Carisbrook v Navarre
Navarre made it 36 wins on the trot when it overcame kicking woes to defeat Carisbrook by 47 points - 15.19 (109) to Carisbrook’s 9.8 (62).
Navarre had the home side on the ropes from the opening bounce but frittered away countless chances with five straight behinds before best on ground Bryce Tickner goaled.
Tickner was in everything throughout and finished with two goals.
The visitors played with a far more committed system and always had support to clear the ball from congestion and open the play for their forwards to operate.
Leading by 12 points at quarter time, Navarre’s poor finishing kept Carisbrook in the game.
Carisbrook began a comeback of sorts in the second quarter and reduced the Grasshoppers’s lead to just five points at half time 6.11 (47) to 6.6 (42).
Tickner, Ash Driscoll and Cody Driscoll were busy for Navarre as Josh Fowkes led the ruck.
Nick Wright was good early for Carisbrook as were Ben Kick and Riley Herd while Matthew Bilton was also prominent up forward.
The third quarter saw Navarre shut the Carisbrook forward line down keeping the Redbacks scoreless for the term while managing three goals from seven scoring shots.
Navarre took a 26 point lead into the last quarter – 9.15 (69) to 6.7 (43).
Tickner was unstoppable around the centre and also roamed from the backline to forward kicking goals and finding team mates with well weighted kicks.
Navarre extended its lead to 43 points before Carisbrook restored some respect with two goals to Bilton and a single to Travis Cornwill.
Ben Scott popped up when needed for Navarre finishing with three goals while Billy Parry was solid across half back.
Brent Flood was the general in the back half as his side slammed on six final quarter goals to register a big win.
For Carisbrook there were few shining lights with Bilton’s five goals a stand out while Jakob Tidyman and Ash Robinson tried hard all day.
Natte Bealiba v Royal Park
Natte Bealiba has strengthened its grip on the MCDFNL's top four spot, with the Swans downing a lacklustre Royal Park by 49 points on Saturday.
The Swans outclassed their closest rivals for fourth place, 15.8 (98) to 6.13 (49), putting the Tigers two games behind, and almost closing the door on their top four aspirations.
Led by classy midfielder Ash Evans, Natte burst out of the blocks in the opening quarter with a five-goal deluge, and establishing a 26-point lead by the first break. They managed to maintain that advantage throughout the second quarter, heading into the main break with a handy lead. Not satisfied with just winning however, Natte coach Shane Green implored his charges to make a statement, and that they did, drilling home five third-term goals, while restricting their opponents to just two behinds. A four-goal to three final term was the nail in Bushy's coffin, with the Swans racking up a handy victory ahead of finals time.
Small forward Ryan Weir proved he is as dangerous as ever up forward, booting four goals for Natte, backed up by Zac Perez (three), Brent Mortlock and Lachlan Cameron (two each). Matte's best players in an impressive team effort were Evans, defender Kurt Mortlock, Stephen Ross and Daniel Gifford.
Jake Pring's two goals were the only multiples for Royal Park, who were best served by Stefan Pye, James Sutherland, Ben Clay and Chris Morley.
Newstead v Maldon
Five goals from Newstead utility Ben Krol proved to be a match winning performance against arch rivals Maldon in a very hard fought contest on Saturday as the Roos won their third game in succession, defeating the Bombers by nine points.
Krol had the ball on a string up forward and was very difficult for the Bomber defenders to negate and also brought many other players into the game around him.
The game was in the balance all day, with only a kick separating the teams at each break in proceedings. Newstead, though, were able to hold onto their slight advantage at each break to keep Maldon at bay and record an impressive win.
Krol was the key to the win, but he was well supported by Courtney Brown and big Oscar Lynzaat who is developing into a player of the future as is Joel Smith who was again amongst the Steaders better players in another impressive performance.
Josh Hutchinson played one of his better games of the season for the Bombers as did Bryce Roberts, and Nick Kelly was another who took it up the Steaders, while Shaun Burchell and Jamie Cox both contributed around the goal mouth with three goals apiece.
Newstead 13.12.90 def Maldon 12.9.81
Dunolly v Avoca
There has been a number of close games between Dunolly and Avoca in recent seasons with the luck falling in Avoca’s favour, and Saturday’s match at Deledio Oval on Saturday was no exception with the Bulldogs managing to get over the line by eighteen points.
After an even opening term, Avoca managed to gain a twelve point advantage at half time and then maintained the upper hand on the scoreboard for the remainder of the game, but it was certainly no easy win as the Eagles made them work for the entire game to earn a hard fought win.
Haydn and Xavier Slater were key players in the Bulldogs victory as was Taylor Hall and Toby Beavis who has been in good form for the Bulldogs of late. Bulldogs defender Ben Howell showed that he is also a very capable player up forward and his three goals was also a key factor in the Bulldogs victory.
The versatile Justin Laird again proved difficult to negate up forward kicking three goals for the Eagles, but it was Steven Shovan and Jamie Townsend that were the better players, while Grant Raven and Joe Thompson were others to come under notice.
The Bulldogs have kept their final eight hopes alive and well now face their arch rival Natte-Bealiba in a do or die game at Avoca next Sunday.
Avoca 11.11.77 def Dunolly 9.6.60
Last Modified on 10/08/2015 11:21