SOUTHERN Districts showed just how far the gap between top and bottom on the NTFL Men’s Premier Division is with a 203-point shellacking of the winless Darwin Buffaloes. The red-hot Crocs blasted clear on top by not only four points, but also a mammoth 116.9 per cent from their nearest rivals following the 34.7 (211) to 1.2 (8) performance.

Following Round 10 of action, Southern Districts took full advantage of St Mary’s shock loss to Wanderers by completely blasting away Darwin, notching up the century by half-time and finishing the job off with another ton in the second half. By quarter time the game was done and dusted, keeping the Buffs to just one behind and leading by 55 points.

The foot remained firmly on the pedal through the second term despite Darwin kicking its first – and only – goal of the match, with the half-time margin at an even 100 points. By the last change, the Crocs had blown it way out to 155 points with the double-ton win firmly in sight. Another nine-goal quarter in the fourth resulted in Southern Districts finishing off 203 points head, with quarters of nine, eight, nine and eight, while boasting remarkable accuracy.

Steven Motlop feasted inside 50, booting a whopping nine goals in the match – two more than he had kicked across his first six matches – while Will Farrer and Matt Shannon moved into second and equal third on the goalkicking leaderboard respectively with three majors apiece. They were far from the only ones though with skipper Michael Bowden and vice-captain Beau Schwarze also kicking three majors.

Incredibly, 16 of the 22 Crocs players were able to hit the scoreboard in the match, with Cody Chapman and Stanley Waistcoat the only multiple goalkickers. For the bests, Connor Giddings was handed the honour from the coaches with Motlop only named second best with Shannon and Jed Anderson also impressive.

Meanwhile at Gardens Oval, Wanderers produced a stunning upset over the Saints, to remind the competition they can be a danger. Billy Crofts was strong throughout, with Riley Calvene also impressive in the 10.10 (70) to 8.6 (54) victory. Jack Landt did all he could for the Saints in a losing effort.

Nightcliff proved far too strong for Tiwi Bombers in a battle of the top five teams, as the Tigers came away with an impressive 61-point victory. Leading throughout the contest, the Tigers really dominated after half-time, booting nine goals to four and running away with the contest, 17.14 (116) to 7.13 (55). Zackary Derksen kicked six goals, while Jonathan Lanyon was named best-on.

In the last game of the round, PINT overcame Palmerston Magpies by 43 points at Cazalys Arena, kicking four goals to one in the final term to blow out the final score, 8.19 (67) to 3.6 (18). The difference could have been greater had it not been for inaccuracy, but Christopher Nield still managed four snags and was named among the best with Cameron Wilson.