Nagambie continued its formidable form at the top of the ladder to remain the favourite heading into the finals series, though, delivering another crushing defeat which saw the Lakers’ spearhead celebrate a mammoth milestone.
With his third double-digit haul of the season, Nagambie forward Tom Barnes crossed the magical 100-goal milestone in the Lakers’ 34.18 (222) to 2.2 (14) demolition of Girgarre at Nagambie Recreation Reserve, going on to boot 11 for the contest to bring his total tally to 104 for the year by the final siren.
Despite a relatively slow start by their own lofty standards this season, kicking 5.2 to Girgarre’s 1.0 in the first term, the Lakers unleashed their full power in the second, kicking a ludicrous 11.6 while keeping the Roos scoreless to open up a 16.8 (104) to 1.0 (6) margin by half time.
Another seven goals each in both the third and fourth terms followed as the margin continued to balloon, and while keeping Girgarre to just one goal after the main interval, the Lakers romped to the 208-point margin to again reinforce their status as the competition’s top dogs.
Barnes’ 11-goal haul wasn’t enough to secure best on ground in the big win, though, having to settle for second best behind Luke Duffy (two goals), while the likes of Will Dalton and Lucas McKinnon each booted four goals.
The win keeps Nagambie ahead of Lancaster at the top of the table, with the Lakers boosting their percentage to 422.97 after the victory, over 120 percentage points above the Wombats in second.
Lancaster had a big win of its own on Saturday, though, defeating fifth-placed Avenel by 82 points to further stretch the gap between the top four and the rest.
Claiming a 20.13 (133) to 7.9 (51) victory over the Swans at Lancaster Recreation Reserve, the Wombats remain level on 15 wins with the Lakers and have ensured the race to be crowned minor premier will continue into the final round next week, where they will first look to beat Undera and then hope for a Nagambie slip up against Shepp East if they are to finish first.
The Eagles sit fourth at the end of round 17 and are in a fight of their own for third spot, having moved level with reigning premier Murchison-Toolamba at the weekend with a 12-3 record after dispatching Stanhope on the road.
Travelling to Stanhope Recreation Reserve, the Eagles claimed a 15.12 (102) to 7.9 (51) victory to keep the pressure on the Hoppers above, though they will likely need to beat a red hot Nagambie next week if they are to finish third.
Saturday’s final game saw Rushworth dish out a 19.22 (136) to 4.9 (33) shellacking to Merrigum at Ironbark Stadium, while two fixtures on Sunday saw Undera beat Tallygaroopna 4.8 (32) to 3.4 (22) in a low-scoring slog, while Violet Town overturned a three-quarter time deficit to beat Longwood 8.11 (59) to 8.8 (56) in a thriller.
