Great Southern Football League - Round 17

Willunga has hung on to top spot with a thrilling one-point victory over Victor Harbor at home on Saturday. The Demons jumped out the blocks to hold a 23-point lead at the first change. The Kangaroos hit back hard in the second term to trail by just four points at the long break before they came out firing after half-time, kicking six goals to two in the third quarter to turn for home with a handy 21 point lead. With top spot on the line, Willunga attacked from the start of the last stanza kicking 4.5 to 1.1 in the final term to win 14.10 (94) to 14.9 (93). Sean Beath and Daniel Lee kicked three goals for the winners while for Victor, Sam Basham took his season tally to 67 with another five majors. Best for the Demons were big man Daniel Bass, Cameron Hutchens and Lachlan Scott while for the courageous Kangaroos, Ryan Fletcher, Sam Basham and Michael Ross were major contributors.

Langhorne Creek are just percentage behind third placed Victor Harbor after a convincing 78-point home victory over Myponga-Sellicks. The Hawks extended their lead at every break to win 19.10 (124) to 7.4 (46). Coby Helyar kicked five goals for Langhorne Creek in a best on ground display while Simon Phillips played a lone hand up forward for the Mudlarks with four goals while Damien Hill continued his fine season to be named best for Myponga-Sellicks.

Mount Compass kept their chances of winning the minor premiership alive with a percentage boosting 113-point victory at Goolwa-Port Elliot. It was a tight opening to the game with scores level at quarter time at 1.1 (7) each. The Bulldogs exploded after the first break kicking 20 goals to four from that point on to win 21.20 (146) to 5.3 (33). The star for Mount Compass was Tom Pinyon who kicked 11 goals to bring up the magical ‘ton’ with one minor round game plus finals to come. Pinyon has kicked 502 goals in the GSFL ‘A’ grade competition since 2012! He was understandably named best player for the Bulldogs. For the Magpies, James Fry played a lone hand up forward with four goals and was named as their best player.

McLaren has all but assured itself of finals action after a 17.8 (110) to 14.3 (87) win at Yankalilla. It was a high standard contest with accurate goal-kicking the highlight. The Eagles led at every change by eight, nine and 16 points before kicking six goals to five in the final term to win by 23 points. James Grimley was a star up forward for McLaren with seven goals while Jed Durdin kicked four goals for Yankalilla. Ashley Goodieson continued his recent good form being named best for the Eagles along with Joseph Carapetis and Grimley. For the second week in a row Jacob Laba was named the Tigers’ best and he was ably supported by Xavier Gotch and Jono Lee.

Strathalbyn won their 10th game of 2019 but it probably won’t be enough for them to make finals. The Roosters sit one game and 16% behind fifth placed McLaren. Strathalbyn travelled to Encounter Bay and by half-time had opened up a 22-point lead which the home side tried to reduce in the second half but in the end Strath were too strong winning 14.9 (93) to 10.8 (68). Ben Simounds continued his excellent goal-kicking form with his third ‘bag’ of seven goals in the past five weeks to be named best for Strathalbyn. Nick Marshall kicked five majors for Encounter Bay to take his season tally to 61 while Hamish Tonkin was named best for the Eagles.

Ladder after 17 rounds

Willunga 27 points, Mount Compass 25, Victor Harbor 24, Langhorne Creek 24, McLaren 22, Strathalbyn 20, Encounter Bay 14, Yankalilla 10, Goolwa-Port Elliot 4, Myponga-Sellicks 0.