Bunbury have defeated Harvey Brunswick Leschenault in the Solahart Reserves Grand Final, winning by 56 points at Hnads Memorial Oval on Saturday afternoon.
Bunbury started the Solahart South West Reserves Grand Final in a blaze of glory, kicking three goals very quickly, with the aide of a strong breeze. The Lions started to even up general field play as the opening term started to wind down. Both team had late chances with the Bulldogs going to quarter time leading by twenty two points.
The Lions pressed hard at the start of the second term without any reward with the strong breeze. An errant kick ultimately found its way to Cale Westaway who put through the Lions first. A relayed free kick ended with Cooper Robins who kicked the Lions second, reducing the margin to eleven points. With the sun making a rare appearance on the day, Joel Houghton kicked a rare goal to the Southern End, giving the Bulldogs a sixteen point lead entering time-on. Jayme Osiejak made it back to back goals for the Bulldogs, with the Lions in a worrying position, trailing by twenty three points at half time.
Jett Rigby was deep in the forward pocket at the start of the third term when he kicked the Bulldogs sixth, extending the margin to 29 points with a fantastic goal on the run. The Lions tried to fight back but an errant kick found Cam Lamonaca alone and unattended as the Bulldogs extended the margin to thirty six points, as the third term entered time on. The game was seemingly out of reach of the Lions when Lachlan Smargiassi snapped a goal, as the lead was a game high 43 points to the Bulldogs. Zach Piper got a late goal for the Lions just prior to three quarter time, with the Lions to come home with a strong breeze.
Cam Lamonaca kicked the opening goal of the final term, and it had become a margin too great for the Lions to recover from, with the Bulldogs going on to win their tenth Reserves Premiership.
SCOREBOARD
Bunbury 3.5.23 5.7.37 9.10.64 12.14.86
Harv Bruns Lesch 0.1.1 2.2.14 4.3.27 5.4.34
Goals: Bunbury – Jett Rigby 2, Cameron Lamonaca 2, Jayme Osiejak 2, Travis Durnan 2, Joel Houghton 2, Jordan McGinley 1, Lachlan Smargiassi 1, Harvey Brunswick Leschenault – Jordan Westaway 1, Cooper Robins 1, Shannon Sabourne 1, Jackson Dewar 1, Zac Piper 1.
Best: Bunbury – Jordan McGinley, Jackson Oliver, Cameron Lamonaca, Private player, Joshua Young, Joel Houghton. Harvey Brunswick Leschenault – Jordan Westaway, Jackson Dewar, Cooper Robins, Zachariah Piper, Shannon Sabourne
Ground: Hands Memorial Oval
Umpires: Braden Surrall, Matthew Stewart, Michael Hearne
Crowd: 2000 approx
Don Punch Trophy: Jordan McGinley (Bunbury)
Images courtesy of Wayne Hislop