Waubra 13.6 (84) d Bungaree 10.7 (67)
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By John McGregor
WAUBRA rolled Bungaree by 17 points in a cracking contest on Saturday to maintain an unbeaten start to the Central Highlands Football League season.
The Demons took a gritty one-point lead at the first change after banging through the first two goals of the day.
Bungaree’s Mitch Bowman and Luke Mirtschin looked like they were going to kick a bag, but goals were hard to come by in the second term.
It was a tight and congested battleground that quarter with gutsy goals from Waubra’s Lincoln Barnes, James Lukich and Jackson Kinna putting the Roos ahead by a goal at the half-way mark.
Kinna looked dangerous all day and his elevation to the seniors came after a nine-goal haul in the reserves against Daylesford the week before.
A six-goal burst in the third term pushed the Waubra margin out to a game-high 22 points.
Barnes goaled again and so did Kinna. But a highlight was the running major from Matt Dawson, who bolted out of a pack, slotting it home to the roar of fans.
Austin Murphy, who was a late inclusion for the Roos, snuffed out a challenge from the Demons with two quick goals before the last change.
The torrid, bone-crunching pace took its toll on players and one who didn’t weather the storm was big Bungaree backman Shaun Finlayson. Finlayson was stretchered from the ground in the third term with a serious knee injury.
The final quarter looked like it was heading for a shootout with Waubra’s Murphy and Kinna kicking majors.
But Bowman rose to the occasion, booting two rapid-fire goals for the Demons. His skipper Jackson Murphy also scored in the dying minutes.
Bungaree cut the margin by five points in the final term, but didn’t have enough gas in the tank to go any further.
James Petrie, Aaron Bird, Ben Wilson and Dean Robertson toiled fiercely for the Kangaroos.
Demons Steven Ryan, Lachlan Prendergast, David Benson and late inclusion Joel Mahar were courageous.
Waubra coach Grant Luscombe felt his players were on the edge of breaking the game open.
“To their credit, they stopped it. They got a goal here or there. It was frustrating as a coaching group,” Luscombe said.
Bungaree coach Heath Pyke, who led from the sidelines on Saturday, didn’t think his players were clean enough when in possession.
Learmonth 14.7 (91) d Creswick 8.4 (52)
By Tim O'Connor
Learmonth produced an epic last quarter to stun Creswick under lights on Saturday night.
The Wickers led the match by nine points at the final change, but could not contain the visitors, which charged over the top to win by 39 points.
Learmonth kicked nine goals to one to land its third-straight victory of the campaign.
Before the weekend’s game, Creswick had not played since April 8 due to the Easter break and then a bye.
Key forward Matthew Bond booted six majors to be one of the best contributors for the winners, while Richard Zelencich was influential in the engine room and in attack.
Lakies coach Steve Biggin was left pleased with his side’s finale, but said it would have been better to see a more consistent effort throughout the clash.
Clinton Robinson converted four of the home side’s goals, with onballer Aaron Sedgwick and Liam Hepworth, who played as a key defender, among the Wickers’ standouts.
Learmonth sits fourth on the Central Highlands Football League ladder ahead of its round five clash against Carngham-Linton, while Creswick is ninth moving into the encounter against rivals Newlyn.
Beaufort 11.8 (74) d Buninyong 5.6 (36)
By Tim O'Connor
There is no denying it – Beaufort is currently Springbank’s biggest danger to a historic third-straight premiership.
The Crows brushed aside another of their main flag contenders on Saturday afternoon, beating last season’s Central Highlands Football League grand finalists by 38 points on home soil.
Blistering ball movement has been the method for Beaufort’s early wins this year, but the Crows achieved the weekend’s result after an early arm-wrestle that clogged their usually dynamic run-and-carry game style.
A low-scoring first half saw the Crows enter the rooms with a narrow seven-point advantage, and after a number of lead changes in the third term, a late purple patch – including a goal after the siren to Lachlan Murray – gave the hosts a 20-point buffer at the last break.
Beaufort was able to keep the Bombers at bay for the opening minutes of the final term and then kicked clear to win 11.8 (74) to 5.6 (36).
“They are the grand final side from last year and they challenged us in every single area on the ground. It was a fantastic game of footy to watch from both sides,” Crows coach Rohan Brown said after singing the song.
“For the boys to get challenged straight after half time and to grind out a really hard, tough win was very pleasing.”
Tim Haase continued his strong start to the season with a bag of four goals and proved particularly dangerous in the second half. Rupert Sangster offered plenty of speed and drive through the midfield to be a standout, with the defensive division led by Lee Marshall and Jarrod Trigg.
Liam Rigby was a presence in the ruck and around the ground for the Bombers, which were also well served by Alex Bomitali – for his minding job on Jack Duke – onballer/forward Dan Pelchen, coach Jarrod Morgan and North Ballarat Roosters-listed call-up Hayden Walters.
Morgan said his side was beaten by a team that took its chances and is more advanced at this point of the campaign.
“I just thought we had a couple of lapses again, which hurt us. And they were better forward of centre than what we were,” Morgan told The Courier.
An early shoulder injury to Buninyong midfielder Sam Turner didn’t help the visitors, which have a win-loss ratio of 2-2 from the opening four rounds.
The Bombers, now sixth on the ladder, have Hepburn to plan for next weekend.
After a tough start – including games against four of last season’s finalists - the second-placed Beaufort gets somewhat of a reprieve when it comes up against lowly Ballan in round five.
Hepburn 11.18 (84) d Gordon 12.10 (82)
By Tim O'Connor
Hepburn clinched a much-needed success against Gordon on Saturday afternoon, ending a two-game losing sequence in the process.
The last of Jacob Brown’s three goals proved the winner for the Burras, which had led the Eagles for much of the afternoon before falling behind deep in the last term.
Brown was one of the best players for Hepburn, which were also led well by Andy McKay.
Kamen Ogilvie (three) and Jackson Hogan (two) were the other multiple goal-kickers for the home side.
Gordon’s defeat was its second in succession, with the Eagles best served by Gunnell brothers Luke and Mark and Steve Patterson, who finished with three majors.
The Burras are now seventh on the ladder, while Gordon is fifth.
Daylesford 14.13 (97) d Rokewood-Corindhap 10.9 (69)
By Tim O'Connor
Daylesford had its backs against the wall in the clash with Rokewood-Corindhap, but blitzed its rivals in the last quarter to return to winning form on Saturday.
The Bulldogs trailed at every change, but produced a nine-goal final term to secure a 28-point win.
Sebastian Walsh kicked five goals for Daylesford, which named Joel Cowan best. Damon Delaney was rated the Grasshoppers’ standout.
Newlyn 21.11 (137) d Skipton 6.8 (44)
By Tim O'Connor
Sean Massey kicked a big 10-goal haul to lead Newlyn to its first win of 2017.
Massey was the star in attack as the Cats had little trouble disposing of the battling Emus by 93 points on Saturday.
The win is the first at the helm for new joint-coaches Dan Wehrung and Chris Dwyer.
Wehrung and Jarrod Fryar were rated among Newlyn’s best, while Tim Huglin, Hamish Ryan-Dengate and Thomas Breed received the plaudits for the Emus.
Springbank 19.24 (138) d Clunes 1.2 (8)
By Tim O'Connor
Springbank breezed past another rival on Saturday, crushing Clunes by 130 points at Wallace.
The Tigers had a whopping 43 scoring shots in the win, which leaves them as one of three unbeaten teams in the competition after four rounds.
League-leading forward Tom Eltringham kicked a bag of seven goals, while regular backman Justin Simpson was again thrown into attack and finished with six. Billy Driscoll, Nick Couch and Joel Maher were also influential.
Former coach Ryan Hudson-Morgan was named Clunes’ best.
Ballan 14.10 (94) d Dunnstown 6.6 (42)
By Tim O'Connor
Ballan landed its first victory under new coach Jason McNamara and added to Dunnstown’s early-season woes with a 52-point triumph on Saturday.
The Blues started brightly and led the home side at every change.
McNamara said he is pleased his side now has some reward for effort after early-season clashes against finals contenders Gordon, Buninyong and Springbank.
“I felt that we were making small steps with the first three games,” he said.
“It was reward for the guys and just good to show them that what we are doing has got some merit.”
McNamara rated the performances of Sam Sher in the middle and Nicholas Kettle, who performed well in the ruck after getting a call-up from the reserves. Adam Kurzman kicked a game-high four goals for the winners.
Dunnstown coach Justin Abrams said his side “didn’t fire a shot” and believes his players need to take responsibility for the performance.
Onballer Sam Jenkins was the Towners’ best.