Parrots tested early by visiting Bairnsdale
LEONGATHA is sitting on top of the Gippsland League ladder, a game and percentage clear of familiar foes Traralgon, but they are being made to work for their success each week. That was certainly the case last Saturday with the visiting Bairnsdale...
LEONGATHA is sitting on top of the Gippsland League ladder, a game and percentage clear of familiar foes Traralgon, but they are being made to work for their success each week.
That was certainly the case last Saturday with the visiting Bairnsdale side fast out of the blocks with two goals before the Parrots had barely touched the ball, the first as a result of a stoppage clearance by the feisty Lachlan Byrne-Jones at half forward and the next, following centre clearance work by their ruckman Ethan East, combining with Mitchell Toms.
It was their key forward Brayden McCarrey who snagged the first and a lively Matt Corbett who snapped the second.
It wasn’t until almost eight minutes later that the Parrots got the answer with Tallin Brill finding Tom Marriott on the move through the centre and kicking it to the advantage of noted mudlark Aaron Turton, diving and sliding head-first towards the goals. He made no mistake.
A decent shower of rain before the main game impacted the contest and that was to be the extent of the goal scoring in the first quarter as defences at both ends got on top, Randall Stewart leading the way for Bairnsdale with support from Byron Vickery, Mitchell Toms and Hugh Longbottom.
At the other end, games record holder Sean Westaway was still setting the standard with the likes of Guy Dickson, Sam Forrester, Cooper Alger and Will Littlejohn among those playing their roles.
At the start of the second quarter, it was all Leongatha with Forrester, Aaron Turton, onballers Tom Marriott, Luke Bowman, and Jarrod Stewart in the ruck, also with Jack Hume and Darcy Hume creative but Jenson Garnham was one of those who missed their chances and a free and 50 metre penalty allowed Tyran Rees to stretch the margin.
It wasn’t the sort of start you would like to have had, up against another potential finals contender and the contest got a bit willing, with former Victorian Amateurs recruit Lachlan Byrne-Jones giving plenty of cheek before being sat on his backside for his trouble.
The incident might have sparked the Parrots.
A fine passage of play through the hands of Jack Hume, Jack Ginnane in his 250th club game, Tom Marriott and finally Jackson Harry for a goal was more of what you wanted to see from the home side and scores were level when Forrester combined with Turton for his second.
Two long shots for Parrot points rounded out the first half but without a clear winner in general play.
All that changed in the third quarter with Jenson Garnham opening with a fine snap after playing on from a mark and Julian Callahan, up for his first senior guernsey, after four appearances for Gippsland Power, was immediately on the scoreboard with a goal much to the delight of his teammates who got around him to celebrate in traditional fashion.
There was no looking back after that with the Parrots kicking six goals to two for the quarter and Bairnsdale falling away in the last quarter as the Parrots ran out 50-point winners.
The secret to Leongatha’s improvement after half time was simply good footy; getting more players to the contest (including Brill, Forrester, Jack Hume, and Alger), being well organised away from the stoppages, applying plenty of forward pressure with Jackson Harry showing the way there and good leadership on the ball from the old firm of Marriott and Bowman but also with Jarrod Stewart adding to the mix up from the Reserves, and Sean Westaway directing the traffic down back.
It could have been more, but Bairnsdale remained disciplined in defence, as they had done all day, continuing to show signs of the sort of pleasing improvement that will see them finish on the positive side of the win-loss ledger this season.
