James Murphy
WEST GAMBIER 21.9 (135) d EAST GAMBIER 9.4 (58)
A HUGE nine-goal haul from West Gambier coach Daron McElroy help the Roos keep their unbeaten 2023 streak alive on Saturday.
They visited a young East Gambier at McDonald Park and wasted no time in setting up an insurmountable lead.
By quarter time the Roos had six goals on the board to the Bulldogs’ one, with no signs of slowing down.
A five-goal second term kept things turning over and despite a couple of late goals, East headed into the main break down by 49 points.
McElroy had already made his presence known both in the ruck and up forward.
His ability to shake his man and run into a mark created several set shots on goal and he could do little wrong throughout the four quarters.
Lawry Bradley-Brown was also in dangerous form and he earned the best-on-ground honours for his workhorse performance.
He was aided by Kyle Giddings and Andrew Stone through the middle and the pair featured highly in the best as well.
East came out with intensity after half time and put in its best quarter yet, only losing the term by 15 points.
The Bulldogs near doubled their score in that time with three goals and a behind, while the Roos added five-goals-four.
The hosts kept the pressure on again in the fourth and kept the deficit to 12 points for the quarter, but the damage had already been done and the result remained a 76-point loss.
McElroy was joined by Giddings (three goals) and Michael Minuzzo (two) as multiple goal scorers for the Roos, while the backline was also impressive on the day.
Jesse Pfitzner and Brandon Newton both earned a place in the best players for their efforts in defence, while Minuzzo rounded out the list.
For the Bulldogs it was once again Reece Lillecrapp who stood out from the pack and he received the best-on-ground honours for the second week in a row.
Nick Lock has been another consistent performer and he also featured highly, while up forward Riley Flamank and Mark Rumbelow did the heavy lifting with three goals each.
Carl Slape was rewarded for his tough day in the ruck, where he faced the might of both McElroy and Braiden Ousey, while Jesse Plunkett, Noah Gollan and Jarvi Mee were other Bulldogs who impressed.
East faces yet another challenge against North Gambier next week, while West will look to keep its streak going when it hosts a winless South Gambier.
