FOOTBALL
GIPPSLAND POWER
A recharged Gippsland Power side fronted for Sunday’s TAC Cup round six clash with the Sandringham Dragons and stacked on 20 goals on their wEay to a resounding 109-point victory, 20.18 (138) to 4.5 (29).
The home side was bolstered by the return of key play-makers Austin Hodge, Rylan Henkel and Harvey Neocleous and fired from the first bounce with Boadie Motton laying claim to the first of his side’s six first-term goals.
A 31-point lead at quarter time ballooned to 48 at the main break, but the Dragons were let off the hook by Power’s errant kicking which gave them just four second-quarter goals from 19 inside 50 entries.
The game was well and truly blown open in the third term with Gippsland piling on seven goals to one to head into the last quarter with a match-winning 86-point buffer.
Coach Leigh Brown struggled to single out any standout performers in the wake of the big win and labelled it Gippsland’s first complete game of the season.
“It was a fantastic win against a quality opposition, and the most pleasing part was that everyone contributed and we played across four quarters,” Brown said.
“It was [hard to pick the best players], and we’ve got six in the votes but it could have been any one of most of the boys.
“We’ve probably played in spits and spurts throughout the season … we’ve had a good quarter here and there and not been able to put a four-quarter performance together, but to do that today and finish off how we did … I thought we shared the ball around really well and played with some speed and intensity.”
Skipper Xaiver Duursma continued to lead by example and amassed more than 20 contested possessions for Power while Sam Flanders, Boadie Motton and Noah Gown were also effective.
Flanders and Austin Hodge both booted four for Power in the win while Harvey Neocleous scored three and Josh Smith two.
Power will travel this weekend to take on Greater Western Victoria Rebels in round eight.
