By David Nagel
Thumping victories were the order of the day in the West Gippsland Football Netball Competition (WGFNC) over the weekend as the top six finally appears to have taken shape.
Nar Nar Goon, Inverloch-Kongwak, Cora Lynn and Phillip Island would appear the four genuine chances for this year’s premiership, while Kilcunda-Bass and Tooradin-Dalmore have now built healthy buffers on their rivals as they look to qualify for the pointy end of the season.
Apart from the 20-point margin for Tooradin-Dalmore over Kooweerup; it was all one-way traffic on the weekend…with an average winning margin across five games of 113 points!
A Mother’s Day trip to Western Park proved a fruitful one for Nar Nar Goon; who saluted 17.8(110) to 6.8(44) in the ‘close one’ over Warragul Industrials.
The Goon’s season has so far had the aroma of a sweet bouquet of flowers, with Justin Stanton and his charges seemingly destined for greater things.
The Dusties matched the Goon in the early stages of the contest, with Nic Visser answering an early goal for the visitors; but the rubber-band snapped midway through the second term.
The Dusties had cut the margin to 13 points, but a scoreline that read 27-40 soon read 27-98.
Nar Nar Goon kicked nine goals four without answer to take total control of the contest.
Taylor Whitford was once again impressive for the Goon, sharing eight goals evenly with Dermott Yawney, while Matt Gentile slotted three.
The engine room of Eamon Trigg, Trent Armour, Aidan Pipicelli and Jed Smith was once again impressive for the winners, while the inclusions of Brent Hughes and Nate Pipicelli show the strength of the Nar Nar Goon squad.
The Dusties have now slipped to a 1-4 record; but there is light shining on the horizon.
While nothing is a given right now, games against Garfield, Kooweerup and Bunyip provide the opportunity to square the ledger ahead of a round-nine visit from Dalyston.
Jed Pinkerton slotted a couple for the home side, while emerging talents in Kuiy Jiath, Cody Templeton and Regan Awty were among its best contributors.
Cora Lynn welcomed Garfield to the Cobradome on Saturday and sat satisfied after a commanding 22.13(145) to 5.9(39) victory.
The Cobras and Stars went goal-for-goal early, but six pointers to Heath Briggs, Luke Hartley, Nathan Gardiner and Jimmy Munro showed the gulf in class between the two sides.
That gap was magnified in the second term with the Cobras kicking 7.3 to no score to take a 10-goal margin to half time.
Gardiner kicked three in the second quarter, on his way to eight for the afternoon, while Hartley continues to flourish after a polished four-goal performance.
Jaxon Briggs, Lachlan Coverdale and Matt Ryan joined Munro with two goals each for the Cobras, who are putting together a pretty-impressive run of form.
Players like Cory Machaya, Luke Black and Will Stephenson will take some good form into next week’s visit to Korumburra-Bena, and will hope to hold it as they welcome a red-hot Nar Nar Goon to the Cobradome in round seven.
We’re getting a little ahead of ourselves here; but the match-up of Jimmy Munro and Trent Armour alone will be worth the price of admission.
Angus Emery kicked two for the jilted Stars, while Zac Soutar, Will Pickering and Will Cole were all genuine four-quarter contributors.
The Stars host Warragul Industrials this week in the interesting clash of round six.
Reigning-premier Inverloch-Kongwak continues to show no mercy with the rampant Sea Eagles thumping Dalyston by 118 points at Dalyston.
The Magpies would have been quite content at half time, restricting the Sea Eagles to seven goals, but the visitors slammed home 16.6 to 4.1 after the interval to break free of the shackles.
The Sea Eagles have class to spare on every line at the moment, with big-man Marcus Toussaint leading the way on Saturday with Paul Pattison, Jordan Tomas and Jamieson Soumilas by his side.
Nick Baltas continued his stellar run of form in front of the big sticks, booting five, while the class of Pattison and Will Hams was evident as the midfield-pairing kicked four goals apiece.
Jarvis Harvey, Cal O’Flynn and Ethan Park all chimed in with two.
This was a bridge too far for the Magpies, who face another huge test against Nar Nar Goon this Saturday.
Blake Carew kicked two for the Maggies, while Louis Armstrong and coach Mitch Hallahan fought the game out for four quarters.
Kilcunda-Bass spearhead Dean McRae filled his boots at the Bass Recreation Reserve on Saturday as the Panthers smashed Bunyip by 148 points.
McRae kicked 10 goals for the home side, and Anthony Daraio eight, as the Panthers kicked 23.13(151) to 0.3(3) to give their percentage a healthy boost.
The Panthers sliced through the Bulldogs like a hot knife through butter in the opening quarter, kicking 9.3 to no score; and looked set for a massive total.
The Bulldogs were totally outclassed, but did better to keep the Panthers to 14 goals across the remaining three quarters of play.
Little wins become big wins the way the Bulldogs are going right now!
McRae and Daraio will obviously dominate the round five best and fairest votes, while Nathan Foote, Jayden Goumas, Jed Rosenow and Dale Gawley can also expect a piece of that action.
Ben Stewart and reigning best-and-fairest winner Alex Dijkstra were best for the battling Bulldogs.
Kilcunda-Bass, currently third, faces its biggest test this Saturday with a trip to Inverloch-Kongwak.
And finally, Charlie Bruce, Jack Taylor and Max Walton kicked three goals each as Phillip Island made expected light work of Korumburra-Bena at the Showgrounds.
Hayden Bruce, Jaymie Youle, Zac Walker and Daniel Bourke joined Walton on the best players list as the Bulldogs kicked 22.15(147) to 3.1(19) to win by 128 points.
The Bulldogs look uncomfortably placed; fifth on the ladder at the moment, but should climb a rung with an expected victory over Kooweerup this week.
The Giants are clearly undermanned compared to the top teams in the competition, but once again never gave up the fight.
The resilience of players like Kye Benson, Hugh Gordon, Josh Hopkins and Paul Fermanis will hopefully guide the Giants to two or three wins by season’s end.
