Gippsland Times | SALE lost its first home game in almost four years, going down to Traralgon by 61 points.
The 18.14 (122) to 9.7 (61) loss ended the Magpies' unbeaten run of 29 wins at Sale Oval. The Magpies' previous defeat at Sale was in round 15, 2011 against Leongatha.
Sale was just two wins away from Maffra's Gippsland League record 31-game home unbeaten run, from between 2003 and 2006.
The Magpies had won their previous six encounters against Traralgon, but that ended on Saturday with the Maroons' doubling the home side's score.
Competitive in the first half, the Magpies are at the stage where they just need to keep working hard with a rebuilding process in place.
The Magpies have a good teaching coach in Travis Ronaldson, who will make a difference when he returns to the field from the injury.
The Maroons had match winners in running defenders Jackson Hall, Michael Burge and Adrian Slottje, while forwards Lee Stockdale and Josh Jennings kicked eight goals between them.
In many passages of play, the Magpies looked good and will be working harder to extend the length of those good passages.
Once again the Magpies had several players who worked hard, but for the side to push the top teams, they will need more support.
Tye Morrison was good in the centre, high toughness in the crunches set-up chances for teammates John Gooch and Kane Martin, who was good around the packs.
Shane Fyfe and Joel Wallace worked hard in defence, while Rhys Carter made the most of his chances up forward, kicking three goals. Bohdi Walker chipped in with two goals.
Eagles humble Hawks
MAFFRA rebounded from its first loss of the Gippsland League season last round to account for Drouin by 57 points.
The Eagles won at Drouin 20.16 (136) to 11.13 (79) to move into second position on the ladder.
The Hawks have assembled a vastly improved side in 2015, considering they were beaten by 160 and 214 points in their two clashes against Maffra last season. However, they were clearly outclassed from the outset against a Maffra side which is a premiership chance this year.
The enviable depth of Maffra was on display at the weekend, as it covered the loss of former Port Adelaide listed player Danny Butcher with the inclusion of multiple VFL team of the year player Sam Pleming.
Pleming put on an impressive display in his return to the team where he played as a junior, named among the best players, while also kicking one goal.
Maffra's forwards had a day out with Darren Sheen kicking a handful, while Jacob Heavyside, Daniel Bedggood and David Adams all booted three.
Bob MacCullum was Drouin's best with three goals. Maffra will return home this week to meet premier Morwell. Looking to establish themselves in the top two, the Eagles will go in to the match as favourite, looking for its first win over the Tigers since the 2013 qualifying final.
Parrots account for Redlegs
LADDER leader Leongatha easily accounted for Bairnsdale, continuing its undefeated season with a 58-point win.
The Parrots led at every change, with dominant second and third quarters setting up the 18.8 (116) to 8.10 (58) victory.
Aaron Heppell was named Leongatha's best, while Cade Maskell kicked seven goals.
James Gibbs was dominant in front of goal for Bairnsdale with six majors, however of concern to the Redlegs' coaching staff will be the fact they only had three goal scorers for the day.
The win keeps Leongatha a game clear on top of the table with the Parrots clearly the early premiership favourites. Bairnsdale sits second from the bottom with only one win.
Lions shock Power
MOE made the most of its opportunities to cause an upset six-point win over 2014 grand finalist Wonthaggi.
The Power will be ruing its inaccuracy in front of goal, which saw it lose despite having more scoring shots than the Lions.
Although they trailed at every change, the Lions were always in the game and a six-goal to four final quarter proved enough to secure them their second victory of the year, 17.9 (111) to 15.15 (105).
Adrian Burgiel and Mark Engley were great up forward for Moe, both finishing with four goals, while Adam Cook's five goals weren't enough for Wonthaggi, which has been far from consistent so far this year.
Tigers too tough
MORWELL recorded its second victory of the season with a dominant 72-point win over Warragul at home.
After a tight first quarter, the reigning premiers blew the match apart with eight unanswered goals in the second term. It was a much more even affair after half-time, however the damage had already been done as the Tigers cruised to victory 19.16 (130) to 9.4 (58).
Mannon Johnston kicked five goals, while Daniel Hutchison chipped in with four for the victors.
