way through, which was really impressive.
“To use the footy the way we did in the last half was really, really good.”
Bungaree coach Heath Pyke led from the sidelines on Saturday and believed the better skills of the Crows players shone through.
“I thought we were more than competitive and in the contest for probably three and a bit quarters,” Pyke, who played reserves on Saturday, said.
“Probably the last 15 minutes of the last quarter we dropped our bundle a little bit and allowed them to kick four or five relatively easy goals.”
Reigning Geoff Taylor Medal winner David Benson was a presence in the ruck and around the ground for the Demons, while the likes of Steven Ryan, Nicholas Strachan and Jack Oostendorp impressed coaching staff for their efforts in a losing side.
Pyke said Mirtschin and Oostendorp suffered soft tissue injuries and finished the game on the bench.
Looking ahead to round three after the competition-wide break for Easter, Beaufort has a blockbuster clash with Gordon, while Bungaree hosts Hepburn.
Daylesford 10.14 (74) d Hepburn 10.8 (68)
By John McGregor
Daylesford took on rivals Hepburn as underdogs on Saturday and came out kings of the spa country.
It was a big, big kick from Sebastian Walsh that sealed the deal in the dying minutes of the clash to give the Bulldogs a six-point win on enemy territory.
Hepburn led at every change – including a 19-point advantage at the main break – but was unable to hold on for victory.
There was plenty of push and shove and in one incident half-way through the second term, Bulldogs player Ken Cummings was red-carded and reported for making contact to Sean Salmon using the head.
But winners are grinners and Daylesford coach Marcus Goonan was a happy man after the final siren.
“I think we were always a chance of winning this game. And I said that all the way through. Like I said, we were a couple of weeks off,” he said in reference to comments he made after last round’s heavy loss to Beaufort.
“We squandered a lot of chances, which was disappointing. That made it really difficult.
“We like it a bit scrappy and probably the best thing was that rain. That probably helped us.”
Daylesford had the task ahead of it as the Burras were quick out of the blocks, kicking the first goal of the match in less than a minute.
And the hosts looked like they were going to run away with the game, but the Bulldogs dug deep to keep in touch.
A thunderstorm roared through the ground with plenty of wind, rain and lightning, but petered out by the last term.
The scoreboard see-sawed in the last quarter as the Bulldogs went kick for kick with the Burras.
Scores were level three times, with Daylesford’s Cameron Lovig kicking two quick majors at the start of the term.
Lovig was named one of the best for his side, alongside Joel Cowan and Ricky Costanzo. Walsh finished with three majors and Zac Tisdale two.
Hepburn coach Jason Olver said his side had some injury woes after the clash.
“We’ve got a couple of injuries from incidents off the ball which we need to have a little look at,” Olver said.
“There was a red card, but that was fine. I didn’t think too much about that one. Not that I saw it...I don’t know enough about that one.
“We’ll look at them and take it from there, I suppose.
“Our players got a bit too far ahead of themselves. They were second to the ball and it made them look like a very ordinary football side.”
Hogan finished with three goals for the Burras and was a standout with Segifili Asa Leausa and Dan Chapman.
Waubra 12.14 (86) d Newlyn 9.3 (57)
By Tim O'Connor
Waubra sprayed the ball in attack, but kept its perfect start to the season in tact with a strong victory against Newlyn on Saturday afternoon.
The Roos had more than twice as many scoring shots as the Cats, but were only able to record a 29-point win in the wet at Learmonth.
Waubra’s home game was played on neutral territory due to upgrades on its ground still taking place.
To highlight how inaccurate his team was up forward, Roos coach Grant Luscombe said spearhead Tim Boyle had about 14 shots at goal, but only managed four majors for the day.
“We were good around the ground, we dominated play, but just couldn’t do it on the scoreboard,” Luscombe said.
Onballer Lincoln Barnes and half back Josh Crawford were standouts for the Roos, while Ben Wilson performed well on the wing.
Luscombe said Billy Douglass and Nicholas Holding were benched for much of the game with respective gluteus maximus and Achilles/calf issues.
Newlyn welcomed another Northern Territory recruit to the senior side on Saturday, with midfielder Henry Armour proving one of the Cats’ best in his debut for the club.
Armour kicked two goals - as did Sean Massey and Declan Lourey – while defender Jason Slater and ruckman Jarrod Fryar also played well for the beaten brigade.
Newlyn joint-coach Chris Dwyer said the Cats had a couple of injury concerns on the day, but didn’t believe they were anything too serious.
After the Easter break, Waubra will look to make it three-straight triumphs when it takes on Daylesford, while Newlyn goes in search of its first win of the season against Rokewood-Corindhap.
Learmonth 11.4 (70) d Rokewood-Corindhap 4.10 (34)
By Tim O'Connor
Steve Biggin clinched his first win since returning as coach of Learmonth when his side beat Rokewood-Corindhap.
The Lakies were 36-point winners against a Grasshoppers team having its first hit-out for 2017.
Brenton Powell dominated in the midfield for the Lakies, while Tom Martin was good down back.
Grasshoppers coach Jarrod Thompson booted three goals, with onballer Aaron Gercovich the side’s standout.
Springbank 13.9 (87) d Carngham-Linton 3.3 (21)
By Tim O'Connor
Tom Eltringham kicked eight goals to lead Springbank to an easy 66-point win over Carngham-Linton.
Eltringham was well assisted in the midfield by Joel Maher and Tyler George as the Tigers backed up their round one success against Buninyong.
Saturday also saw the club unfurl its senior premiership flag at Wallace.
Young winger Jarrod O'Brien, onballer Beau Ketchen and defenders Zane Ross and Jock Coutts were best for the Saints.
Clunes 11.5 (71) d Creswick 10.10 (70)
By Tim O'Connor
Clunes has equaled its win tally from 2016 in just the second round of the new Central Highlands Football League season.
The Magpies backed up their success against Skipton with a fighting one-point triumph against Creswick at home on Saturday.
Clunes trailed by 31 points at quarter time, but whittled away the margin to eventually claim victory.
Jesse Baird kicked three goals to be named the Magpies’ best player ahead of Northern Territory recruits Henry Labastida and Patrick Heenan. Other new faces to the club this year William Parker, Andrew Spence and Kevin Maroney were among the standouts for the winners.
Liam Hepworth made it back-to-back best afield performances for the Wickers, with Tyson Randall and Tom Walmsley others to play well in a losing side.
After Easter, Clunes faces another winnable game against Carngham-Linton, while Creswick has the bye.