Lucknow has stepped up its bid for an East Gippsland finals double chance while Lakes Entrance’s season can’t come to an end quick enough.
The Seagulls – battered by injury and unavailability over the past fortnight – succumbed to a rampant premiership contender in Lucknow at the Lakeside Oval last Saturday.
The home side was missing co-captains Angus McKenzie and Liam Carroll, league leading goalkicker Tom Hudson and Gippsland Power-listed ruckman Matt Pearce, among others.
The 140-point drubbing came after a hard-working first half where despite clearly being the lesser of the two teams, Lakes only trailed by 41 points.
The Magpies kicked two goals in the opening two minutes of the third quarter as the floodgates quickly opened, Lucknow’s lead surging to 96 at the final change following and eight-goal to one term.
The pain didn’t end for the Seagulls with Lucknow adding a further 6.8 in the final quarter, ending the match with a scoreline legendary cricket commentator, Richie Benaud would’ve been proud to voice – 2.2 to 22.22.
The Magpies used their chip-mark game superbly, but it was the dashing run which caused havoc for the Seagulls, the visitors continually repelling off half back, breaking lines through the middle of the ground and getting the ball deep inside their attacking zone where they had too much firepower.
While it was a showcase for Lucknow’s big guns – John Gooch booted six goals and was influential in the midfield, Jackson Smith and speedy Brendan Flinn kicked four each, while Joel McNamara and Zack Smith were major ball winners and defenders Andrew Nelson and Sam Park didn’t give an inch – it wasn’t all doom and gloom for the undermanned Lakes unit.
Coach Ben Rotheram would’ve been pleased with the efforts of his undersized midfielders – Sam East and Jordan Cullen worked tirelessly from start to finish and were always in and under against the bigger Lucknow bodies – and young defender Sabastian Etheridge stood firm and won many one-on-one battles, despite weight of forward entries going against him.
Despite a loss to Wy Yung the week prior Lucknow bounced back to form and now has a four-point gap over the Tigers with two rounds remaining. Fixtures against Paynesville and Orbost Snowy should seen victories for the Magpies which will ensure a finals double chance.
