PYRAMID Hill made the biggest statement in a statement-filled weekend of Loddon Valley football, defeating Calivil United by 200 points.
The 33.22 (220) to 3.2 (20) result is the biggest win under Bulldogs coach Nathan Fitzpatrick.
“Last week was a bit disappointing, but (Bears Lagoon-Serpentine) are a quality side and have picked up some good recruits,” Fitzpatrick said.
“But to bounce back as we did on Saturday against Calivil was really pleasing.
“Right from the start of the game our centre-clearance work was as good as I’ve seen it in my couple of years as coach.
“We were able to get some clean entries and Jesse Sheahan, Zach Alford and Bailey Scott were able to get onto the end of a few of those.
“The other pleasing thing was on the back of those centre clearances, we were able to hold the ball in our forward 50 and then set the ground up pretty well, and made sure it stayed down there until we scored.”
Jesse Sheahan kicked seven majors and was ably assisted by Bailey Scott, who kicked six first-half goals, and Jayden Cowling, who finished with five.
While the ball spent the majority of the day in the Bulldogs’ front half of the ground, Fitzpatrick saved special praise for a key defender.
“Tom McGregor was huge for us at centre half-back,” Fitzpatrick said.
“He was intercepting everything when they were trying to exit their defence.
“I guess we were able to have the ground looking how we wanted it when the ball was inside our forward 50 and put pressure on their ball carriers, which helped us cause turnovers.”
Also among Pyramid Hill’s better players were midfielder Steven Gunther, Gavin James and Ben Knight, while the Demons had Samuel Green, Hamish McGregor, Samuel Maher and coach Anthony Denni among their better players.
Bears Lagoon-Serpentine continued their impressive start under new coach Jake Wilkinson, defeating Inglewood by 58 points.
A seven-goal-to-three opening term had the Blues immediately on the back foot, with Bears full-forward Josh Mellington dominating by kicking 10 goals in the 14.14 (98) to 5.10 (40) victory.
While Mellington produced a clear best-on-ground performance, Bears Lagoon-Serpentine were also well served by ruckman Justin Laird, Doolan Nihill, Josh Taig and Charlie Gadsden.
Bridgewater also continued their unbeaten start with a 95-point belting of Maiden Gully-YCW.
After a competitive opening quarter, the Eagles were never in the hunt after the first change, kicking 17 of the next 21 goals to run away commanding 21.14 (140) to 7.3 (45) winners.
Lachlan Sharp was dominant up forward, kicking 12 goals for Bridgewater in yet another eye-catching display, while Jack Neylon, Boden Alexander, Xavier Walsh and Ben Derrick were named among the Mean Machine’s better players for the second consecutive week.
Reigning premiers Marong easily accounted for Newbridge by 157 points. The Maroons were held to just two goals in yet another dominant defensive display by the Panthers, who had 11 individual goalkickers in the 25.22 (172) to 2.3 (15) win.
