A dominant 20 minute period in the second quarter ensured Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong got over the line against Turvey Park on Saturday.
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The Lions made it five wins from their last six games with a comfortable victory over the Bulldogs, 15.16 (106) to 9.8 (62) at Maher Oval.
There was not much between the two teams for large periods of the contest, but it was seven goals in the space of 20 minutes in the second quarter that set up the win for the Lions.
GGGM kicked the first four goals of the game to lead by 28 points late in the first quarter before the Bulldogs piled on three late goals to go into quarter time down by 11.
The Bulldogs continued their charge with the first two goals of the second quarter to hit the front momentarily, but GGGM’s reply came hard and fast.
Matt Hamblin and Riley Corbett got to work and kicked three goals each in a 17-minute period as the Lions opened up a 35-point half-time lead.
The second half never reached any great heights and neither team were able to kick consecutive goals until GGGM closed with the last two of the game.
GGGM coach Christin Macri was pleased with the way his team responded in the second quarter.
“We let them back in but thankfully it only took 10 minutes to respond and we really got control back in that second quarter, which I was pleased about,” Macri said.
“It was important to sort it out then and not wait until half-time to sort these things out and that’s part of the growth in the group that we’ve been able to do that sort of thing.
“You can only speak to them once every break and you can send all the messages you like but it’s up to them to sort it out and they did. It was a good response.
“In the second half, we just did enough to maintain the margin and we’ll take 44 points, it’s a good win.”
Midfielder Josh Bubnich and ruckman Jacob Olsson were very influential, but it was a lot of the Lions’ youngsters that stepped up.
Matt Hamblin, Fraser Menzies, Zac Wiencke and Tom Anderson all contributed strongly in the win.
“Certainly those young guys are growing in confidence and for the senior guys, it’s really hard for them to be up and going and leading the team every single week,” Macri said.
“To see those guys step up today...it’s positive.”
Turvey Park were again competitive for large periods but it was just two patches in the first half where they let GGGM run riot.
The Bulldogs lost Brad Ashcroft to a suspected broken nose in a heavy collision in the second quarter.
Matt Bailey, Josh Donaldson and Jeremy Sykes tried hard all day, while there were positive signs from Harry Woods and Cooper Diesel.