By Nicholas Duck
Some nearby neighbours teed off at one another this week in the Gippsland League with one battler securing a much-needed win.
Here's what you might have missed this week.
Sale vs Bairnsdale
Sale secured their second win of the year in dramatic fashion with a hard fought five-point victory over Bairnsdale, putting a dent in the Redlegs' finals hopes in the process. The Magpies fought back from an early deficit before having to hold on themselves late, a last-minute set shot from Redleg Hugh Longbottom missing the mark and allowing the home side to prevail 12.11 (83) to 11.12 (78).
It was the win the Magpies desperately needed to restore some confidence after their first six games yielded just one win against bottom side Drouin.
Especially pleasing was the fight they showed to work their way back into the contest after conceding six of the first seven goals.
Vice captain Cooper Whitehill rose to the occasion in the middle to be Sale's best for the day.
Ashton Wright put in a commanding stint defensively while Will Leslie, Kane Cutler, Shannen Lange and Jack Leslie all contributed.
After fighting their way in front the Magpies looked home and hosed after Lange bounced through a quick kick from long range to go 18 points up.
Oscar Clarke gave the Redlegs a spark with a nice mark and goal before that spark turned into a fire thanks to Jamie Dore running in another moments later – his fifth of the day.
Hugh Longbottom's mark in the pocket threatened to level the scores with a minute left only for the shot to drift wide, allowing Sale to hold on.
It's a missed opportunity for the Redlegs, who could have moved into the five had they brought home the four points.
Outside of Dore their best were Ricky Tatnell, Cooper Vickery – playing his first game of the year thanks to Carlton's bye in the VFL – Will Mitchell, Joshua Lando and Oscar Clarke.
Morwell vs Moe
Moe enjoyed a comfortable 44-point win over neighbours Morwell to maintain top spot on the Gippsland League ladder.
The Lions were forced to withstand an early barrage of inside 50s from the Tigers before launching their own devastating counterattack, proving far too classy past quarter time to run away with the game 13.14 (92) to 7.6 (48).
Ben Crocker again helped himself to another heap of goals, this time booting seven to extend his lead atop the league's goalkicking.
Having booted bags of eight, eight and seven over his past three outings he's become the first player in the league to kick seven or more goals in three consecutive games since Traralgon's Paul McCulloch in 1994.
Crocker was hardly the only Lion Morwell struggled to deal with as the visitors were stung into action after a lacklustre first term to put the Tigers to the sword.
While they didn't get the reward on the scoreboard the opening stanza belonged to the Tigers, who had plenty of looks at the big sticks.
From there the Lions clicked into gear, showing why right now they're the team to beat.
Recruits Myles Poholke and Nathan Scagliarini were imposing at all times, the former bring a big factor in repelling Morwell's early forays forward and the latter proving powerful in the midfield.
Ben Daniher and Harry Pepper (two goals) were lethal with their disposal as tall timber Chris Prowse and Declan Keilty ruled the roost in the air.
Effort's never been Morwell's issue but right now it looks like effort alone isn't going to be enough to stop the Lions this year.
With other results going their way the Tigers have retained their spot in the five – just.
Anthony Rosato, Stephen Mills, Aidan Quigley, Joshua Galea, Boyd Bailey and Sam Walsh were their better players.
Drouin vs Leongatha
Drouin's month from hell finished with another dose of pain in a 135-point flogging from Leongatha.
Trips to Parrot Park aren't easy at the best of times and Drouin, a club trying to work their way through plenty of challenges, felt the full force of just how rough they can be.
The Hawks were held to just one goal after half time in the 3.4 (22) to 23.19 (157) shellacking. It's their third consecutive loss by a margin in the triple digits as they've been forced to tussle with three bona fide premiership contenders in as many matches. Drouin showed some positive signs early in the day, particularly in the fight around the ball in the first term, but the difference in forward line firepower was laid bare for all to see, especially as the day wore on.
A scoreless last term for the Hawks compounded their issues, the Parrots pouring in 8.6 in that time to give themselves a healthy percentage boost in the race for the top three.
Signs weren't great early with the outs the Hawks had, including senior regulars Seb Amoroso and Jarrod Marshall.
Add in the fact they couldn't train on Thursday night due to a power outage at Bellbird Park and it's hardly the ideal preparation.
The debut of recruit Denver Lund, a 203cm ruck/forward from Frankston’s VFL list, helped to cover things a little.
Kaiden Walmsley flew the flag for the visitors in defence, helping to limit Parrots spearhead Jenson Garnham to two goals and limited influence on the day despite the flurry of inside 50s coming his way.
Max Williames continues to develop playing a variety of roles around the ground and Caleb Quirk's second and third efforts were to be commended in the midfield and backline.
Big man Tomas Unferdorben, Kaden Gregg and Zayne Atkins also kept their effort and intensity up even in the face of an imposing opposition.
An opposition that had few losers on the day, mind you. The Parrots have been here before, done this kind of thing plenty and just aren't a team that drops their guard for these kinds of games.
Veteran superstar Tom Marriott wound back the clock for the home side, putting on a vintage performance with 32 disposals and four goals out of the middle to go with them. Marriott's achieved just about everything the Gippsland League has to offer and even in the twilight of his career it's not hard to see why.
Luke Bowman was as effective as ever while Justin Pellicano created plenty of chaos up forward as he matched Marriott's four big ones.
Benjamin Harding, winger Jack Hume and contested ball magnet Kim Drew rounded out the Parrots' top performers.
Good starts have eluded the Hawks throughout the year and that issue hit them again on Saturday when Leongatha reeled off the first five goals of the day, all through different avenues.
Unferdorben was able to break the shackles for the visitors at the 26-minute mark, taking advantage of a free kick further afield to run in a simple major.
The second term played out in much the same way, Leongatha booting four more before a holding free to Cody Fleming gave him the Hawks' second before half time.
Whatever good defensive work Drouin had been putting in to that stage began to fade away as the match went on with Marriott and company taking full toll.
By the final term came around it was one-way traffic, the young Hawks helpless to stop one of the league's best in full flight.
Coach Leigh Horsburgh described it as "another tough day at the office for us."
"They're the best structured side we've played in my opinion," he said.
Despite the defeat, Horsburgh lauded the efforts of his underage players, particularly Williames.
"In my almost 20 years of coaching he's the best underage player I've coached."
With three demoralising games now behind them the fixture opens up a little more for Drouin now. A game against Maffra at Trafalgar this week with the troops set to return could be a chance for a breakthrough victory.
Cover Image: Wazshots
