ANZAC DAY: THRILLING FOOTBALL AND A BRILLIANT SERVICE

26 Apr ANZAC DAY: THRILLING FOOTBALL AND A BRILLIANT SERVICE

A superb round of GDFNL football was capped off with an Anzac Day thriller at Bannockburn, where the home team hung on to win by two points over a gallant Inverleigh, 15-9-99 to 14-13-97. Played before a massive holiday crowd, the arch rivals played fast flowing, play on football over the four quarters and kept supporters entertained and on the edge.
Bannockburn broke away early in the game with the first three goals, but the Hawks slowly clawed their way back into the contest, edging in front by two points at the first change. Kieran Fulton started in the goal square for the Tigers and caused havoc immediately with the first goal of the game. His strength and skill caused problems for the Hawks defenders all day, but his return of 3-5 let them off the hook. Adam Donohue started in defence and cut off many attacks, but then used his superb foot skills to set up scoring options. Young forward Mason Dickson provided a lively target up forward for Inverleigh and the longer the game went the bigger threat he became. A superb goal from the forward pocket late in the game gave his team an unlikely chance to snatch victory, but after taking another strong grab at the 30 minute mark, his shot at goal to give his team the lead, faded to the right, allowing the Tigers to close up the final stages and hold on for a fighting win. 17 year old Leigham Elzinga was superb at half forward for Bannockburn, kicking five goals and receiving the Anzac Medal for the best player on the ground, while Casey Meehan won the medal for the Hawks. The quality of the game ensures that both these teams will again be in contention for the GDFNL premiership.

Bell Post Hill wasted plenty of opportunities in front of goal, ultimately failing to catch a dogged Werribee Centrals in the 7-5-47 to 5-14-44 loss. Daniel Maher and Caleb Bacely repelled many Centrals attacks, but the quality output from Matt Miller in the midfield and a brilliant defensive wingman role from Michael Culliver, highlighted by his superb disposal kept the Centurions in front all day.

Corio bounced back from a disappointing round two performance against Thomson to frighten a confident Winchelsea. The Blues went into the half time break 17 points down, but bounced back in the second half with a run of seven unanswered goals to gain control. Matt Jelenic and Destyn Burns bagged four goals each for the Devils, while a five goal haul from Jordan Gould and a dominant performance from Brenton Rees served the Blues best in the 16-9-105 to 14-8-92 win.

A shocking kicking display in the first half almost cost Thomson victory in their clash with the Belmont Lions. The Tigers entered the long break with 2-12 on the board and in arrears by 27 points, but steadied to win 12-17-89 to 11-6-72. Daniel Freeman returned to his best form with four majors and Jahd Anderson was adjudged best afield for Thomson, while Shaun Jubber and Mark Renton held firm all day in defence for the Lions.

East Geelong took a long time to shake off a dogged North Geelong, but pulled away to win 18-15-123 to 10-3-63. Jayden Fanning continued his wonderful form with another best on ground and Caleb Ezard snared five goals for the Eagles, while Jacsen Jewell and Charlie Smith battled hard all day for the Magpies.

Anakie fell well short again, this time at the hands of a relentless Geelong West, who never took the foot off the pedal in the 29-17-191 to 4-0-24 thumping. The goal kickers were spread wide for the winners, with Joseph Bangura bagging five and Tom Burke kicking four in a best on ground performance. Robbie Milne and Eliot Birch won plaudits from the Roos hierarchy for their consistent output under pressure.