Gippsland Times |
AS expected, Sale was too good for a depleted and inaccurate Bairnsdale side, running out a 92-point winner.
The Gippsland League football leaders won 23.12 (150) to 7.16 (58) on Sunday.
The Redlegs were unable to match the Magpies who opened up with a six-goal opening quarter burst and later followed with a nine-goal third quarter.
Despite losing Kane Martin in the first quarter with a leg injury, Sale coach Matt Ferguson was delighted with his team's effort and application to its game plan for all four quarters.
The Magpies' structure worked to perfection as they always had numbers at the fall of the ball, tackled well, and applied constant pressure on the opposition.
The Redlegs were clearly missing captain James Gibbs from their line-up and struggled to hold out Magpies goal scorers Justin McLay and Kane Fraser (who kicked five goals each) and Mitch Davis (four).
Davis and Lochie Todd also turned on a memorable high marking display creating additional headaches for the Redlegs.
The smart Sale defence was once again hard to penetrate with Shane Fyfe appearing to have the ball on a string all day. The defence continually set-up the forward press resulting in 30 inside 50s, leading to numerous scoring opportunities.
Bairnsdale's Beau Haslem and Sale's Jack Lipman shared the ruck hit-outs but the Magpies' midfielders Josh Dunkley, Jamie Sweeney, and Brendan Rathnow won most of the centre clearances.
For Bairnsdale, Luke Dyer and the Ashwood brothers battled away against the odds and Brayden Mitchell and Joel Waters tried hard up forward, but in the end it was a case of how much the Magpies would win by.
Back on track
WONTHAGGI shored up its position in the top five, returning to the winners' list at Moe.
The Power did not concede a goal until the second half as it won by 98 points, 21.20 (146) to 7.6 (48).
Adam Zabella worked hard across the ground all day, while Lucas White kicked eight goals and Aloysio Ferreira-Neto four.
Leigh Sheehan was the Lions' best with Jacob Wood kicking three goals.
Parrots go up
LEONGATHA moved into sixth position after a 45-point win over Warragul.
Leading by just one point at half-time, the Parrots powered away in the second half, kicking 10 goals to three, to win 19.7 (121) to 11.10 (76).
Leongatha's best was Cade Maskell, who, along with Nick Nagel, kicked six goals. Pat McGrath showed his class in the midfield.
For the second week in a row, Mark Collison was the Gulls' best player.
THE split round will conclude next weekend with Maffra hosting Traralgon and Morwell heading to Drouin.
