By Tim O'Connor

Springbank has surged to the top of the ladder and remains the only unbeaten team in the competition after four rounds.

The GJ Gardner Tigers were badly undermanned – missing 10 of their best 22 players according to coach Troy Beamond – but still managed a 45-point win over Clunes on Saturday.

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Regular defender Sam Cue went forward and kicked five goals, while gun onballer Joel Maher and debutante Wil McGannon were named among the best.

Clunes was best served by Lachlan Wrigley and Jesse Baird.

Learmonth 21.13 (139) d Creswick 8.7 (55)

By Tim O'Connor

Learmonth has proven far too good for Creswick, winning by 84 points at home on Saturday.

Wickers coach Ryan Knowles was scathing of his side’s effort in its first defeat of the campaign.

Forward Anthony Zelencich booted six goals for the Lakies, which were best served by onballer Jason Rae, while ruckman Tom Walmsley and onballer Aaron Hepworth tried hard for the Wickers.

Rokewood-Corindhap 10.11 (71) d Daylesford 10.7 (67)

By Tim O'Connor

Rokewood-Corindhap has finally beaten Daylesford.

The Grasshoppers clinched their first win against the Bulldogs since joining the Central Highlands Football League in 2011 with a four-point triumph on Saturday.

That result was also the first success for new Rokewood-Corindhap coach Damon Delaney, who kicked a goal and was one of the team’s standouts in the engine room.

“It was really good to see a lot of long-time supporters very happy after the game,” Delaney said.

“(Daylesford) would probably be disappointed, but from our point of view we went into the game with a job to do and unlike the last couple of weeks, we actually put four quarters together and that was the difference.”

Delaney said Daylesford hit the lead in the last quarter, but his side was able to fight back and claim a narrow victory.

Midfielder Sam Chapman (three goals) and ruckman Ben Reese were others to shine for the hosts, while Tyler Mookhoek also booted three majors.

Toby Hughes, Sam Winnard (three goals) and Dylan Muscat (three goals) were among the leading performers for the Bulldogs, which remain winless after four rounds and sit second last on the ladder.

Newlyn 20.12 (132) d Skipton 8.7 (55)

By Tim O'Connor

Classy midfielder Myles Sewell was in devastating form as Newlyn thrashed Skipton on Saturday.

Playing at home, Sewell had plenty of possession and kicked four goals to lead his team to a big 77-point win.

Others to impress joint-coach Chris Dwyer were youngsters Cormac Prendergast and Reece Wynd, who both played in defence.

The second quarter really put the result beyond doubt, with the Cats piling on 10 goals to lead by 76 points at the long break.

Newlyn is now fourth on the ladder.

Kal Dubbeldam and Curtis Townrow kicked three goals each for Skipton, which named Hamish Young and Andrew Pitson as its best.

Next weekend, the Cats travel to take on rivals Creswick, while the Emus are at home to the winless Daylesford.

Waubra 16.5 (101) d Bungaree 9.5 (59)

By Tim O'Connor

Waubra continued its promising start to the new season with a convincing victory against Bungaree.

The Roos booted five goals to one in the opening term to set up the 42-point success on the Demons’ home ground.

Jarred Crabtree booted four goals, while the experienced Tom Nash led the way through the midfield for the winners.

For Bungaree, onballer Joel Mahar was best, while Chris Cowan was influential down back and in the ruck.

Gordon 15.10 (100) d Hepburn 7.12 (54)

By John McGregor

Gordon moved into overdrive to smack reigning premiers Hepburn and secure a 46-point victory on Saturday.

Chasing Hepburn from the first bounce, the Eagles looked vulnerable and only a super effort from Steven Nicholson in the second term put them back into the game.

Nicholson booted three majors in six minutes to help stay within striking distance of the Burras.

It was a see-sawing affair until Hepburn took a seven-point lead at the long break.

Hepburn’s scoring came from “new kid on the block” Izaac Grant, who was playing his second senior game for his home club.

Grant, who was freed from his duties with the Greater Western Victoria Rebels on Saturday, proved his Hepburn DNA by racking up three goals to half time.

Gordon began the last half needing a breakout performance and started it within a minute with a goal from Matt Spezza.

A big six-pointer from Tye Murphy saw the Eagles take the lead and a courageous goal under pressure for Nicholson lifted Gordon.

Another major from Nicholson took the Eagles to a 15-point advantage going into the last quarter.

Hepburn scoring had stalled, with just four behinds for the third term speaking volumes for the Gordon pressure.

Another couple of majors brought Nicholson’s tally for the day to seven goals. A well celebrated conversion from Gordon backman Taylem Wason was kicked right on the siren.

Hepburn was stuck on two behinds for the last quarter, but young Grant slotted his fourth for the day minutes before the end of the game.

Best for Gordon included Nicholson, Murphy and Wason as well as Caleb Myers, skipper Mark Gunnell and ruckman Brendan Sutcliffe.

Of course Hepburn’s best was headed by young Grant, but others included Billy Johns, Rhys Jenkins, Zach Hansford, as well as Scott Wood and Finn Anscombe under siege in defence.

Gordon coach Ron Watt can see real improvement in his players.

“We played well. Most things that we tried today worked. The players’ attitude was fanatical with their approach to the ball. And the contest. And putting on the pressure,” Watt said.

“I couldn’t ask them to play any better than they did.”

Hepburn coach Segifili Asa Leausa expected a battle against Gordon.

“But I didn’t expect how far away they got from us in the end. Disappointing to get blown out like that,” he said.

Gordon forward Cam Richardson suffered a bad ankle injury in the last quarter, while it’s believed Hepburn star Andy McKay hurt a hamstring and didn’t have much involvement after half time.

Buninyong 10.9 (69) d Beaufort 9.11 (65)

By Tim O'Connor

There was some hairy moments, but Buninyong managed to fend off Beaufort’s late challenge and hand the Crows their first defeat of the Central Highlands Football League season.

The Bombers had the front for the majority of Saturday afternoon’s clash and led by close to five goals early in the third quarter, but only escaped with a four-point win in front of home fans.

For Buninyong coach Jarrod Morgan, the margin of the result didn’t matter in the end.

“We just set ourselves to win any way we could,” Morgan said.

“We knew that obviously they’re going to be probably the side to beat later on in the year, so we wanted to put in a strong performance on a good day on our home ground. It was just win at all costs at the end.”

Beaufort coach Rohan Brown said he was proud of his charges despite the defeat.

“We had our chances to win it, especially late. A few things didn’t go our way,” Brown said.

“I thought it was a very even match of footy and we probably learnt the way they play a little bit. They probably got us out the back a fair bit, were structurally sound and probably a little bit better than what we were.”

Buninyong applied strong pressure from the outset and rarely gave the Crows room to move in the first half.

The Bombers were able to pinch the lead by quarter time and opened up a handy little 16-point advantage by the main break.

Josh Renga, Daniel Pelchen and recruit Sam Cooper were finding the goals at that stage of the match and the Bombers’ forward line was looking dangerous on the back of some good work by ruckman Liam Rigby and young onballer Jacob Coxall.

After a break-even third term the margin remained at 16 points heading into the last quarter. And as expected, the Crows hit the ground running.

Led by workhorse Tom Stapleton, Beaufort trimmed the deficit to a solitary behind, but wasted some good chances and could not get its noses in front of the home side.

Cooper proved a dangerous target for the winners and finished with four goals, while Rigby was a presence in the ruck and around the ground to be another of the standouts. Coxall, Ned Gilbert and new player Sam Russell were the stars in the engine room for the Bombers.

Stapleton booted two goals and was one of the Crows' best, while Levi Cox and Brendan Howard performed well under constant siege in defence. Daniel Venditti was lively in attack and finished with a major.

Dunnstown 8.17 (65) d Ballan 6.10 (46)

By David Bilbrough

Despite kicking more behinds than Gordon Ramsay, Dunnstown emerged victorious by 19 points over Ballan on Saturday.

The third term held the key to victory. Leading by just 10 points at the long change, the Towners piled on four unanswered goals in the third stanza to open up a 35-point advantage at the last break.

Mitchell Henderson sparked the onslaught when he intercepted and kicked truly at the three-minute mark.

Michael Archer and Andrew Toan quickly followed suit and seven minutes in, the visitors’ lead was out to five goals.

Centre half back Angus Thompson led a water-tight Dunnstown defence, while Sam Jenkins and Joel Williams repeatedly punched holes through the Ballan midfield with precise use of the footy in the decisive third quarter.

Dunnstown coach Justin Abrams was happy with the result.

“I reckon this is the second time this year we've kept a team to six goals so we are defending well and that defence is not just the back six,” Abrams said.

“This puts our season 2-2, that was the most pleasing thing.

“I wasn't overly convinced with how we played at times, but we've had plenty of scoring shots and even though we stopped a bit in the last quarter, I think we controlled most of the game to be honest.”

Ruckman Rylan Rattley was outstanding for the visitors, as was Lachlan Poulter, who capitalised on Dunnstown's early forward entries to boot two goals. Youngster Harry McKimmie's energy and athleticism had the Ballan defenders reaching for the headache pills. Tom Botter was the main injury concern for the Towners after being carted off the ground with a serious knee problem.

Ballan coach Jason McNamara lamented a reactive approach from his charges.

“We got led to the footy a bit, we let them get too far away before we realised that we've got to take some risks, we weren't brave enough and didn't work hard enough,” he said.

Brodie Richie and Michael Snaith worked hard for the Blues, bagging two goals apiece, while Dylan Galea and Paddy Graham were also among the best.