LVFNL: Grenfell overcomes early jitters to boot ton for Panthers

MARONG gun forward Brandyn Grenfell overcame an early bout of jitters to bring up a century of goals for the second-consecutive season in the Loddon Valley league on Saturday.

On what was a huge day for the Panthers celebrating their golden jubilee of 50 years against Bridgewater at Malone Park and playing in a navy blue 1973 heritage jumper, Grenfell started the day needing just one goal to bring up the ton.

While the milestone came during the first quarter, Grenfell kicked five behinds before finally getting to his 100 and being swarmed by excited Marong youngsters and team-mates.

"Like last year it's a team effort to be able to do something like this in what has been a great year so far for the club," Grenfell said.

"I'm not sure what happened, but I froze up a bit today... there had been a big build-up to today and I had a lot of cameras in my face before the game and missed my first five shots.

"I kicked one left, one right, one left, one right, so I think the build-up did get to me a bit and even a bit of the pressure as well of the kids screaming.

"It was obviously a big day for the club today with the 50^th, so there was a bit of pressure to get it done, but great when it happened."

Grenfell - who on Saturday evening was named in a forward pocket in Marong's Team of 50 Years - brought his ton up when he took a mark over the back of a pack and was able to run into the open goal.

"I had taken five marks in the first 10 minutes and was having shots from around 30 to 40m out, but missing," Grenfell said.

"So I went back a bit closer to the goalsquare and was able to get it done."

Grenfell reaching his century came on a day the Panthers won their ninth game in a row by more than 100 points as they beat the Mean Machine 23.25 (163) to 2.5 (17).

Grenfell ended the day with four goals for a season tally of 103 and now has 296 in 39 games since arriving at Marong midway through 2021.

Grenfell has kicked more than twice as many goals as any other LVFNL player this season, with team-mate Kain Robins second in the goalkicking with a distant 46.

And with fellow Marong player Riley Taylor next on 42, the Panthers have the top three goalkickers in the competition with one round remaining.

Marong coach Linton Jacobs was pleased his side was able to deliver a strong performance on the special 50^th year occasion for the Panthers.

"It was a massive day for the club and we as a team had to play our part, which was winning the game of footy," Jacobs said.

"We didn't play as free flowing as we have been the past few weeks, but you're going to have games like that and I thought Bridgewater's effort around the contest was really good and they made it quite congested.

"We were able to break the game open in the second half when I thought our work-rate was a lot better, so that was pleasing."

On what was a rare Marong day of late where Grenfell wasn't the leading goalkicker, Jacob Ede made the most of some extended time in the forward line to kick five and was the Panthers' best.

"Jacob gives us great versatility; he's the type of player who could go back and play half-back next week," Jacobs said.

"Ben Gregg was really solid across half-back and used the ball well and again, our young players like Ryley Taylor, who kicked four goals, and Lachie Lee were really good and it was Matt Grant's best game through the midfield."

Bridgewater's two goals were kicked by Tyler Estrada and Nick Naughton - both in the first half.

Pyramid Hill extended its run of consecutive wins over Inglewood to 30 in a row.

In a clash of two finals-bound sides the Bulldogs won by 25 points, 14.14 (98) to 11.7 (73), at Inglewood.

"I was reasonably happy with how we went. Although the end result was only four goals I thought we controlled the game for most of the day," Pyramid Hill coach Nathan Fitzpatrick said.

"Inglewood came at us hard and moved the ball well at times; there was probably a three-goal breeze blowing to one end that both teams utilised reasonably well throughout the day.

"It was a solid game of footy and a good hit-out to have leading into the finals."

Seb Relouw was the best player for Pyramid Hill.

"With a few of the boys we had out today Seb was able to play a bit more through the midfield and won quite a few clearances," Fitzpatrick said.

"And Will Perryman took a lot of contested marks for us and kicked well for goal."

Perryman booted six goals and now has 14 in his past three games, while Zach Alford and Tom McGregor were other strong performers for the Bulldogs, who welcomed back captain Steve Gunther from a hamstring for his first game in six weeks.

Although beaten again by Pyramid Hill the 25-point margin was the closest the Blues have got to the Bulldogs during their run of 30 straight losses that extends back to 2007.

Assistant coach Fergus Payne (three goals) was the best for the Blues, who were also well served by Daniel Polack and Bregon Cotchett.

Bears Lagoon-Serpentine officially locked up the double chance with its 62-point win over Mitiamo.

The Bears prevailed 18.13 (121) to 8.11 (59) at Mitiamo and having also won their earlier round eight clash have now beaten the Superoos twice in the home and away season for the first time since 2015.

"It was a solid performance by the boys. The first half was reasonably back-and-forth, but I felt in the second half we started to get on top around the ground," Bears coach Justin Laird said.

The Bears kicked 6.7 in the first half, but made more of their forward opportunities after the break when they added 12.6.

Midfielder Harry Gadsden kicked three goals for the Bears and was his side's best player.

"It was a really good game from Harry. He spent the majority of the day playing in the midfield and then when he went forward was able to hit the scoreboard," Laird said.

Gadsden was among six multiple goalkickers for the Bears, along with James Rippingale (four), Clay Anstee (2), James Bailey (2), Callum Draper (2) and Laird (2).

"Having that spread today shows that we're not reliant on a James Rippingale, Andy Gladman or even myself to have to hit the scoreboard, which is pleasing," Laird said.

As he has been so often this season skipper Luke Lougoon across half-back was Mitiamo's best player, while Andrew Cussen slotted three of the Superoos' eight goals.

Maiden Gully YCW snapped its 10-game winning streak against Calivil United.

The Eagles broke through for their first win since May 13 with a 19-point win at home over the Demons.

The Eagles had twice in their previous four games squandered half-time leads, but not this time.

Having led by 14 points at half-time the Eagles went on to prevail 11.8 (74) to 8.7 (55) - the margin not enough though to lift Maiden Gully YCW off the bottom of the ladder.

The Demons closed to within one point at three quarter-time before the Eagles finished the game with four goals on one in the final term.

Brandon Dimech was a strong target in attack for the Eagles and kicked four goals to be one of their best, while the Demons' best was headed by Jake Lawry.

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