SEVEN majors from Traralgon Tyers United’s Tom Mustoe have helped the Bombers secure the inaugural Crocka Cup in Saturday’s North Gippsland football showdown against Churchill.
TTU’s Brian Graham chimed in with six goals of his own as the Bombers recorded a resounding 45-point victory over the Cougars.
TTU took control of the match with a stellar seven-goal to two opening term, effectively stopping the Cougars in their tracks.
Churchill rallied in the second quarter to go goal-for-goal with the opposition in a high scoring term where the sides kicked five goals each.
The premiership term played out the same as the second term as Churchill dug deep to eat into TTU’s early match-winning margin, but could do little to make a major dent.
The Cougars trailed by 27 points at the final change and faded away in the last quarter as the Bombers slammed four more majors to record a 19.11 (125) to 11.14 (80) victory.
Bomber Luke Middleton claimed the votes in a standout performance and Pat Sharp was a key player in the engine room.
Churchill captain Chris Williams honoured his father David’s memory with a great performance and was named one of the Cougar’s best.
Rosedale v Cowwarr
COWWARR marked former coach Cory Bannister’s 100th senior appearance in style with a three-point victory over second-placed Rosedale.
Cowwarr skipped away to an early four-goal lead, before the Blues rallied with six goals to one in the second term to lead by 12 points at the long change.
The Saints fought back in the third quarter to lead by 14 points at the final break.
The two sides went blow-for-blow in the fourth quarter with Tim Johnston and Luke Cooper the targets up front for the Saints while Brad Caldwell lit up the forward line for the Blues.
The Blues kept within arm’s reach of the visitors as they came home strong, however the Saints’ third term lead was enough to ensure the side held on in a nail-biting 12.12 (84) to 11.15 (81) victory.
Lee Cooper claimed best on ground honours, Jordon Sandy backed up his efforts with another vote-worthy performance and Jordon Bourke provided a contest in the packs.
Rosedale’s majors came through Caldwell, who scored three.
Luke Stuckey continued his solid form while Chris King was the general of the midfield.
Glengarry v Heyfield
Glengarry has broken into the top five after a comprehensive 30-point victory over ladder leaders Heyfield.
The 16.10 (106) to 10.16 (76) victory for the Magpies made it a clean sweep for the month of June.
The match was evenly placed at the first change with the Magpies taking a four-point lead at the break.
The home side exploded out of the blocks in the second term to take a 19-point lead at half-time.
The Magpies’ momentum did not stop after the main change as Glengarry added eight goals in a stellar second half performance.
Glengarry forward Mark Engley was again the main figure in front of goals with seven majors.
The Kangaroos boasted nine scoring shots to four in the final quarter, but key forwards squandered their opportunities to keep the visitors out of the contest.
Jesse Leeds led from the front for Heyfield in a best on ground performance.
Gormandale v Woodside
GORMANDALE held off a resurgent Woodside to register its third win of the season by three points.
The Wildcats trailed by 20 points at the main change and coach Chris Pettitt encouraged his side not to drop their heads and instead use last week’s last quarter resurgence against Boisdale/Briagolong to spur them on.
In the second half of the game the Wildcats surged forward and came close to stealing the victory.
Tiger David Ivey registered the first of the second half and Wayne Henry a behind as Gormandale threatened to run away with the contest.
Woodside’s Matt Scholz responded with one of his three goals to halt Gormandale’s run and eventually reel the margin back to two straight kicks.
In a solid passage of play Josh Griffin and Scholz combined to find Justin Staley, but he ran off the mark to kick the ball out of bounds on the full.
Gormandale’s Toby Bye missed an early chance to extend the lead after three-quarter-time before Scholz got one back for the visitors as the intensity of the contest lifted.
The Tigers’ backline had little trouble drawing the ball forward with Ivey booting his fifth major.
Both sides had their chances in an error-riddled final 15 minutes of play with Woodside’s Adam Adamo reeling the margin back to two points following a long goal on the run.
However, Gormandale held on to record a 12.9 (81) to 11.12 (78) victory.
Boisdale-Briagolong v Sale City
SALE City returned to the winner’s list when it recorded its third win of the season with a 10-goal victory against Boisdale-Briagolong.
Little separated the sides in a tough opening half, however it was all one-way traffic after the main change with the Dogs kicking eight majors to one to record a confidence-boosting victory.
After snatching victory last round the Bombers faded out of the contest to register only 1.4 (10) in the second half.
Nick Grainger and Luke Hedger scored six and four goals respectively, with coach Joel Brayshaw leading from the front in a best on ground performance.
