Central Highlands Football League reigning premier Gordon has been dealt a major blow with a season-ending knee injury to one of its most dynamic players.
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Dual premiership star Connor Ascough has damaged an anterior cruciate ligament.
Eagles coach Brenton Payne told The Courier that the extent of the injury had just been confirmed.
"It's shattering news for Connor and the club."
He said Ascough would require surgery, but there was no certainty as to when this would take place.
Payne said the only certainty was that Ascough would miss the whole season.
Ascough suffered the injury in an intra-club hit-out.
"It was innocuous. He was tracking backwards in a marking contest and it (the knee) just went on him."
Payne said Ascough would spend the season working alongside him in the coaches' box.
Ascough has been an integral part of Gordon's 2022 and 2023 premiership campaigns as a midfielder and goalkicking power forward.
He kicked 39 goals in the first of the flags and 36 last year, when he kicked three goals in the grand final and was among the Eagles' best.
Ascough played his junior football with Darley in the BFL before joining Gordon in 2019 after his parents moved to the town.
He was an under-18 premiership player in that first season and established himself in the seniors in 2021 during a COVID-19 interrupted season.
Ascough will also be a loss as a middle-order batting all-rounder for Bacchus Marsh in the Ballarat Cricket Association first competition next summer.
Payne said with Ascough being so versatile his loss would be difficult to cover, although the return of Brad Horsham (from Carisbrook) would help fill the role.
He said with plenty of depth the loss of Ascough might also provide an opportunity for a youngster to step up.
Gordon will open its season with a home game against Dunnstown on Saturday, April 13, when it will unfurl its premiership flag.
Other round one fixtures:
Springbank v Rokewood-Corindhap
Carngham-Linton v Learmonth
Creswick v Ballan
Bungaree v Hepburn
Daylesford v Beaufort
Buninyong v Newlyn
Waubra v Clunes
Skipton bye
