Parrots glide into the semis with a 107-point win

THE Leongatha Parrots delivered a dominating performance in Round 18, crushing Maffra by a staggering 107 points and securing their place in the Gippsland League semi-finals. 

The Parrots’ 141 points to Maffra’s 34 was a dominating win at home. Coach Trent McMicking said he thought the Parrots moved the ball as good as they’ve moved it for a few weeks, and this was led by Aaron Heppell, Dyson Heppell and Kim Drew in the middle of the ground.

“We got some really good marking from our key forwards in Jenson Garnham and Patrick Ireland, and played a much better brand of footy,” said Trent. 

Jenson Garnham and Patrick Ireland opened up the scoring in all four quarters, which Trent said was just luck of the draw, with good, strong leads. 

“They were marking beautifully and kicking really well, and it was one of the few times that we’ve had most of our forwards available.” 

The dominant display came off the back of a disappointing loss, and Trent said the Parrots were eager to respond. 

“We tried to win it at the source and just use our skills and drive. We wanted to use our skills a bit better and kick the ball well through our forwards, and it paid off.

“It’s a great lead into the final series,” said Trent. 

“We’ve just got to make sure we recover well before we take on either Moe or Traralgon for a shot at the grand final, which should be pretty amazing, considering the years we’ve had with injuries.” 
Match breakdown: 

Leongatha flexed its premiership credentials with a ruthless 107-point demolition of Maffra on Saturday, running out winners 21.15 (141) to 5.4 (34).

The Parrots set the tone early, kicking the opening four goals before Maffra found its first through Jack McQuillen late in the quarter. From there, however, it was all one-way traffic. Jenson Garnham was electric inside 50, booting four goals in the second term alone as Leongatha piled on seven unanswered majors to open a commanding 73 to 13 lead at halftime.

The onslaught continued after the break, with Patrick Ireland joining the goal party. Ireland’s accuracy and work rate saw him finish with a bag of seven, while Aaron Heppell provided drive through the middle and chipped in with two of his own. Sam Forrester and Jack Hume also added scoreboard pressure as Leongatha extended the margin to triple figures by the final change.

To their credit, Maffra battled hard and found late goals through Harper Walker, Alex Carr and McQuillen, but the contest had long been decided. Leongatha’s defensive pressure and relentless ball movement proved far too much, stamping them as a formidable force heading into finals.