Bendigo Advertiser | GOLDEN Square and Gisborne have made a habit of providing thrilling contests over the years, but Saturday’s one-sided battle at MyJet Oval shouldn’t come as any great surprise.
After all, Golden Square had gone into the round 13 clash with six more wins and is tuning up for a tilt at the Bendigo Football League premiership in September, while Gisborne is in the midst of a rebuilding year.
The result was an 80-point win to Golden Square as it prevailed 19.14 (128) to 7.6 (48) in a rare Bulldog battle blowout.
“It was really pleasing to get a contribution from everyone and overall, we were happy with the performance today,” Golden Square coach Nick Carter said.
As well as being led superbly by star trio Travis Baird, Corey Jones and Jack Geary, two key factors in Golden Square’s comfortable win was its ability to make the most of its chances inside 50 and it’s control of the stoppages.
Square belted Gisborne 36-13 at the stoppages as it was constantly able to get the ball going its way, with the trend set from the opening quarter.
And up forward Golden Square generated 33 scores from its 45 inside 50 entries.
While Gisborne struggled for quality ball going inside 50 and was heavily reliant up forward on Matt Knox (three goals) and Ben Sonogan, Golden Square had 11 players kick goals.
The game was over at half-time after Golden Square produced a second-quarter surge on the back of a competitive first term.
Golden Square led by nine points at quarter-time, but by half-time the margin had grown to 48 after Square piled on 7.3 to 1.0.
Geary kicked three second-term goals for Square, while Jones was at his creative best, with even his mis-kicks – like the one that landed with Blayne Ryan-Storey - creating goal-scoring opportunities.
Square added another 6.1 to 1.2 in the third term, with the margin growing to as many as 93 points during the final quarter, before Gisborne kicked three of the last four goals of the game.
Gisborne’s cause wasn’t helped by Ethan Minns limping off the ground early in the game with a knee problem and not returning, while Trent Crosbie was reported and yellow-carded for 15 minutes after a collision with Phil Ryan in the first term.
“We competed well early, but after that we lost confidence and played into Golden Square’s hands,” Gisborne coach Rod Sharp said.
• Match statistics:
Centre clearances: Golden Square 15; Gisborne 14.
Inside 50s: Golden Square 45; Gisborne 39.
Stoppages: Golden Square 36; Gisborne 13.
