Grasshoppers win dogged contest against North Bendigo
COLBINABBIN won a hard-fought clash with North Bendigo in Saturday’s senior footy action in the Bendigo Bank Heathcote District Football Netball League.
The Grasshoppers and Bulldogs were chasing consecutive victories after they won the season-opening games the previous weekend.
Defences were well on top for most of the first half.
The Julian Bull-coached Colbinabbin was first to goal through James Brain after he was freed in a marking contest.
The Grasshoppers work at stoppages and then slick hands to break away resulted in the ball being passed to Laine Fitzgerald in the clear to goal for a 15-2 lead by quarter-time.
Both teams were down an interchange rotation by half-time.
North Bendigo was without running half-back Tim Deveraux, hamstring; and Colbo had Seamus Bromley out after a heavy knock.
Run and link off the half-back line by the Hoppers was capped with a snapped goal by Todd Clarke to lead 25-3.
The Robert Bennett-coached Bulldogs broke the deadlock when Zaiyden Richards roved a marking contest and goaled on the run.
By half-time, Colbo led 25-12.
The game was blown apart in the third as the Grasshoppers found plenty of hard-running team-mates in the clear and added 3.3 to a point as James Brain, Jed Brain and Clint Shields were on target.
North Bendigo fought back to win the final term, 19-15 as Dylan Klemm booted two goals and Matt Gray added another.
At the final siren it was Colbo which led 9.13 (67) to 4.8 (32).
Jed Brain was best afield and had great support from Ben Barton, Matt Riordan in defence, ruckman Hadleigh Sirett, the skilful Sam Ryan, and David Price.
Although he did not take as many high-flying grabs, Dylan Klemm’s workrate and competitiveness was a highlight for the Bulldogs as Nic Waterson, Marcus Rogers, ruckman Jeremy Lambden, Jordan Ford and Lachlan Ford were among the best.
Heathcote won three of the four quarters in an 86-61 victory against Huntly on the Saints’ turf at Heathcote’s Barrack Reserve.
The Saints led 26-10 at quarter-time and 46-25 by the main break.
Term three was the most entertaining as Heathcote added 3.4 and the Hawks scored 3.2.
Led by the play of Braden Padmore, Jackson Jones and last season’s club champion, Billy Price it was Heathcote which took the premiership points.
Padmore capped a best afield performance with three goals as Kai Cavallaro and Jackson Jones added two.
The Huntly Hawks had eight individual goalkickers.
Best for the Andrew Saladino-coached Heathcote included Liam Birch, Connor Hamilton and Kai Cavallaro.
Mitchell Christensen, Tyler Miles, Jay McDonald, Connor Aldous, Mitch Billings and Jayden Cordy were best for the Stacy Fiske-coached Huntly.
A first-quarter blitz of 6.6 to 0.2 set up Mount Pleasant’s victory at Elmore.
The Blues and Bloods played in swirling conditions which was reflected by Mounts score of 13.20 (98) to 8.13 (61).
A Michelsen Medallist and premiership star with Golden Square, Adam Baird kicked off his second season with the Blues by being best afield.
Baird’s non-stop run and sublime skills set up many of the Mount Pleasant attacks.
Key forward Ben Weightman kicked a match-high four goals for the Blues as Adam Baird, three; and Dean Tyndall, two, were the other multiple goalkickers.
It’s been a tough start for Elmore which played at Colbinabbin under lights in the season-opener and then faced the Darren Walsh and Adam Baird-coached Blues who have netted some quality recruits.
Leading goalkickers for the Bloods were Sebastian De Napoli, three; and co-coach Dylan Friedberger, two.
The Blues’ best included onballer Billy Mahony, new recruit Zane Keighran, Fletcher White, Jesse Tuohey and Ben Weightman.
Matt Gilmour, Matthew Nettleford, co-coach Dylan Gordon, Kyle Armstrong, Sam McHale and Sebastian De Napoli were the Bloods’ best.
Lockington Bamawm United’s winning streak rolled on.
Unbeaten in 2021, LBU started a new season by scoring a 69-point victory against White Hills at the Scott Street ground.
The Cats won a hard-fought opening term, 34-20 and then kept on powering ahead to win 20.12 (132) to 9.9 (63).
Key forward Anthony McMahon kicked six goals in a best afield performance for LBU against the Jack Fallon-coached Demons.
Jesse Collins, Ben Fulford and Rhys Woodland added three goals apiece for the Brodie Collins-coached Cats.
The White Hills attack was led by Bayden Fallon, three; and Mitch Dole, two.
Best for the Cats were McMahon, gun ruckman Tyler Phillips, Joseph Wolfe, Stan Brentnall, Jesse Collins and Luke Collins.
The best for White Hills were Bayden Fallon, Samual Lowes, Rhys Irwin, Tannar Deckert, Nicholas Wallace and Patrick Eefting.
Leitchville Gunbower had the bye.
HDFNL senior footy ladder:
Colbinabbin 233 per cent, 8 points; Lockington Bamawm United 209, 4; Mount Pleasant 160, 4; Heathcote 108, 4; North Bendigo 85, 4; Huntly 70, 0; Elmore 49, 0; White Hills 47, 0; Leitchville Gunbower 0, 0.
Leading goalkickers:
7 Laine Fitzgerald, Colbinabbin; 6 Kai Cavallaro, Heathcote; 6 Dylan Klemm, North Bendigo; 6 Anthony McMahon, Lockington Bamawm; 5 James Brain, Colbinabbin; 5 Sebastian De Napoli, Elmore; 5 Matt Gray, North Bendigo; 5 Braden Padmore, Heathcote; 4 Liam Birch, Heathcote; 4 Jed Brain, Colbinabbin; Todd Clarke, Colbinabbin; 4 Dylan Friedberger, Elmore; 4 Clint Shields, Colbinabbin; 4 Ben Weightman, Mount Pleasant.
After sitting out the first two weekends of the season, Leitchville Gunbower takes to the field on Easter Saturday to play at Huntly at Huntly’s Strauch Reserve.
Other matches on Easter Saturday are Lockington Bamawm United against Heathcote at Lockington; North Bendigo takes on Elmore at Hibo Hotel Oval at North Bendigo’s Atkins Street; and Mount Pleasant faces White Hills at Toolleen.
Colbinabbin has the bye.
Written by Nathan Dole.