Nar Nar Goon top ladder
Nar Nar Goon and Garfield recorded strong wins to sit atop the West Gippsland football ladder following the completion of the split round on Saturday.
The Goon, who are aiming to achieve big things this season, overcame a slow start to easily account for Korumburra/Bena 16-10 (106) to 5-6 (36).
While Korumburra/Bena showed positive signs in the first half, leading at the first break and trailing by just one goal at the half, the same old story emerged in the second half as the Giants could only manage one goal for the remainder of the afternoon.
The Goon pressed the advantage with five majors in the third term to take a comfortable 33point buffer into the final change and went on with it with six goals to nil in the final term to roll on to a big win.
While had been made of Leongatha premiership players Aaron Hillberg and Cade Maskill returning to the club, neither took the field on Saturday as the Giants rolled out a similar side to the young team that finished in the bottom rungs of the ladder last season.
Missing veteran midfielder Scott Braithwaite also didn’t help the Giants cause.
Troy McDermott and Todd Beck provided headaches for the Giants defence, kicking seven goals between them.
Former Gippsland Power player Trent Armour showed his class in a best afield effort, while Sam Blackwood, Jacob Sweeney and Daniel Battaglin were other key players in a strong first up effort for the Goon.
Michael Cooke troubled the Goon early, finishing with three goals, but the Giants couldn’t ultimately sustain their first half effort.
Alex Johnston, Bailey Patterson, Nicholas Besley, Dylan Muir, Joshuah Hill and Brock Dorling battled against the odds for the Giants.
Stars shine
Garfield made a positive start to its season under new coach Hayden Stanton, with the Stars easily accounting for a young Bunyip side 18-11 (119) to 7-9 (51).
Despite a second quarter lapse that let the Bulldogs back into the contest, the Stars re-emerged focussed following the half time break to produce a strong second half to run out easy victor.
The Stars had made a strong start to the contest, kicking five goals to two in the first quarter, before the Bulldogs cut the margin to just one goal at the long break.
In pleasing signs for coach Stanton, the Stars responded in spectacular fashion with eight goals to one in the third term to put paid to any hopes the Bulldogs may have had for a first up win.
The Stars added three goals to one behind in the final term to ease to a big win.
Scoring was shared for the Stars with 10 goal scorers, led by Adam Macgibbon and Daniel Johnson with three majors apiece.
Jayden Goumas, Rhys Murphy, Corie Intveen , Tim Vrevc and Jonathon Sauze were also influential in a strong three quarter effort from the Stars, who showed signs of potential improvement on their five wins from 2017.
Next week’s match against Nar Nar Goon should give a good indication of where the Stars are at.
Damien Szwaja, Brad Walker, Ben Stewart, Nathan Allen, Jordan Wyatt and Jason Fisher were the better players for the Bulldogs.
Bunyip coaches Ricky Clark and Austinn Jones will be hoping their side can take more of the positive second quarter form into this week’s match against their former side Cora Lynn.
Panthers pounce
Kilcunda Bass showed that it has recruited strongly with a comfortable victory over 2017 finalist Dalyston, 15-10 (100) to 10-13 (73).
In what had been an enthralling contest to threequarter-time, the Panthers kicked five goals to two in the final term to run away with it and move into third on the ladder.
The Magpies had made the early running, holding a narrow advantage throughout the first half before the Panthers turned it around.
Four goals to two in the third term handed the Panthers a 10point advantage at the final change, and from there they never looked back.
James Phillips finished with four goals, while Jake Calvert, Taylor Gibson, Luke Callander, Jake Smith and Aiden Paton were all influential in the outcome.
Kristian Butler, Kainen Schrape, Kurt Thomas, Clay Tait, Tylah Osbaldeston (three goals) and Matt Rosendale ensured the Magpies remained in the contest.
The Panthers will look to continue their winning form when they take on the lowly Korumburra/Bena, while the Magpies will aim to bounce back when they host Phillip Island.
Demons in five
Inverloch-Kongwak and Koo wee rup round out the top five after completing victory over Cora Lynn and Phillip Island respectively on Easter Saturday.
The Sea Eagles continued their celebrations of unfurling their premiership flag, while the Demons overcame a determined Bulldogs side at Cowes.
The Sea Eagles and Demons will square off in what is expected to be an enthralling contest at Denhams Road on Saturday.