A SIX goal to one first quarter by Leongatha in the local derby at Wonthaggi set up an 18-point lead by half time in the grand final reply on Saturday.
But, again, it was Wonthaggi’s much-vaunted defence plus the drive provided by Isaac Chugg, Aiden Lindsay and Josh Bates which held the rampaging Parrots in the second quarter to have the Power right back in the hunt, before a big local crowd, at the half time break.
The match had started in the expected fashion with a fierce battle for the initial centre break, ultimately with Jake Van Der Pligt earning a free for a high tackle and Jack Hume driving Leongatha into attack.
The Parrots squeezed out a point from that foray but they were pressing, Tallin Brill initially trying to hit Jack Ginnane on the lead before opening the Parrots’ account with an early goal.
There after both teams attacked, Jenson Garnham for a point, Noah Anderson falling short at the other end before Kyle Yann brought up the Power’s first.
But the remainder of the quarter was Leongatha’s with Noah Gown snapping a goal out of the pack and Leongatha anticipating the Wonthaggi Power defensive switch to get the ball to Aaron Hillberg for the next.
After a well-worked passage of play on the Parrots’ forward line, Tom Marriott took a contested mark, proudly sporting the TAC road safety ‘0’ guernsey and made no mistake with a captain’s goal. Jack Ginnane followed with another soon after as the Parrots threatened to slip away by quarter time.
A nice mark by Aaron Hillberg up forward resulted in a Jenson Garnham goal and there looked to be no stopping the Parrots.
But Wonthaggi answered the challenge in term two, holding Leongatha goalless and putting on a couple more themselves, including one to Aiden Lindsay after some more nice play by Chugg, followed by one to Josh Bates, also sending out the TAC road safety message in the ‘0’ jumper.
By half time it was Wonthaggi 3.4.22 to Leongatha 6.4.40 and a good contest in the offing, with Leongatha holding an 18-point lead.
