LVFNL: Mean Machine back on track, Inglewood on a roll, star forward booked

The Mean Machine jumped the Bears early and saw off a spirited third term comeback from the visitors to win 13.12 (90) to 9.10 (64).

In a double blow for the Bears, star forward Josh Mellington was reported.

"We started well and we hit the scoreboard quickly and we were able to nullify their entries,'' Bridgewater co-coach Rick Ladson said.

"We had a couple of lapses through the day, but to hang on and finish off was a good sign and a fair contrast from last week.

"There's still a lot to work on, but I was just pleased that we didn't drop off for long and our effort never waivered.

"When we were challenged we gritted our teeth and we got the job done."

Mellington was reported in the first quarter for a late bump and was shown a yellow card. He finished the game with four of Serpentine's nine goals.

Harry Conway played on Mellington for the first half, but he was forced from the ground in the second-half. Jack Neylon took on the role for the remainder of the game.

At the other end of the ground, Andrew Collins bagged five goals for the Mean Machine, while Lachlan Sharp kicked three goals after splitting his time inside forward 50 and in the midfield.

The Bears closed to within nine points of Bridgewater at the last break, but it was the Mean Machine who finished stronger with four goals to one in the final term.

"Harry Conway was playing fantastically well (on Mellington) and then Jack Neylon continued the same way,'' Ladson said.

"Bo Alexander was fantastic, Joey Mayes was outstanding and Andrew Collins was classy with his five goals.

"I flicked a couple of magnets around and Sharpy found himself playing on-ball. Looking ahead I think you'll see a few different set-ups and scenarios. You can't have one sole focus because if that player gets cut out of the game you're in trouble."

Tyler Miles was best for a Serpentine side that has dropped two games on the trot.

Midfielder/forward Farran Priest continued his strong start to the season, while Justin Laird had another solid game in the ruck.

Inglewood made it two wins on the trot when it defeated MGYCW by 56 points.

A six-goal-to-one second term broke the game open for the Blues as they moved the ball well in the wet conditions at Marist College.

"Once we start to play our football it really shows and in the second quarter we started to hit those handball receives, kick the ball to the areas we wanted to hit and then hit the scoreboard,'' Inglewood coach Fergus Payne said.

"The ground was really wet and the ball got heavy quickly, so the ball movement in those conditions was really pleasing."

The standout player for Inglewood was key defender Will Allen.

The former South Bendigo big man controlled the game from centre half-back.

"Will is really starting to work into the year and understand the game, the level and his team-mates,'' Payne said.

"He's got great run off half-back for such a big guy and he intercepts the ball as well."

Midfielder Daniel Polack won plenty of the ball and key forward Mitch Conlan kicked five goals and caused plenty of headaches for the Eagles' defence.

The Eagles' cause wasn't helped by the absence of co-coach Angus Monfries.

Recruit Will Farrer was dangerous inside forward 50 for the Eagles and finished with five goals.

Ed Crisp, Bryce Franzini, Grayson Brown and Ryan Strauch were solid contributors across the four quarters.

After dropping a couple of games early in the season, Pyramid Hill is back on track in its quest to finish top three on the table.

The Dogs outclassed Mitiamo 28.21 (189) to 4.3 (27) to move into third place on the ladder.

"Particularly in the first and last quarters we were able to generate some good centre clearance work and get the ball in quickly to Zach Alford and Bailey Scott,'' Pyramid Hill coach Nathan Fitzpatrick said.

"I thought our ball movement off half-back was pretty good and we were able to hit targets across half-forward rather than blaze away to an outnumber.

"Defensively, we were pretty sound. We did leak a couple of goals through sloppy tackles in our defensive 50, but overall it was a pretty rounded performance."

Wingman Brad Ladson was best for the Dogs, while Scott Mann generated plenty of scoring thrusts off half-back.

Bailey Scott kicked six goals for the Dogs, while Zach Alford kicked five goals in a mix of forward and midfield play.

The Superoos don't have the depth of talent that the top four teams in the competition have, but you can never question the team's commitment.

They battled hard against the odds and never gave up.

Zac Morrison, Daniel Walters, skipper Luke Lougoon and Alex Lloyd were best for Mitiamo.

Marong coach Linton Jacobs wasn't pleased with his side's first half in its 97-point win over Calivil United.

The reigning premiers won 19.14 (128) to 5.1 (31) on the back of an 11-goal-to-one second-half.

"It was a scrappy first half of footy and I thought we were a fraction off,'' Jacobs said.

"Full credit to Calivil, they had a red hot crack, they were hard at the contest and we got smashed in our key indicators in the first half.

"We got smashed in contested ball, our tackles were down and our forward 50 turnovers were off as well.

"After half-time we rectified our clearance work which helped our ball movement and we got better looks inside forward 50. We had a positive second-half, but we weren't at the level we were the last couple of weeks."

Wingman Cooper Hale had a big impact on the game for the Panthers and Todd Davies was solid off half-back.

Key forward Ryan Wellington kicked six goals to take his season tally to 19 in five games.

The Maher brothers - Jack and Sam - led the way for the Demons.

Sam Green and Kane Shelton impressed as well, while Ben Baker was their only multiple goalkicker with two.

Marong 20

Bridgewater 16

Pyramid Hill 12

BL-Serpentine 12

Inglewood 8

Calivil United 4

MGYCW 0

Newbridge 0

Mitiamo 0