North Gippsland minor premiers Rosedale made light work of Gormandale on Saturday to record a 200-point win, 31.25 (211) to 1.5 (11).
The flag favourites burst out of the blocks with the first six goals in the opening term, before jumping out to an 11-goal lead at half-time.
A seven-goal haul by Ross McDermott, with four from Jeremy Reid and three each to Dale Fleming and Craig Mayman, set the Blues alight as they kept the foot on the throttle to add a further 19-straight goals in the second half.
Cowwarr v Heyfield
A large crowd watched Cowwarr upset in-form Heyfield by seven points in a low scoring affair at Cowwarr Recreation Reserve on Saturday.
The game was played in heavy rain, a hail storm, and patches of sunshine as the long time rivals struggled to play to the conditions.
Heyfield opened proceedings with the first goal and the Kangaroos found their second through Nic Dowse following a 50-metre penalty which gifted the midfielder with his first.
The ball swayed back and forth between the two half-back lines before a strong mark to Brad McBride in front of Brent Dinsdale opened up the Saints’ scoring.
The rain fell hard in the first term which made conditions out on the ground difficult to deal with, and McBride felt the weather’s impact as he attempted to make it two goals from two kicks but his shot skewed off the side of his boot.
As hail began to fall in the second quarter it was Cowwarr which found the conditions more to its liking.
A direct kick to Wayne Knight resulted in the Kangaroos’ third and the visitors regained the lead.
In the premiership term, McBride scored from 15 metres out before David Ivey added another for the home side.
Matt Cameron split the sticks directly in front to hand the Saints a 15-point lead, the biggest margin of the match, as the Kangaroos struggled to break through the centre square in a goalless third term.
The Kangaroos failed to lie down in the final term, with the visitors outscoring the Saints for the quarter, but it was the home side’s three goal to nil third quarter which set up the victory.
Jack Woodland broke through to score the visitor’s first in more than 40 minutes of play to reel the margin to seven points before Cooper got the reply to give the fifth-placed Saints some breathing space.
Sale City v Traralgon Tyers United
A SEVEN-goal second term set up second-placed Sale City’s 65-point win over Traralgon Tyers United.
With a tilt at a third consecutive premiership the Dogs struggled to shake the visitors in a tight and physical opening term.
But Sale City turned it on in a strong second quarter, and never looked back as the two-time reigning premier held a commanding lead at each change one.
Jake Schuback and Nick Grainger turned it on in front of goals, with the pair scoring five and four goals respectively.
Enduring an indifferent season through injury, Joel Brayshaw’s on field presence was invaluable and he also scored three goals.
Damien Ashcroft led from the front and was well supported by coach Nick Hider, who ensured the Dogs’ got first touch of the ball in the midfield.
For the Bombers, Jesse Sleswick and Cody Brown stood out while Sky Hammer, for the second consecutive week, stood tall in front of goals with three majors.
In the reserves, TTU failed to mark Ben Wilson’s 300th club game with victory, with the second-placed Dogs accounting for the Bombers.
Woodside v Churchill
Despite its finals aspirations buried weeks prior, Churchill pushed on to make light work of Woodside.
An unanswered 12-goal opening term was the catalyst in setting the Cougars up for one of their biggest victories of the season.
Dale Patterson led the charge with 12 goals in Churchill’s 21.19 (145) to 1.1 (7) victory.
The Wildcats’ challenge was made more difficult with a number of match ending injures early in the contest, which left the team’s bench decimated.
Glengarry v Boisdale/Briagolong
GLENGARRY’s Josh King and Shaun Barnes flexed their muscle against Boisdale/Briagolong’s defenders with the pair booting 12 and 10 goals respectively in the Magpies’ 26-goal victory, 32.15 (207) to 7.5 (47).
With King and Barnes in devastating form in front of goals there was little the Bombers’ defence could do to stop the powerful forwards.
It was the Magpies’ fifth consecutive victory and it sets the stage for an elimination final against another inform side, Cowwarr, on Sunday.
