Hampton Park bounced back from its recent loss to Chelsea Heights with a comfortable 30-point win over a fighting Keysborough side.
The Redbacks are second on the ladder in Southern Division 2 but have played one game less than the rest of the competition, and remain one of the teams to beat.
They set the tone in the first quarter, dominating the young Burra to take a 20-point lead into the first break, which had turned into 42 points by half time.
Captain Liam Myatt (five goals) was on fire and it looked as though Keysborough was in for a long day.
But Burra coach Chris Smith wasn’t going to let his boys give in that easily, and they lifted the pressure in the third quarter.
Keysborough outscored Hampton Park 54-42 in the second half to reduce the final margin back to 30 points as Simon Marchese (four goals) took control of the game in the forward line.
Redbacks coach Luke Bull said it was good to come out of the bye with a solid victory over a quality opposition.
“It was a good win, we got off to a really good start and the first half was pleasing,” he said.
“We came out pretty strong in the second and won a lot of clearances, the ball spent a lot of time in the forward half and we piled on a few goals.”
Myatt, Liam Scott (three goals) and Jye King were impressive in the victory, all playing key roles for the team.
“That was Liam Myatt’s best game for the year, a breakthrough game for him,” Bull said.
The side is currently without star ruckman Mason Hawkins and the coach was impressed with how Jye King had filled the void.
“We put Jye in the ruck and he dominated yesterday, he battled hard all day and did a really good job, he will probably stick out the ruck duties until Mason comes back,” Bull said.
East Malvern came out against Doveton Doves with a point to prove after falling three points short of Keysborough the previous week, and the side did just that.
Isaac Morrisby came back from injury and kicked three goals for the Panthers, while Charlie McGaw also kicked three.
For the Doves, Jake Calvert kicked three goals while Luke Daidone and Jake Ingaliso were impressive on the day.
Endeavour Hills was no match for Caulfield Bears as Lynden Dunn’s men won by 39 points.
The first quarter was evenly contested before the Bears took control of the game, kicking 10 goals to five after the first break.
Poor kicking gave Frankston Dolphins no chance of defeating Highett as they kicked 6.14 in windy conditions to lose by 34 points.
Highett captain Sam Jackson produced a best on ground performance with three goals and plenty of the football, while Chaise Mitchell (three goals) and Jacob Apted also impressed.
In the final game of Round 10, Mordialloc defeated Chelsea Heights for the second time this season as the Bloods stake their claim as premiership contenders to sit third on a closely contested ladder.
The Demons had won five consecutive matches prior to the weekend, while Mordialloc’s results had fluctuated.
Connor Shaw was impressive for the Bloods, while Joshua Gibbins and Caoimhin O’Donnell kicked three goals each.
SCOREBOARDS
HAMPTON PARK 5.4 9.9 12.13 15.15 (105)
KEYSBOROUGH 2.2 3.3 7.7 11.9 (75)
Hampton Park Goals: Liam Myatt 5, Liam Scott 3, Myles Wareham 2, Luke Bull, Tristan Fernandez-Phillips, Kai McMinimee, Luke Sloan, Trent Thomas.
Best: Liam Myatt, Liam Scott, Joshua Craig, Jayden Weichard, Makaio Haywood.
Keysborough Goals: Simon Marchese 4, Matthew Collett, Kyden Vella 3, Andre Spina.
Best: Geoffrey Humphreys, Dylan McKenzie, Phillip Ilic, Simon Marchese, Kyden Vella, Nathan Ramea.
EAST MALVERN 5.3 8.5 11.6 14.7 (91)
DOVETON DOVES 0.2 2.5 6.6 10.8 (68)
East Malvern Goals: Charlie McGaw, Isaac Morrisby 3, Logan Berryman, Jacob Brunner, Aran Gitlits, Charles Hamilton, Austin Hogan, Patrick McNamara, Miller Synman, Koby Van Lieshout.
Best: Hayden Chrzanowski, Joshua Salmon, Miller Synman, Charlie McGaw, Koby Van Lieshout, Patrick McNamara.
Doveton Doves Goals: Jake Calvert 3, Kyle De Ruyter, Matthew Jameson 2, Luke Daidone, Jake Ingaliso, Max Sheppard.
Best: Luke Daidone, Jake Ingaliso, Hayden Waters, Daniel Zajac, Matthew Jameson, Max Sheppard.
ENDEAVOUR HILLS 3.2 4.4 5.6 8.8 (56)
CAULFIELD BEARS 4.3 8.8 11.11 14.11 (95)
Endeavour Hills Goals: Jarrod Marolla 3, Sam McLean 2, Luca Agresta, Alex Cann, Nicholas Gay.
Best: Jarrod Marolla, Harrison Malone, Mitch Grant, Nicholas Gay, Devlyn Hasler, Shaun Richards.
Caulfield Bears Goals: N/A
Best: N/A
