Serious injury sours Bridgewater's win, Bears' star Mellington sidelined

Bridgewater's Harry Donegan suffered a badly broken leg and dislocation in an injury his coach Rick Ladson said was the worst he'd seen in his 30 years in football.

Playing against Newbridge at the Maroons' home ground, Donegan was taken to the ground in a tackle when the break and dislocation occurred. Ladson said the popular midfielder's leg was "facing the wrong way".

Donegan was carried off the ground and attended to in the rooms where he waited in pain for an ambulance to arrive.

"It's devastating for Harry,'' Ladson said of Donegan.

"Because of the nature of the injury he couldn't be given any pain medication. At half-time I kept the players out on the ground because I didn't want them to go in the rooms and see or hear what Harry was going through. It was horrible.

"Footy is one side of it, but more importantly Harry is a tradie, he has a young family and he's trying to build a new house for his family. He's going to be out of action for quite a while.

"Like good footy clubs and good people do, we'll get behind him and his family and do what we can to help."

Donegan's injury soured Bridgewater's 99-point win over Newbridge.

Lachlan Sharp kicked 12 goals and Lee Coghlan was best afield in the 25.7 (157) to 9.4 (58) win.

Sharp moved to within 14 goals of the century mark ahead of a home game against the battling MGYCW next Saturday.

"Harry's injury happened before half-time and there's no doubt the injury galvanised the group for the second-half,'' Ladson said.

"As hard as it was to see him injured, the boys made a big point of finishing the game strong for Harry.

"I think it will galvanise us moving forward as well because he's such a loved fella on and off the field."

Despite the defeat, Newbridge remains in the top five on percentage.

Ben McKinley, Caleb Argus and William Copland were named the Maroons' best and Caleb Sanders kicked three goals.

Bears Lagoon-Serpentine full-forward Josh Mellington will have to wait at least three weeks to reach the century mark after he strained his hamstring in the Bears' gritty seven-point win over Pyramid Hill.

Mellington had kicked six of his side's eight goals before limping off the ground in the third quarter.

He has 93 goals for the season and is likely to miss upcoming games against Inglewood, Newbridge and Marong.

His absence for the final quarter-and-a-bit, and a hamstring injury to key defender Ryan Prendergast, made the Bears' win even more impressive.

After leading all day, the Bears fell behind in the final quarter, but they dug deep to kick the final two goals of the game to win 10.1 (61) to 7.12 (54).

Straight kicking in front of goal proved to be the difference as the Bears celebrated their second win over the Dogs for the season and another crucial four points in the race for the double-chance for finals.

"We made a really good start and we were able to stay in front for most of the day,'' a relieved Bears' coach Jake Wilkinson said.

"It was a grind all day, so to come back the way we did after they (Pyramid Hill) hit the front was really pleasing.

"Pyramid Hill is a very good side and, to be fair, they had a few players out injured which made it a little bit easier for us.

"I don't think Serp had won at Pyramid Hill since 2017, so a win like that does give us some confidence going forward that we can match the good sides."

Ruckman Nathan Twigg, defender Tyler Miles and on-baller Justin Laird were superb for the Bears.

Key defender Tom McGregor was once again best for the Bulldogs, while Gavin James and Mitch Gunther were solid contributors.

Pyramid Hill coach Nathan Fitzpatrick was left to lament poor execution inside forward 50, particularly in the second half when the Dogs kicked 3.9.

"It wasn't as if we were taking pot shots from the boundary, we had some good shots at goal but we couldn't kick straight,'' Fitzpatrick said.

"The game was quite even and both teams put on good pressure, but we didn't execute and they did. Mellington kicked a couple of rippers from the boundary line.

"It's not a case of toys out of the cot, if we'd taken our chances we could have won the game of footy. Credit to Serp, they played a good brand of footy and made the most of their chances, which is something you have to do if you want to win."

Calivil United kept its final hopes alive with a hard-fought 20-point win over MGYCW.

Wearing the club's maroon and gold heritage jumper to honour Northern United, the Demons overcame some jitters in front of goal to win 8.15 (63) to 6.7 (43).

The home side probably should have had the four points sewn up by half-time.

MGYCW struggled to get the ball inside forward 50 and could only manage one goal for the half.

The Demons had 13 scoring shots in the first half, but didn't get the reward on the scoreboard and the 28-point margin should have been much greater.

That left the door jar for the Eagles and they pounced with a strong third term.

Led by Bryce Franzini, Josiah Farrer and Grayson Brown, the Eagles kicked four goals in the third term to close within three goals of Calivil.

The Demons regained their composure in a dour struggle in the final term.

Only two goals were kicked for the quarter - one for each team - and it was the Demons who walked away deserved winners.

Hamish Wall, Samuel Maher and Darcy Thompson were instrumental in the win for a Calivil side that joined Newbridge and Inglewood on 12 points in the race for fifth spot.

Marong's winning streak reached 41 games on the back of its 167-point belting of Mitiamo.

Veteran forward Kain Robins kicked 10 goals in the 26.19 (175) to 1.2 (8) win.

"Kain marked everything and his leading patterns are so smart,'' Marong coach Linton Jacobs said of Robins.

"He knows where to go to get the footy and he opens space for his team-mates as well.

"He probably had close to 20 shots today and played really well."

Lachlan Lee, David Johnstone and Ryley Taylor were other good players for the Panthers, but not everything went their way.

"Mitiamo smashed us in clearances early,'' Jacobs said.

"It's been a bit of a theme for us the last few weeks, hopefully we can rectify that in the next few weeks.

"Our second-half was much better and we're mindful we have some big games coming up that we want to be in good shape for."

The plucky Superoos were best-served by Zac Morrison, Liam Shiell, Zak Myers and Jackson Falls.