St Mary’s overcame a brave Bell Park to remain undefeated after 10 rounds of Geelong Football League.
St Mary’s was blown away by the Dragons in the opening term and trailed by 33 points, but clawed its way back into the contest to lead by a point at the long break.
Bell Park held sway by 11 points at the last change and St Mary’s then did enough to win by 16 with a six-goal final term.
Harrison Kol and Tom Lange each booted three goals for the Saints while Jack Blood (23 disposals) was effective.
For the Dragons, Jack Fischer booted four, Tom Bryans was a pillar of strength and Tony Mahony was busy with 21 touches.
Leopold jumped a game clear of St Joseph’s with a 19-point win in a low-scoring game.
Trailing by nine points at the last break and with nine less scoring shots, Leopold booted 5.3 to 0.5 in the final term.
Michael Patten was the star with five majors for the Lions while Marcus Thompson racked up 37 touches in a fine midfield display while Jai Thompson had 31.
For Joeys, Jack Buckley (23 disposals), Oscar Morrison (11 contested possessions) and James Gow (28 touches and 10 tackles) were in everything.
Battered by COVID during the week, Grovedale rallied to record a six-point win against St Albans.
With its playing stocks decimated, the Tigers held on as St Albans produced a seven-goal final term to make it a close on.
Mitch Chafer was the difference with four goals for Grovedale while for St Albans, 11 of Hayden Elliot’s 12 possessions were contested.
Colac consolidated its spot in the top three with an impressive 75-point win against South Barwon.
An eight goal to none second-term blitz saw the Tigers lead by 57 points at the main break and from there they did enough to win comfortably.
Brody Mahoney got the ball 22 times while Bailey Scott (24) and Leigh Gorwell (28) also had their share of the footy.
For the Swans, Jack Driver was superb with 31 disposals, 13 of them contested.
Geelong West enjoyed a 40-point win against North Shore with David Handley and Jacson Collins booting three each while Noah Gribble was in everything with 41 possessions.
Kyle Skene was named best for the Seagulls, but it was Nick Dixon’s stats that really stood out. Dixon had 48 disposals including 20 contested possessions.
Newtown & Chilwell held onto second spot on the ladder with a 59-point win against a gutsy Lara.
The Eagles were never in danger of losing, despite Lara playing well at times and having 24 scoring shots.
Matthew Boag booted seven for the winners while Cameron Wilkinson and Ned Harris were also good contributors.
For the Cats, Connor Linehan-Cunningham was the stand out with 22 touches.
