WINCH COACH SEES BLUES SKIES AHEAD

GDFL

WINCHELSEA has made a bold statement in the GDFL premiership race after handing Bell Post Hill its largest defeat in more than three years.

After convincing wins over fellow top-three contenders Thomson and Bannockburn in April, the Blues arrived as a legitimate contender on Saturday after beating the reigning premiers by 50 points, 15.18 (108) to 8.10 (58).

The Blues broke the game wide open in the third quarter, extending their 16-point halftime lead into a 10-goal advantage by the final break on the back of eight third-term goals.

For senior coach Brendan Forssman, who last week resigned for a third season in 2019, his side’s 7-1 start is a fur- ther step forward after a 6-1-11 record in his maiden season last year.

“We understand that it’s only Round 8 and that there’s still a lot of footy to be played over the next 10-12 weeks,” Forssman said.

“But today gives the boys a bit of confidence that our best footy is right around the mark.”

Defender Alex Gubbins proved versatile off halfback, recording 14 disposals in the opening term alone to help secure his side’s 23-point lead at the first break.

“He’s (Gubbins) been leading by example each week and he and Clinton Place do a great job as co-captains,” Forssman said.

Gubbins, who played almost 100 GFL games for Grovedale, was electric off halfback all game, taking crucial intercept marks throughout the match.

He, along with an even spread of contributors, kept the Panthers to their lowest away score since Round 3, 2015.

The absence of Inverleigh spearhead Jak Kennedy-Hunt (quad) and Panther Nick Costello (unavailable) also allowed Winchelsea youngster Will Ford to sit equal top on the GDFL’s goalkicking leaderboard with 31.

His energetic leads against GDFL interleague defenders Cam Addie (first half) and then Beau McNamara shows the type of attributes that has him in Team of the Year contention.

“Our forwards are all mobile, so it’s important that we’re all on the move and we didn’t want to just be standing there engaging in a wrestle,” Forssman said.

“We’re not reliant on Will, we’ve had a good spread of goal-kickers, so if Will has a quiet day then we have other guys that can pop up and snag a few goals as well.”

The absence of dual club best-and-fairest Jackson Smith (wrist) has been covered in the middle, not only by playmakers Caleb Brown and Joseph Fama but also Heath Walsh Jr after an injury-plagued 2017 season.

“We’ve worked really hard with Heath and we made no secret that what he did last year was always going to be a stepping stone into this year,” Forssman rssman said.

“He did d a lot of (fitness) work with James es Tsitas and he’s reaping those rewards now.

“He’s obviously a dangerous player when he gets in the space as well.”

Now that the Blues have put an end to their eight-year drought over the Panthers, which included last year’s 165point loss under lights, they will try to tame Inverleigh in 12 days.

“The most important game of our season is next week against East Geelong, so it’s really important that we make sure we’re ready to go,” Forssman said.

“We cannot afford to take our focus away from East Geelong at this stage.”

J. Myles 7, B. Jacques 4, P. Knott 3, B. Miller 2, T. Arklay, B. Watts, C. Jervies, M. Tyquin.

A. Beath 3, A. Hann 2, D. Witney 2, T. Jones 2, J. Kirwood, L. Cornwell.

M. Tyquin, D. Smith, L. Peters, J. Myles, T. Bath, P. Knott.

D. Witney, A. Beath, D. Banister, J. Baker, T. Jones, W. Scott.

Belmont Lions — Best: Bannockburn — Belmont Lions — WERRIBEE CENTRALS 3.1 6.6 11.11 17.12 (114) NORTH GEELONG 5.5 8.6 9.9 10.13 (73) Goals: Werribee Centrals —

C. Mildren-Wright 3, B. Sneddon 3, B. Taylor 3, D. Skinner 2, C. Koutzamanis, D. Boyd, D. Chesterman, N. Johnson, L. Cachia, C. LinehanCunningham.

T. Mathieson 3, S. Richert 2, T. Schwennesen, M. Habib, L. Schwennesen, Z. Schwennesen, S. Kingwell. D. Chesterman, J. Smith, B. Wilson, T. Nyawela, B. Taylor, B. Sneddon. Z. Schwennesen, A. Kilsby, B. Brockenshire, C. Ellmer, D. Fisher, S. Richert.

— North Geelong Best: Werribee Centrals — North Geelong — THOMSON 7.6 13.13 17.18 22.25 (157) CORIO 1.1 2.4 6.6 7.8 (50) Goals: Thomson —

Corio —

Not submitted. J. Large 4, S. Parsons, A. Tucker.

Not submitted. A. Tucker, T. Smith, J. Large, J. Monkivitch.

Best: Thomson — Corio — WINCHELSEA 5.4, 7.8, 14.13, 15.18 (108) BELL POST HILL 1.5, 4.8, 6.9, 8.10 (58) Goals: Winchelsea —

W. Ford 4, M. Sprigg 2, H. Walsh 2, J. Carracher 2, B. Kahle, D. Tucker, J. Fama, T. Berg, F. Inglis.

J. Ettridge 2, M. James, J. Page, J. Carlin, A. Sulics, J. Tarr, L. Horan.

A. Gubbins, K. Brookes, C. Brown, H. Walsh, J. Carracher, D. Harding. A. Sulics, T. Barton, J. Dosen, D. Walve, B. McNamara, S. Lymer.

Bell Post Hill — Best: Winchelsea — Bell Post Hill —