Carey Park have ensured that we will have to wait until the final game of the home and away season, to know the composition of the top five, after a thrilling ten point win over Bunbury on Sunday afternoon, in round eighteen of the Dale Alcock Homes South West premiership season.
With so much on the line for both sides, a healthy crowd was on hand to witness the contest, with the opening quarter a dour affair with just two goals kicked. The match started with light rain falling, which cleared quickly, but made the surface slippery in the opening term. Mason Hawkes converted a set shot to give Bunbury the lead after five minutes, as both backlines dominated. It would be fourteen minutes before Carey Park kicked their first goal courtesy of Jamie Meade who received a free kick and a 50m penalty.
Leading by a point at quarter time, Jett Woods would convert a free kick, but that would be almost immediately answered by Brian Hughes. Brady Lenaghan would then put the Panthers in front with a clever snap midway through the quarter, before Baiden Parsons kicked a good goal on the run, giving Bunbury back the lead. A late goal to Hughes, provided Carey Park with a three point lead at half time.
The third quater provided as many goals as the entire first half as the game opened up, with Cameron Lamonaca giving Bunbury back the lead early. As had been the trend, no team could kick multiple goals, and that continued when Izaiha Humphries kicked an unusual goal, in that several players stopped, thinking a mark had been taken, with Humphries putting the Panthers back in front from the goal line. Parsons took another mark inside 50m at the nine minute mark, giving Bunbury the lead again – the fifth lead change of the game. With the margin set at three points, the defensive lines again took control, but Hughes popped up again, giving the visitors the lead yet again.
Bunbury then finished the quarter stongly, kicking three goals in four minutes, taking a twelve point lead into the final term.
That lead extended to eighteen points at the two minute mark, when Haydn Busher put through the Bulldogs ninth goal, but that would be their last score. Kelvin Lawrence started the fight back when he kicked truly, and when Jackson Hill run onto a loose ball, the margin was back to four points. The last ten minutes belonged to Brian Hughes who kicked his fourth to put the Panthers back in front, and make it eight lead changes for the game, and then he kicked the winning goal with a long range effort from 50m.
The win puts Carey Park into the five, and Donnybrook drop to sixth on the ladder. Bunbury sit in third place on 44 points, just ahead of HBL on 42, while Carey Park have 40 points, with Donnybrook sixth on 36 points. In round nineteen, Bunbury will play South Bunbury in the Bunbury derby, a match they need to win, while Carey Park will host HBL in a match that will have big consequences for the loser, and Donnybrook will play Collie.
SCOREBOARD
Carey Park 1.1.7 4.1.25 6.6.42 10.10.70
Bunbury 1.2.8 3.4.22 8.6.54 9.6.60
Goals: Carey Park – Brian Hughes 5, Jackson Hill 1, Izaiha Humphries 1, Kelvin Lawrence 1, Brady Lenaghan 1, Jamie Meade 1. Bunbury – Baiden Parsons 2, Jett Woods 2, Haydn Busher 1, Trae Field 1, Mason Hawkes 1, Cameron Lamonaca 1, Caysen Parsons 1.
Best: Carey Park – Brian Hughes, Jaxon Bell, Mitchell Russell, Joshua Ritchie, Connor Gadecki, Liam Stewart. Bunbury – Haydn Busher, Denholm King, Baiden Parsons, Tyson Wood, Mason Hawkes, Max Bilcich.
Ground: PC Payne Park
Umpires: Talen Guthrie, Khye Skoda, Cameron Valenti
Crowd: 785
