Bendigo Advertiser | Review of round 17 of the Heathcote District Football League season. Leitchville-Gunbower was too good for White Hills on Saturday, winning by 83 points.
WHITE HILLS v LEITCHVILLE-GUNBOWER: PHOTOS
Colbinabbin 23.22 (160) d Elmore 4.3 (27).
GRANT Weeks’ blistering form in attack continued for Colbinabbin on Saturday as he snared 15 goals in a 133-point flogging of Elmore in round 17 of the Heathcote District Football League season.
Weeks’ 15 goals leaves the superstar forward needing just one more to reach the 100-mark for the sixth time in his past seven seasons.
The Grasshoppers belted the Bloods 23.22 (160) to 4.3 (27) at Elmore, already having kicked what would have been enough to win the game by quarter-time.
“It was another good effort by Weeksy, but I thought our blokes down the backline were also really good again today as well,” Colbinabbin coach Phil Morgan said.
“We repelled well out of the backline, our midfielders did well out of the centre, so it was a good effort right across the board again.”
Weeks’ 15 goals was his third double figure bag in his past four games for the Grasshoppers, having also kicked 11 against Lockington-Bamawm United in round 14 and 10 against Mount Pleasant in round 12.
While Weeks was one shy of kicking his 100th goal of the season, he had plenty of opportunities, also kicking seven behinds.
The win was Colbianbbin’s eighth in its past nine games, with Weeks, key defender Matt Riordan, Linton Jacobs, David Price, Russell Douglas and Ricky Welch leading the best players.
Riley Hird kicked three of Elmore’s four goals.
The Bloods – who kicked three of their four goals in the third quarter - named Danny Brewster, Jackson Vrendenburg, James Harney and ruckman Jack Hayes their best.
North Bendigo 25.19 (169) d Mount Pleasant 9.10 (64).
A 10-GOAL haul from Brady Herdman helped spearhead North Bendigo to a 105-point win over Mount Pleasant at Superior Roofing Oval.
On the weekend of North Bendigo’s 70th anniversary and Hall of Fame function, the Bulldogs dominated the Blues after half-time in their 25.19 (169) to 9.10 (64) win.
North Bendigo’s advantage had been 22 points at half-time, before the Bulldogs piled on 16 goals to three after the main break in what was their fifth win in a row.
As well as Herdman’s haul of 10 that took his season tally to 66, the Bulldogs had 10 other goalkickers, including Aarryn Craig and Michael Leech chipping in with three each.
While Herdman took best on ground honours, the Bulldogs also had standout players in Tyson Findlay, Sam Demeo, Craig, Sam Robertson and Sean Morris.
The win was North Bendigo’s 14th in a row against Mount Pleasant.
With a bye in the final round, Mount Pleasant ends the season with a 4-12 record.
“It turned out to be a big margin in the end, but we had half-a-dozen out, some blokes doubling up and lost a few through injury… I thought the boys were pretty good for two and a half quarters,” Mount Pleasant coach Derrick Filo said.
“But then the class of North Bendigo took over.”
Herdman’s bag of 10 goals for the Bulldogs came against the coach who he played in two flags and started his senior football career under at Eaglehawk.
“He’s an A grade player, there’s no doubt about that and he got the job done for North,” Filo said.
The best for the Blues included Joseph Whiting, Josh Shaw and Chris Black, while Ben Deacon kicked three goals and was also among the better players.
Having coached Mount Pleasant for the past two seasons, Filo indicated he would like to continue in the role next year.
Heathcote 16.15 (111) d LBU 13.13 (91).
HAVING gone 19 games without a victory, Heathcote has now won two of its past three after defeating Lockington-Bamawm United by 20 points at home.
In a game that had been up for grabs at three quarter-time, the Saints kicked six goals to three in the final term to win 16.15 (111) to 13.13 (91) – their first victory over the Cats since 2012.
“For the first time all year we played four quarters, which we needed to get over the line,” Saints coach Paul Kennedy said.
Marc Millard, Daniel Carroll (five goals), Jake Condon (three goals) and Daniel Russell starred for the Saints, while the best for the Cats in their eighth loss in a row were Carl O’Brien, Jacob Gardiner (two goals), Adrian Dohnt and Mick Dobson.
Leitchville-Gunbower 21.21 (147) d White Hills 10.4 (64).
LEITCHVILLE-Gunbower guaranteed it will finish on top of the ladder with an 83-point victory over White Hills at Tint-a-Car Oval.
The Bombers were challenged in the first term by the Demons, but kicked 19 goals to six after quarter-time to win 21.21 (147) to 10.4 (64) to remain unbeaten.
“White Hills’ pressure was good early, but as the game went on our ruckmen (Cameron Ross and Lee Pollock) got on top and our midfield got going and generated plenty of opportunities for our forwards,” Bombers coach Matt Hawken said.
After being held to two goals in the first quarter, the Bombers kicked six in the second, five in the third and eight in the last.
Joel Helman, who played off half-back, was named best for the Bombers, along with onballer Daniel Couwenberg, backman Daniel Meroli and Tim Lincoln, who made the most of his time up forward to kick a game-high six goals, while Brendan Hancock added four and Jake Truefeldt three.
Better players for White Hills included Jake Dickens (two goals), Hayden Wright – who was particularly prominent early – Aaron Downie and David Wright. Matt Sawyer booted four goals.
