After two close losses, Pyramid Hill have finally claimed their first big scalp of the Loddon Valley season, with the Bulldogs accounting for Bridgewater by 53 points on Saturday.
After holding the Mean Machine scoreless for the first quarter, Pyramid Hill, pressing their claims as one of the teams to beat this season, finishing the match with five unanswered last quarter goals on their way to a comfortable 11.9 (75) to 3.4 (22) victory.
On a day when the top four heavyweights all clashed, it was the Bulldogs who made the loudest statement, with their coach Nathan Fitzpatrick aware anything less than a win would have left his team’s season teetering after close losses to Marong and Bears Lagoon-Serpentine in recent weeks.
“We know the top four is going to be tight and we’ve had two big games already and had a couple of honourable losses, so this was a must-win game for us,” Fitzpatrick told the Gannawarra Times.
“We spoke about that as a group, that we weren’t going to sit back and be happy with honourable losses, we didn’t want to drop to 1 and 3 (win-loss record) so it was an important day and the boys nailed it.”
All eyes were on key forward Lachlan Sharp, with the joint league leading goalkicker having booted 35 goals from three games heading into the match.
But after leading Bridgewater to three straight wins, Sharp was held to just one goal for the match, with Bulldogs defender Dylan Morison nullifying his influence to the point Sharp was moved to the wing in the second half.
Tom McGregor was also among the Bulldogs better players, with the key defender instrumental in helping his team lock the ball inside the forward half of the ground according to Fitzpatrick.
“I was impressed with our transition off half back when we were able to cause a turnover, but also our ability to keep the ball inside our attacking 50,” Fitzpatrick said.
“Tom (McGregor) was best on again, he was crucial in holding up the wall.
“We played four pretty solid quarters of footy for the day, the first 20 minutes had a bit of heat in it and there were plenty of contests, stoppages and pressure.
“But as the game wore on, we were able to get some good ball movement going and get the game played on our terms and give our forwards some good looks.”
Bryden Morison was among the Bulldogs better players, with the midfielder dominant around the stoppages, while Gavin James across half back, Adrian Holland in the ruck and Damon Hemphill were in the win.
Lee Coghlan worked hard around the contest for Bridgewater, while Joseph Mayes was strong across half back and intercepted many of the Bulldogs forward entries. But the Mean Machine had too few contributors to trouble the home side, with Bridgewater struggling to penetrate their forward 50 for much of the afternoon.
Reigning premiers Marong were the other big winners from the weekend, with the Panthers extending their unbeaten streak to 36 matches, with a 38-point win over top four challengers Bears Lagoon-Serpentine.
Josh Mellington moved to outright top in his goal kicking battle with Sharp, with the Bears’ full-forward kicking six goals for the afternoon. But he was unable to affect the result as Marong led at every change on their way to a 20.5 (125) to 13.9 (87) victory.
The win came at a cost however, with Michael Bradbury (collarbone), Matt Riordan (hamstring) and Kyle Manley (nose) all suffering game ending injuries for the Panthers.
Calivil United also had cause to celebrate after registering their first win, with the Demons defeating Mitiamo by 26 points at home.
The win elevated Anthony Dennis’s men to sixth on the ladder and on the cusp of breaking into the top five, with Dennis leading his team to the 15.10 (100) to 11.8 (74) victory with a game high four goals and best on ground honours.
The final match of round 4 also saw Inglewood break through for their first win, with the Blues defeating Newbridge by 25 points and climbing inside the top five and ahead of Calivil United on percentage.
Keelan Payne booted five goals for the winners in the 14.11 (95) to 10.10 (70) result, with Daniel Polack, Luke Matheson and both Will Allen’s among Inglewood’s better players.
