By DAVID NAGEL AND LACHLAN MOORHEAD
THE Noble Park Bulls have extended their winning streak to three with a hard-fought, 29-point win over a tenacious Rowville side.
While the Bulls managed to keep Rowville at arm’s length, Noble Park coach Mick Fogarty applauded the efforts of the Hawks.
“They were very impressive in the way they moved the footy,” Fogarty said.
“Rowville have shown how good they can be, but in the end we were able to make the most of our opportunities.”
Noble Park took an early 14-point lead into the first change, but this was cut to eight by half time. The Bulls recognised that unless they wanted to be over-run, they would need to lift a gear or two, and fast.
Fogarty lamented his side’s poor delivery into the forward line which never favoured the advantage of the Noble Park forwards and allowed Rowville to keep the door ajar. With the challenge laid out before them, Noble Park responded with a six goal-to-three second half to claim another scalp.
Shayne Allan was the leading goal kicker on the ground with a bag of four, while Brett Dore and Luke Cody dobbed two apiece. Sam Monaghan was brilliant all day and willed his side over the line, while Horton Milne was very dangerous on the wing.
Cody Morris and Nathan Hicks both kicked a pair of goals for Rowville as they tried to keep their side within striking distance. Matthew Jackson, Max Mcara and James Powell also played well for the Hawks .
The second-placed Bulls will travel to third-placed Vermont this week in the hope they can push their streak to four wins and cement their spot in the top three.
“We’ve got six games to go and while top spot is a bit unrealistic now, we have to make sure we consolidate our position in the top three,” Fogarty said.
SFL – DIVISION 3
There is still a long way to go, but Dandenong looks to have secured a place in this year’s Southern Football League Division 3 finals series after a thrilling three-point win over Carrum Patterson Lakes at Greaves Reserve on Saturday.
The Redlegs played leap-frog with the Lions, replacing them in third place on the ladder, after a stirring comeback in a game that looked out of reach for three quarters.
The Redlegs were no match for the Lions early, Nigel Scott, Corey Hand and Daniel Graves were terrific for the visitors who kicked 6.1 to 1.3 in a dominant first-quarter display. The Redlegs cut the 28-point margin back to 11 at half-time, but when the Lions led by 21 at the final break, the home side – who had kicked just four goals in three quarters of football- looked gone.
But the Redlegs rallied.
Led by Damien Busch and Matt Van Schajik, who kicked three each for the match, the Redlegs ground down the Lions with a 5.7 to 2.1 final term. Matt Doggett, Ryan Forsyth, Chris Hatfield and Cameron Riley were all instrumental in the comeback that sees the Redlegs head into the bye on a high.
Round 12 will be completed this week with matches that include Lyndale hosting Doveton and Endeavour Hills rolling out the welcome-mat for Black Rock.
VWFL – SOUTH EAST
KEYSBOROUGH showed the gap between top and bottom is vast in the South East league after a 260-point thrashing of Hallam on Sunday.
The 41.14(260) to 0.0(0) score-line was highlighted by 12 goals to Jaimee Lambert, seven to Natalie Cardomone and a five-goal display from Tayla Coxon. Marianna Raccosta and Roslyn Hubeek were other players to shine.
CASEY CARDINIA
KEYSBOROUGH had the bye on Saturday and will this week travel to Casey Fields to take on second-placed Cranbourne.
