ROUND five of the Mallee Football League was played on Saturday, and the ladder is now starting to take some shape.
Devils def Lakers
JEPARIT Rainbow was searching for its first win of the season when it hosted Hopetoun at the weekend, but it was the in-form Devils who left with the four points.
The first quarter was closely fought, with both teams registering the same amount of shots on goal.
The Devils’ accurate kicking saw them take a slender lead into the second quarter and, after doubling their score at the half time break, they extended that lead out to 19 points.
The second half was a different story to the first as Hopetoun kicked clear of the Lakers and started playing the game on its own terms.
The Devils eventually ran out victors by 34 points, while Jeparit Rainbow was left to rue missed opportunities.
Ben Webster was again good in front of the sticks, kicking three goals and Jackson Fisher, Matt Bellinger, Luke Cook, and Rylan Wellington each contributed with two goals.
Liam Price and Adam Dufty were the better players for Hopetoun.
For Jeparit Rainbow, Heath Clugston kicked a bag of five goals, while Tyler Edelsten, Trevor Johnson and Elliot Bath all got in the best.
Blues def Tigers
THE two undefeated teams of 2014 met at Sea Lake on Saturday, but the visiting Beulah side proved far too strong for Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers.
Both teams were looking to assert their authority early, however it was Beulah that got the jump on the home side. In a powerful display of the Blues’ talent, they kicked 8.6 to a solitary behind in the first quarter.
The contest tightened in the second term and the Tigers got back into the game with some good passages of play.
They were able to reduce the half-time margin back to 45 points.
Beulah took their game up another notch after the long break and showed everyone in the competition that they are now the team to beat.
The talented Blues side ran the remainder of the game out strongly, winning by 82 points.
The Beulah forward line again shared the goals around with Shaun Monohan leading the way with five, followed by Brock Orval kicking four, Denis Redden and Andrew Hughes three each, and Jason Turnbull with two.
Tim Darcy was listed as best on ground for Beulah along with Tyler Lehmann.
For the Tigers, Cliff Ryan was the only multiple goalscorer, and Luke Martin, Liam Barry, and Bryce Scott were the better players.
Cats def Roos
AGEING champions Walpeup Underbool took on last year’s premiers Woomelang Lascelles at Underbool on Saturday.
This match took on all the hallmarks of good close game as the first quarter got underway, with Walpeup Underbool able to get on top early and take a two-point lead into the first break.
Unfortunately for the Roos, this was the only time they would hold a lead for the remainder of the match because the second quarter was all the Cats as they found their groove and kicked 11 goals for the term.
Woomelang Lascelles continued to extend their lead for the remainder of the match and recorded the biggest win of the round, by 92 points.
The Cats forward line again brought their ‘A’ game, as Corey Kelly kicked seven goals, Jayden Lonergan six and Jack Shannahan five.
Better players included Shannahan, Nyaburu Kelly and Corey Kelly.
It was a hard day at the office for the Walpeup Underbool boys but Kane Munro and Chris Vorwerk were each able to kick two goals, while Joshua Plozza, David Piasente and Matthew Palmer were all in the best players.
