ROUND 10 of last year’s NAB League saw Dandenong’s seven-game unbeaten run come to an empathic end, as Eastern produced one of the more remarkable performances of the season to jump into top spot. For the second round running, all bar one of the Victorian Metro sides secured wins while Murray was the lone Country side to do so, and Bendigo enjoyed a bye.

Northern’s 11-goal thumping of reigning premier, Dandenong opened the weekend at Shepley Oval, with the Stingrays managing just one goal after half time in front of a home crowd. Meanwhile, the Knights would excel, booting 10 majors over the same period in a ruthless display forward of centre to run home 67-point winners.

Ben Major (three goals), Josh D’Intinosante, and Carlton draftee Sam Philp (both two) found the big sticks more than once among Northern’s 12 individual goalkickers, with Philp’s 19 disposals also among his side’s best. Ashton Williamson booted multiples for the Stingrays, while Adam Carafa (24 disposals) led 2020 co-captain Ewan Macpherson (21) as the leading ball winner. Academy member Will Bravo also impressed with 16 for Dandenong.

The round’s next fixture proved to be a far more tense one as Sandringham and Geelong opened a Mars Stadium double-header. The Falcons looked to be coasting to victory in a low-scorer having kept Sandringham to 1.7 in the first half and extended the lead to 30 points in the third term. But as was the case for much of 2019, Geelong faded late with two of Sandringham’s 18 behinds crawling the Dragons over the line.

The one-two combination of Charlie Sprague and Ollie Henry produced five of Geelong’s eight goals, with no Sandringham player breaking through for multiples. That could well have been different had Archie Perkins and Jake Bowey put one of their combined eight behinds on target. Angus Hanrahan led the winners’ disposal count with 26, while Charlie Harris (27) and Cam Fleeton (24) were Geelong’s best in that department.

Skipping out to Morwell, and Western stamped its finals claim with an upset 18-point win over top-three fancy, Gippsland on the road. The Jets led all day and put eight more scoring shots on the board in their big win, restricting the Power to just one goal at one end of the ground.

Harvey Neocleous popped up to boot four of Gippsland’s seven goals from his 20 disposals, with Western’s Emerson Jeka the only other to bag multiple goals (two). St Kilda draftee Leo Connolly led all comers with 28 disposals, while Morrish Medalist Lucas Rocci (25) did the same for the winners with bottom-age Academy gun Eddie Ford (17 disposals, one goal) also lively.

Back in Ballarat in the second of two games, home side Greater Western Victoria (GWV) was absolutely dismantled by the rampaging Eastern Ranges. The Rebels were kept goalless across the match and scoreless for half of it in the 111-point thumping as Eastern had their way en-route to an 18.8 effort in tricky conditions.

One of the more incredible efforts for the weekend was Jordan Jaworski‘s seven-goal haul, backed by three each from Connor Downie and Jamieson Rossiter. Zak Pretty had a game-high 35 disposals, while Tyler Edwards saw it 31 times – equal to GWV’s best in that department, Jack Tillig. Cricketing convert Wil Parker was the other player to notch 30 disposals, with the Ranges’ defence solid as ever.

Oakleigh’s win over Calder was the only other Saturday result, as the away side stormed home to notched a big victory. The game opened up after a close first term, with Oakleigh’s nine-goal to two second half consolidating the win to the tune of 69 points.

The Chargers’ high-end bottom-agers went to work, with potential 2020 number one pick Jamarra Ugle-Hagan booting five goals, while Will Phillips (33 disposals), Fraser Elliot (32), and Lochlan Jenkins (27) were menacing from midfield. Incredibly, four Chargers booted two goals, with Jeremy O’Sullivan the only Cannon to do so. Carlton draftee Sam Ramsay was among his side’s leading ball winners, trailing only Ned Gentile with 24 touches.

Sunday’s sole fixture saw the competition again head down to Tasmania, as Murray crossed Bass Strait to take on the Devils in Launceston. The action was relatively straightforward for the visitors as they broke out to an early lead and never looked back, resisting Tasmania’s 2.7 final term to coast home 38-point victors.

Over-ager Zane Barzen was one of just two Bushrangers to boot multiple goals, while Jimmy Boyer (27 disposals), Dylan Clarke (25), and Charlie Byrne (22) went to work with ball in hand. North Melbourne rookie Matt McGuinness fared best for Tasmania with 21 touches, while Murray bottom-ager Dominic Bedendo impressed on the back of 1.2 from his 18 disposals.