TOO GOOD: Liam Harrington dominated for the Lions once again on the weekend, booting three goals.
Brilliant opening term sees Lions cruise to six-goal win
Written by JEREMY WILSON.
A BLISTERING first quarter from Whorouly put paid to any thought Bonnie Doon had of victory on Saturday with the Lions leading by 42 points at the first change before going on to record an impressive 36-point victory.
Heading into the match, both sides were in tremendous form with the Doon Dogs having gone close to beating Tarrawingee before smashing Goorambat, while Whorouly had defeated Bright and Glenrowan.
However, the Lions extinguished any thoughts of a close match by banging on seven goals to nil in the first quarter.
Liam Harrington was dominant on his wing, Trevor Vyner was winning his battle with Chris Dunne while Wayne Millis and Michael Nixon were also finding plenty of the ball.
Bonnie Doon finally opened its account in the second term but the Lions continued to edge their way forward and led by 46 points at the main break, with the game effectively over.
With the sting out of the match well before the end, the Doon Dogs added some respectability to the scoreboard in the second half with Kane Reid, Daniel Fletcher and Darren Wheeler leading the way.
But the result was always in safe keeping for the Lions and coach Scott McMasters was delighted with the 15.13 (103) to 9.13 (67) victory, in particular, the first half.
"We started really well – it’s a bit of a concern going down there but we just focused on preparing ourselves as best as we could," he said.
"The first quarter was fantastic.
"We won all of the contested footy, which was great because that’s obviously an area they are good in with (Daniel) Fletcher and (Chris) Dunne in there.
"They were pretty confident going in after reading a few things so it was great to be able to really kill off any chance they had of winning by quarter time."
While they led by eight goals at the main break, McMasters knew the importance of keeping Bonnie Doon’s quick style of play in check
"We spoke about making sure if they kicked a goal then we would answer it straight away," he said.
"We couldn’t afford to give them any momentum.
"Our focus was to make sure we were ready to go and answer everything they threw at us, which we were able to do."
Liam Harrington finished with three goals to be the best player on the ground and McMasters said he, along with Trevor Vyner, Michael Nixon and Daniel West, was travelling as good as any player in the league.
"Liam is having an unbelievable year – he’s just a class above most in the league," McMasters said.
"We’ve chased him for a couple of years now and we’re getting the rewards.
"It’s great to have a player with the capacity to run all day and generate six shots on goal every game.
"Trevor played on Dunne and basically dominated and Dunne didn’t have an influence until after halftime.
"And Nixon is flying and Westy is doing everything asked of him at the moment."
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