Lewington stars as Bulldogs emerge victorious after tough battle against Griffith on the road
Turvey Park made the most of the early dry conditions as they hung on to record a tight 10-point victory on the road against Griffith.
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The Bulldogs kicked five goals to two in a relatively dry opening half before the rain set in during the third and fourth quarters at Exies Oval.
Turvey's buffer proved enough as the Bulldogs went on to record a 8.6 (54) to 6.8 (44) victory over the Swans.
The road trip to Griffith is one of the hardest in the competition and Bulldogs coach Cal Dooley was delighted his side could secure a win against a quality side in such difficult conditions.
"I'm extremely proud of the effort the guys put in," Dooley said.
"Obviously going out to Griffith is an extremely tough task and for them to crack in and hold on even though we were getting absolutely peppered in that second half is testament to the boys strength of mind.
"It's a very good win for the club and gets us back on track which is nice."
After a pretty even opening term, the Bulldogs kicked three goals to one in the second term which gave them a slight 17-point lead heading into the main break.
With the weather turning in the second half, Dooley agreed that little burst before halftime ended up proving crucial.
"Yeah it was pretty key," he said.
"I felt like when the ball was a bit drier our ability to move the ball from a half back flank to the forward line was a bit more crisp.
"Obviously when the rain settled in having got that couple goal buffer really helped us, so I was pretty pleased with the effort from the fellas."
Ben Lewington was among the Bulldogs best in their win as was Turvey captain Hayden Smith.
Dooley thought Lewington was sensational in their victory and he credited the amount of drive he was able to provide against the Swans.
"Benny was outstanding through the middle today," he said.
"His running power was up there with some of the best in the league in my opinion.
"For him to give us the drive through the guts that he did was outstanding."
Lachlan Leary also had a solid impact for the Bulldogs as he finished with two goals in what was a low-scoring contest.
Dooley admitted Leary had been a bit quieter in recent weeks and he said it was good for him to have such an important say in a close game.
"Yeah Lach found a bit of form which was nice," he said.
"He'd admit it himself that he's been below his pretty high standards, so for him to hit the scoreboard like that in a low-scoring game was excellent."
The news wasn't all positive for the Bulldogs however as Dooley revealed that Chase Grintell might've potentially dislocated his kneecap in the win over the Swans.
Grintell had been having another outstanding game for the Bulldogs and Dooley said it was disappointing to see him go down in the last minute of the game.
The Bulldogs also had two players make their first grade debuts against the Swans and Dooley believed that the pair performed well at senior level.
"Hunter Higgins has been tied down with Giants commitments so for him to be able to come and play for us is long overdue," he said.
"He had an outstanding pre-season and his work rate at training is top tier, he's earned his opportunity and he certainly impressed.
"Then young Geordie Charleson had been toiling away in the two's and really been putting his hand up.
"His standards at training over the last two months have been outstanding as well and we wanted to reward him for all his hard work, he certainly didn't look out of place."
Full Time
Turvey Park 2.3 5.3 7.4 8.6 (54)
Griffith 1.2 2.4 4.5 6.8 (44)
GOALS: Turvey Park: L.Leary 2, W.Ashcroft 1, H.Smith 1, L.Warren 1, R.Leary 1, C.Dooley 1, W.Ford 1; Griffith: T.Powell 2, T.Tyson 1, C.Kilpatrick 1, B.Evans 1, K.Spencer 1
BEST: Turvey Park: B.Lewington, H.Smith, C.Grintell, B.Harmer, J.Margosis, A.Emery; Griffith: N.Richards, J.Rowston, W.Vaessen, K.Spencer, T.Baxter, C.Kilpatrick
Stening and Mooney combine for 11 goals as Demons claim big win on the road over Narrandera
Nine unanswered goals in the opening term laid the platform for Collingullie-Wagga as they claimed a strong 106-point win on the road over Narrandera.
The Demons came out firing in the opening term at Narrandera Sportsground and their early dominance paved the way for their 20.13 (133) to 4.3 (27) victory over the Eagles.
Collingullie co-coach Nick Perryman was pleased with his side's performance, however noted there was still a couple of things to improve upon.
"We got the four points which was really good," Perryman said.
"I feel we started the game really well, we had a couple of lapses throughout the game but overall it was very pleasing.
"There's a few things to work on as well."
Adverse weather conditions can sometimes create danger games for top sides like the Demons, however they showed their intent early and went into the first break up by 55 points.
Perryman agreed it was a great start against the Eagles, but he also credited Narrandera's pressure early in the contest
"Yeah it was good," he said.
"They brought the pressure early, I thought their pressure was really high particularly at the start of the game.
"We learnt a lot from last week playing a side like Ganmain, we took a lot out of it and we put it into practice in the first half particularly.
"We dropped away a little bit in the third quarter, but then we finished really strongly in the fourth which was pleasing."
Sam Stening and Nate Mooney combined for 11 goals up forward for the Demons while Perryman thought Jamie Mooney was clearly best on ground in what was just his second game of the season
Perryman also liked the efforts of Jake Thorpe, Josh Klemke, Ed Perryman and Steve Jolliffe in their victory.
Matt Klemke played his first game of the season against the Eagles and Perryman said he did well given he was managed through the contest.
"Yeah Matty was good," he said.
"He was managed throughout the game, he probably played half a quarter for the first three and then we sat him off for the last quarter as that's what his program was.
"He played a bit forward and a bit down back and he got through fine, he's a classy player and he played pretty well.
"He'll only get better as he gets more game time."
It wasn't all good news for the Demons though as Perryman revealed that defender Tom Byrnes injured his hamstring in the victory.
"He'll get that checked out and we're not sure what it is yet," he said.
"But it'll definitely be a couple of weeks at least, we'll assess that during the week and see where that takes us."
The Demons now sit at 3-1 following their win over the Eagles and they have cemented their status as a genuine premiership contender over the opening five rounds of the season.
Next up is a clash at home against Turvey Park and Perryman revealed his side would continue to work at improving their all-round performance.
"Just in general we always need to look for improvement," he said.
"We definitely got a heap of lessons out of the Ganmain game and I think we took a few of those things on during today's game.
"We've just got to be more consistent over the park and continue to play with each other and get to know each other a bit better.
"We've had a fairly big turnover of players this year, so it's going to take a little bit of time for us to get things right.
"But I feel we took a pretty big step in the right direction today."
Full Time
Collingullie Wagga 9.2 14.7 15.11 20.13 (133)
Narrandera 0.1 2.1 4.3 4.3 (27)
