PYRAMID Hill continued their recent winning form with an 85-point demolition of fellow finals aspirants Inglewood at the weekend.
The 18.17 (125) to 5.10 (40) victory is the fourth straight win for last year’s runners-up, who maintain a spot inside the top three as the Loddon Valley season approaches the halfway mark.
Senior coach Nathan Fitzpatrick was pleased with a dominant first half, when the Bulldogs kicked 12 goals to one.
“We had some really good ball movement going and rather than just bombing it forward, we were able to nail our forward entries and give our forwards a good look,” Fitzpatrick said.
“The second half was a bit more of a scrap and Inglewood did a pretty good job, they were brave with their ball movement and ran really well.
“Potentially a couple of our boys might have put the cue in the rack after half-time, but once (Inglewood) kicked a couple of goals in a row, we clicked back into gear.
“It was a little bit disappointing in that sense, but it was a very solid first half which helped set the game up.”
Braidy Dickens (five goals) and Zach Alford (four) were among the Bulldogs’ better players up forward, while midfielder Steven Gunther and defender Tom McGregor continued their good form to start the season to also be in the best.
Brothers Liam and Jonty Marciano were both among Inglewood’s better players, their speed and ball smarts causing the Bulldogs’ onballers problems throughout the afternoon, while Luke Matheson, Jed Rouse and Daniel Polack were also named in the Blues’ best.
But while the Bulldogs may have been the big winners, most of the league’s attention continues to be on the intriguing goalkicking battle being waged between Bears Lagoon-Serpentine’s Josh Mellington and Bridgewater sharpshooter Lachlan Sharp.
The pair booted 17 and 20 goals respectively in their clubs’ massive wins over Maiden Gully-YCW and Mitiamo.
Mellington’s 17-goal haul leaves him 13 goals shy of bringing up the century in his first season for the second-placed Bears.
The former Fremantle forward was unstoppable in the 127-point win over MGYCW, 23.7 (145) to 2.6 (18), the sixth time he’d kicked at least 10 goals from his eight appearances.
While Sharp is 26 goals behind Mellington in the goalkicking tally, he has had an extraordinary first seven games for the Mean Machine since joining from Strathfieldsaye.
Sharp’s 20-goal haul came in a 181-point win against the Superoos, 34.10 (214) to 4.9 (33).
It was a career-best performance from the Bridgewater co-coach, who became just the third player to kick 20 goals or more in a single match in the LVFNL in the past 40 years.
The result further tightened Bridgewater’s grip on a place in the top four, while Mitiamo remain in search of their first win.
In the round’s closest match, Newbridge kept their hopes of securing fifth spot alive with a 15.14 (104) to 11.4 (70) win over Calivil United.
The Maroons proved too strong for the Demons over the final 30 minutes of the match, kicking six of the last seven goals to run over the top an opposition who led by two points at the final break.
