Top teams dominate in under 18s
The top teams dominated in the under 18s, none more so than reigning premier Catani who began their tune up for the finals with a thumping win over a struggling Nyora.
The Blues kicked four goals to one in the first term and could have enjoyed a greater advantage had they converted better than a return of 4-5.
Seven goals in the second quarter killed the contest, opening a 70-point advantage.
The Saints improved in the second half to kick three goals, but the Blues continued to score heavily with 14 second half goals.
Lauchlan Gregson was a force the Saints couldn’t stop.
Barely moving from the goal square, the big forward used his strength to overpower Nyora defenders and finish with 17-3 of his sides’ 2517 (167).
He well and truly outscored the Saints, who finished with 4-1.
Ryan Smith, Lucas Kallady, Josh Seppings, Geordie Wells and Thomas Gowans set up opportunities for Gregson to assert his dominance.
Lincoln Brock, Lachlan Fievez, Travis Stewart, Ben Lineham, Jack Felton and Jai McNaughton battled against the odds for the Saints.
Buln kick away
Buln Buln kicked away in the final term to comfortably account for Ellinbank, 10-8 (68) to 5-9 (39).
The Eagles took a one-point lead into the final change and kept in touch, trailing by just seven points at the final change.
The Lyrebirds broke the shackles in the final term, converting four straight while restricting Ellinbank to two behinds to run away with it.
Chad Hall kicked four goals, while Kyan Willis, Flynn O’Reilly, Bailey Wright, Marko Kulas and Jai Pitkin were also influential.
Jake Tyers, Isaac Taylor, Lachlan Hedrick, William Robertson and Brydon Price helped keep the Eagles in the contest until threequarter-time.
Magpies swoop Tigers
Poowong kicked away in the second half to comfortably account for Lang Lang, 12-9 (81) to 3-8 (26).
Four Poowong players could be seen running from the gate straight to the interchange bench at the five-minute mark as they scrambled to return from the under 16 catch up game at Catani.
It didn’t seem to affect the Magpies too much, who led from start to finish.
The Tigers were again able to hang in for the first half, trailing by 14-points at the long break. But again the floodgates opened, the Magpies scoring seven goals to one after half time.
Jye Loughridge and Daniel Simons each kicked three goals, while Mitchel Van’T Hof, Darcy Loughridge, Ben Clarke and Lachlan De Kleuver also helped the Magpies kick away.
Mason Koffman, Jackson McDonnell, Jye Stephens, Brad Ventura and Terry Kirkham led a competitive first half from the Tigers.
Dusties forfeit
With nine players unavailable, the Warragul Industrials were forced to forfeit their match against Neerim-Neerim South.