THE Loddon Valley big four all continued to flex their muscles despite the wet weather at the weekend, with Bears Lagoon-Serpentine, Pyramid Hill, Bridgewater and Marong each recording strong wins.
The Bears claimed their fifth straight win and eighth of the season defeating Inglewood by 57 points despite the absence of star goalkicker Josh Mellington.
The Loddon Valley’s leading goalkicker is set to be stuck 93 goals for the season after undergoing surgery to repair the hamstring he tore a week earlier.
Bears coach Jake Wilkinson confirmed the news after the team’s 13.9 (87) to 4.6 (30) win on Saturday.
“Unfortunately he’s required surgery so it looks like he’s done for the year,” Wilkinson said.
“It’s unfortunate for him, considering he’s played really well and loved coming to the club, but the boys have got around him this week and we’ll continue to do so.
“There’s a small chance he may get back right at the end of the season, but it’s a hamstring tendon tear and it would be unlikely.”
Wilkinson was impressed by his team’s ability to hit the scoreboard despite the inclement weather making ball movement and control difficult.
“It was a bit of a slog with the wet weather, but it was nice to come away with a really good win,” he said.
“Kicking the score we did in those conditions was really positive, we had a lot more inside 50s and shots on goal, and we controlled that area of the ground, but our tackle pressure was quite high as well.
“That showed us that even if we had the footy more, we were still putting pressure on (Inglewood), which really helped us win the game.
“Wet weather footy goes back to the real basics and that’s what we focused on, just getting your hands on the footy, tackling and winning territory, they were the keys for us.”
Inglewood were without coach Fergus Payne and were outclassed in the first half, with Bears Lagoon-Serpentine having 14 scoring shots in the first half and opening up a 28-point half-time lead.
Centre half-forward Andrew Gladman kicked four goals for the Bears, with Tyler Miles, Farren Priest, Justin Laird and Callum Draper among the home team’s better players.
Cody Stobaus was named the Blues’ best player, ahead of Thomas Kennedy, Luke Matheson and Liam Marciano, while midfielder Daniel Polack and forward Mitchell Conlan, who kicked two goals, were also among the best.
The challenges will continue for the Blues this weekend when they host a Bridgewater side who made light work of Maiden Gully-YCW.
A dominant eight-goal-to-one first quarter set up the Mean Machine’s comfortable 59-point win, 18.8 (116) to 8.9 (57), with Josh Martyn (six goals) and Lachlan Sharp (five) leading the way.
Although MGYCW rallied after quarter-time, the damage had been done, with their slow start costing them any chance of an upset result against the second-placed Bridgewater.
Along with Martyn and Sharp, the Mean Machine’s better players were Jack Symons, Lee Coghlan, Jack Neylon and Jonathon Coghlan, while Josiah Farrer, Matthew Crooks and Mitch Whitham were the best for MGYCW.
Pyramid Hill returned to the winners’ list with an 84-point thrashing of Calivil United, with forward Jesse Sheahan kicking nine goals in a dominant display.
Sheahan was unstoppable up forward in the 21.8 (134) to 7.8 (50) win, with the Bulldogs continuing to keep pace with the top three ahead of this Saturday’s grand final rematch against Marong.
The Panthers also prepared Saturday’s game with a commanding 59-point win over fifth-placed Newbridge, with Marong celebrating key forward Kain Robins’ 450th senior match in style.
The 16.9 (105) to 7.4 (46) win extended the Panthers’ winning streak to 42 consecutive games, with Jack McCaig, Lachlan Lee and Lachlan Frankel their best.
