East Brighton continued their brilliant start to the season with a big win over Hampton, 16.25-121 to 2.3-15, at Hurlingham Reserve. The Vampires slugged it out in the opening twenty minutes before they really hit their straps in the second quarter, booting 4.4 to open up a 45 point lead at half time.
With the game as good as won, the second half followed a fairly similar tale with the home side continuing to flex their muscles against the battling Hammers. James McNamara, Mark Jamieson and Nathan Foster all hit the scoreboard more than once and James Farley-Smith was excellent all game.
Ben Lewis and Madden Griffin the bright sparks for the Hammers in an otherwise bleak afternoon. The loss was soured further for the visitors with co-captain Aiden Gajanovic going down with an apparent hamstring injury.
Keysborough bounced back from last week's narrow loss, shaking off a determined Murrumbeena outfit 12.14-86 to 4.9-33. It was a scrappy first half, with inaccurate kicking plaguing both teams with just three goals and a whopping 16 behinds put on the scoreboard. But the Burras stepped it up a level after the main break, booting ten goals to three to run away with a convincing win.
Matt Carnelley the standout up front for the home side with a haul of seven majors in addition to some Tim Werner brilliance who finished with three goals.
Hampton Park made it two on the trot in their close victory over Caulfield, the home side overturning a half time deficit to salute in a brilliant game of Division 2 football. The Bears made all the running in the first quarter, kicking four goals to nil to open up a handy buffer. The Redbacks bit back in the second stanza with four majors but it was nullified with the visitors managing to sneak through three themselves.
With a 17 point lead at half time, Caulfield would’ve been well pleased with proceedings however the third term saw the match turned on its head. The Redbacks playing some inspiring football, clocked up five goals to one to snatch the lead with a crucial last quarter to follow.
A see-sawing final term saw both sides trade goal for goal in a tense finish. Ultimately however the Redbacks were able to hold out until the death, notching up their second ripping win in a row 12.13-85 to 11.8-74. Peter Dye was key for the home side again with five goals and was well supported by Aaron Holden and Josh Craig.
The loss is a bitter pill for the Bears to swallow, making it the second week in a row they’ve blown winning positions. Nonetheless there’s plenty of upside in this side and their first win shouldn’t be too far around the corner.
Skye locked in third place on the ladder with their second victory of the season, the visitors taking the four points against Heatherton 13.14-92 to 5.5-35. The Tunners, desperate to avoid three losses in a row, were expected to put up a good fight but it was the Bombers who fired in the first half to open up a six goal lead.
The second half petered out as expected with Skye never losing their firm grip on the contest. Ben Khongbut was in the goals once again with three and Thomas Heuston had a day out.
The final match of round saw Springvale Districts once again lay rest to a challenger, the Demons proving too good for Chelsea Heights 11.9-75 to 5.6-36. The visitors started impressively, taking an early lead in the first quarter before slowly the Districts started to get on top.
Trailing by just nine points at the long break ,Chelsea Heights would’ve been confident of finishing strongly but it was the premiership favourite who stepped it up in the premiership quarter. The home side kicking a couple of goals to open up a crucial lead in a low scoring game. The last quarter followed a similar theme as once again Springy managed to find the answers when it mattered most. Key forward Matt Wetering was dominant for District with five goals and Peter Heng continued his solid form.
