Bulldogs keep finals in sights with win over Lions

Bunbury continued their charge towards finals and back-to-back premierships with a dominant 48-point win over Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault at Brunswick Oval on Sunday.

The Bulldogs kicked 11 unanswered goals from midway in the first term until halfway trough the last on their way to an 11.8 (74) to 3.8 (26) victory.

Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault looked as if they had come with all the right intentions early on, as Jesse Crichton won a number of clearances to push the home side forward.

Kristin Thornton was proving a hassle up forward for the Bunbury defenders and he soon kicked the first goal.

When Crichton booted another shortly after, it looked as if a vengeful Lions outfit had come to play.

But they wasted their opportunities, with Thornton booting another three behinds in the first half. From there Bunbury were utterly unstoppable, with two-time Hayward Medallist Jesse Gribble winning a number of clearances off the back of ruckman Tyson Wood’s good work.

Brad Blake was using his run in the wet conditions to great affect, while the Bulldogs constantly kicked to forward Matt Martin (five goals), who was way too strong for his direct opponent in Brayden Prentice.

If Martin was not marking the football, he was bringing it to ground where the smaller Bulldogs worked hard to get to the ball first and hit the scoreboard often.

The game was still up for grabs at half-time but Bunbury soon closed the door on the Lions’ chances thanks to a number of fantastic crumbing goals.

Lions defender Jordan Sell was doing his best to hold off the Bulldogs, who were hungrier at the contests and more composed when going forward.

It looked as if Bunbury might win by 10 goals or more when they kicked the first three of the last term, before a 65m bomb from David Newman halted the Bulldogs’ scoring spree.

Scoreboard

Bunbury 1.1 4.2 8.4 11.8 74 def Harv-Bruns-Lesch 2.5 2.7 2.8 3.8 26

Goals: Bunbury – M. Martin 5, L. Renton, J. Gribble, B. Blake, B. McMullen, A. Preedy, M. Partridge. Harv-Bruns-Lesch – K. Thornton, J. Crichton, D. Newman.

Best: Bunbury – J. Gribble, M. Martin, B. Blake, T. Wood, B. McMullen, T. Justins. Harv-Bruns-Lesch –J. Sell, J. Crichton, J. Watson, B. McCormack, J. Sabourne, M. Andrews.