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THE MATCH OF THE ROUND

Hepburn 19.15 (129) d Daylesford 5.7 (37)

By John McGregor

After a nervous first term, Hepburn got into top gear to shut down a strong Daylesford challenge.

The Bulldogs held a slim one-point lead after the first quarter in Saturday's spa country showdown, but the Burras stepped up to blow them away with pace and pin-point ball movement.

Hepburn raised the Bill Malone Cup with a 92-point win and the Burras' unstoppable Andy McKay earned the Bill Malone Medal.

Andy booted five majors and his presence on the field was enormous.

Hepburn's much-hyped new recruits slipped easily into the team line-up.

Joining McKay on top of the goal-kicking list was newbie Sam Dunstan with four majors and Julian Lockwood with three.

Lockwood and Nathan Dunstan shared rucking duties, but also roamed all parts of the ground.

Jack Fowler and Tommy Horne worked their way into the match after slow starts.

The core of the Burras were in top flight too. The McKay brothers - Andy, Brad and Mitch - Finn Anscombe, joint-coach Siga Asa Leausa, Alan Ware and skipper Dan O'Halloran were all busy.

Jimmy Rodgers had two majors, but sent a scare through the crowd when he hit the ground hard and was writhing in pain. He was helped from the field, but seemed to recover afterwards.

The Bulldogs lost star recruit Michael Cummings and also ruckman Sam Winnard before the game. Young star Seb Walsh donned Cummings' number nine jumper and put it to good use with the first goal of the match.

Eli Kinnell, Thomas Conroy, Andrew Siekai and Luke Hallett took their chances and kicked goals against the flow of play.

Hepburn joint-coach Clive Raak was happy to take the win, but said the team had a long way to go.

"We were terrible in the first quarter. We couldn't find our way. Daylesford was pretty hard on us," he said.

"As the game went on, we just got better and better. We made a lot of mistakes early trying to be too fancy."

It was a big day for Raak with son Adam making his senior debut in the Central Highlands Football League round one fixture.

Daylesford coach Zac Tisdale was rapt in the first quarter effort of his team.

"Matched them in the first quarter, but then they overwhelmed us afterwards. We ran out of gas in the final quarter, but we'll take plenty out of it," Tisdale told The Courier.

"We had a very young side...eight players under 21. So it's a learning process for us."

Looking ahead and Hepburn has a round two battle with Carngham-Linton before a huge home clash against Waubra the following weekend.

Daylesford is at home to Rokewood-Corindhap next Saturday and will then meet Creswick on April 13.

THE OTHER GAMES

By Tim O'Connor

Rokewood-Corindhap capitalised on a sore Learmonth to snare a huge round one victory on Saturday.

The Grasshoppers kicked away from the Lakies after half time to record a morale-boosting 78-point triumph in joint-coach Shaune Moloney's first game with the club.

Learmonth lost star onballer Brenton Powell, midfielder Billy Hoye and ruckman James Pratt to injury around half time and struggled in the third and fourth terms.

Recruit John Coleman injured his calf in the opening minutes of his return with Waubra, which beat Dunnstown by 36 points.

Winger William Corbett (concussion) and backman Ben McDonald (ankle) were other injury concerns for the Roos.

Newlyn's star recruit Marcus Darmody had a huge impact in his first game with the Cats.

The key forward booted seven goals in his side's 27-point win over Springbank.

In the twilight zone at Beaufort, the Crows unfurled their premiership flag and then opened the new season with a 113-point thrashing of Carngham-Linton.

Former AFL player Heath Black kicked a goal for Beaufort.

Elsewhere on Saturday, Bungaree stunned an undermanned Buninyong outfit to win by 17 points in a low-scoring affair at Sebastopol's Marty Busch Reserve, Creswick's new key forward Ethan Tibbles suffered an ankle injury in the team's victory against Clunes and Gordon just managed to get the better of a much-improved Skipton.

THE RESULTS

NEWLYN v. SPRINGBANK

Newlyn 3.4, 6.4, 9.7, 9.11 (65)

Springbank 0.1, 4.5, 5.6, 5.8 (38)

GOALS, Newlyn: Marcus Darmody 7, Daniel Wehrung 1, Patrick Parr 1

Springbank: James Thompson 2, William Driscoll 1, Matthew Lakey 1, Kieran Maher 1

BEST, Newlyn: Marcus Darmody, Adam Sewell, Lou Campana, Declan Lourey, Wesley Carter, Myles Sewell

Springbank: Mitchell Keighrey, Todd Finco, Brett Maher, Samuel Cue, William Driscoll, James Thompson

BUNINYONG v. BUNGAREE

Bungaree 1.1, 1.4, 2.6, 4.10 (34)

Buninyong 1.1, 2.2, 2.5, 2.5 (17)

GOALS, Bungaree: John Butler 2, Steven Butler 1, Jackson Murphy 1

Buninyong: Caius Barrenger 1, Christopher Wills 1

BEST, Bungaree: Jackson Murphy, Alex Browning, Bailey Veale, Benjamin Willian, Joe Downey, Andrew Milroy

Buninyong: Jack Robertson, Samuel Russell, Nick Shell, Harli Givvens, Lachlan Baker, Patrick McGrath

GORDON v. SKIPTON

Gordon 4.2, 6.5, 11.9, 15.11 (101)

Skipton 1.4, 5.10, 9.11, 12.13 (85)

GOALS, Gordon: Brendan Sutcliffe 6, Adam Toohey 4, Bradley Horsham 3, Matthew Hoy 1, Benjamin Frazer 1

Skipton: Andrew Pitson 5, James Cusack 3, Mark Hoare 1, Lachie Johns 1, Thomas Miller 1, Joshua Peters 1

BEST, Gordon: Brendan Sutcliffe, Bradley Horsham, Zac May, Ethan Crackel, Zackery Ryan

Skipton: Joshua Peters, Lakota Stranks, Angus Mason, Cooper Henson, Joshua Hassan, Mark Hoare

DUNNSTOWN v. WAUBRA

Waubra 4.3, 8.4, 10.7, 13.8 (86)

Dunnstown 1.1, 3.4, 6.5, 7.8 (50)

GOALS, Waubra: James Lukich 3, Darcy Jenkins 2, Austin Murphy 2, William Corbett 1, Andrew Wettenhall 1, Dean Robertson 1, John Coleman 1, Paul Dodds 1, Ryan Head 1

Dunnstown: Angus Thompson 3, Hamish Hallahan 1, Jack Leonard 1, Daniel Westblade 1, Michael Archer 1

BEST, Waubra: James Lukich, Paul Dodds, Jackson Kinna, Andrew Wettenhall, Alexander McPherson, Dean Robertson

Dunnstown: Riley Adams, Harry McKimmie, Will Henderson, Daniel Westblade, Matthew Bulluss, Josh Renga

HEPBURN v. DAYLESFORD

Hepburn 2.3, 6.6, 11.8, 19.15 (129)

Daylesford 2.4, 2.5, 5.7, 5.7 (37)

GOALS, Hepburn: Andrew McKay 5, Samuel Dunstan 4, Julian Lockwood 3, Jimmy Rodgers 2, Jackson Hogan 1, Daniel O'Halloran 1, Joe Malone 1, Nathan Dunstan 1, Bryce Coffey 1

Daylesford: Sebastian Walsh 1, Eli Kinnell 1, Luke Hallett 1, Thomas Conroy 1, Andrew Siekai 1

BEST, Hepburn: Andrew McKay, Zachary Hansford, Tommy Horne, Samuel Dunstan, Julian Lockwood, Nathan Dunstan

Daylesford: Max Risstrom, Cameron Ralph, Thomas Conroy, Thomas Hunt, Eli Kinnell, Sebastian Walsh

ROKEWOOD CORINDHAP v. LEARMONTH

Rokewood-Corindhap 3.6, 3.9, 7.13, 14.15 (99)

Learmonth 1.1, 2.2, 2.2, 3.3 (21)

GOALS, Rokewood-Corindhap: Samuel Chapman 4, Jason Hutchins 2, Leigh Ryall 2, Douglas Arthur 1, Ben Reese 1, Keegan Powell 1, Andrew Parkinson 1, Jake Dowell 1, Patrick Smith 1

Learmonth: Anthony Zelencich 2, Nick Willox 1

BEST, Rokewood-Corindhap: Jackson O'Neil, Keegan Powell, Samuel Chapman, Zach Priddle, Leigh Ryall, Jonathan Willey

Learmonth: Kyle Mackay, Jason Rae, Nick Willox, Matthew Willox

CRESWICK v. CLUNES

Creswick 3.3, 4.5, 9.8, 13.11 (89)

Clunes 1.0, 1.4, 4.4, 6.5 (41)

GOALS, Creswick: Liam Blake 3, Joshua Mitchell 3, Ricky Pearson 1, Samuel Gibson 1, Bradley Jennings 1, Patrick Taranto 1, Ryan Knowles 1, Ethan Tibbles 1, Rhys Antonio 1

Clunes: Nic Clarke 3, Brad Dolan 2, Thomas Pastura 1

BEST, Creswick: Tom Walmsley, Liam Blake, Joshua Mitchell, Pearce Antonio, Samuel Gibson, Jayke Arnold

Clunes: Barama Blow, Brody Lawford, Jack Fenner, Matthew Wrigley, Craig McMickan, Callum Newton

BEAUFORT v. CARNGHAM LINTON

Beaufort 4.3, 9.8, 14.10, 20.11 (131)

Carngham Linton 1.0, 2.1, 2.4, 2.6 (18)

GOALS, Beaufort: Lachlan Murray 5, Dean Kelly 4, Nick Sullivan 3, lee marshall 3, Alexander Petrie 2, James Slater 2, Heath Black 1

Carngham Linton: Luke Thomas 1, Brodie Lewis 1

BEST, Beaufort: Josh McDermott, Brendan Howard, James Slater, Joseph Mason, Joseph Watkins, Lachlan Murray

Carngham Linton: Dean O'Brien, Damian Tabakovic, Brodie Lewis, Joel Radlof, Lachlan Isbister

ROUND 2

Saturday, April 6

Bungaree v Gordon

Clunes v Ballan

Daylesford v Rokewood-Corindhap

Learmonth v Creswick

Carngham-Linton v Hepburn

Skipton v Dunnstown

Springbank v Buninyong

Waubra v Beaufort