Bloods kick into gear at the half, Bulls tame Tigers

North Brunswick proved too strong for Masala in their first outing of 2017, coming out 81-point winners at WJ Turner Reserve. 38 scoring shots to 17 paints a picture of the Bulls’ dominance as Jake George turned it on with a massive haul of 11 goals. Max Coutts was named the Bulls’ best for the second straight week, while Brandon Kelly (one) was the strongest Tiger with a full four quarter performance.

Aquinas retained their spot at the top of the Division 4 ladder as they look to climb straight back up to Division 3, defeating Elsternwick by 55 points. The Bloods trailed by two points at half-time but kicked into gear with 11 goals to three in the second half. Patrick Mahon took little time to establish himself on the 2017 season with a bag of five, while James McMahon and senior coach Ash Naulty (two) were named best. Elsternwick’s records were not available at time of publication.

Manningham Cobras sit just one spot behind the Bloods after defeating Parkside by 31 points at Koonung Reserve. Nicholas Somerville backed up his three goals last round with a haul of six for the Cobras, while Ben Baltruweit (one) and Nick Zappala were standout performers. Clint Virgona (two) was electric for the Red Devils for the second consecutive round, despite them not having registered a win.

Mt Lilydale recorded their first win in emphatic fashion as they defeated an inaccurate St Francis Xavier by 67 points. Leading by 30 points at half time, the Rams nailed 12 of the last 17 goals to run away with the victory. The X-Men could have been a lot closer on the scoreboard if not for 19 behinds to go with their 10 goals, as they had just two less scoring shots than the Rams. Stephen Donald (five) and Max Hampton (five) reignited their hot form from 2016 for the rams, while Joshua Kerrigan (four) stood tall for the X-Men.