After their disastrous game last week against Corio, which saw them fall from the top of the table, Surfside Waves were looking to bounce back against new league leaders Geelong Rangers in Round 14 of the GRFL Men’s Division One competition at Shell Road Reserve last Friday night.

Despite starting the game with just 10 men, an early counter attack saw the Waves take the lead through speedster Steve McGain and with reinforcements arriving shortly afterwards from their Division Three side, finally Surfside was able to have a full 11 on the pitch.

Surfside continued to dominate possession and played a simple short passing game which frustrated Rangers.

A second was added shortly afterwards through Stuart Mandley. Aaron Bond added a sublime third just before the half ended and the Waves went into the sheds up 3-0.

The second half forced the Waves to defend carefully as the Rangers pushed to get back into the game. Nevertheless, Rangers failed to score and once Waves striker Jack Pedler curled a cool finish into the top corner late in the second half, the celebrations commenced with the Waves returning to the top of the ladder.

Rangers’ loss has resulted in the Dark Blues dropping to second spot, although they remain just one point behind the new leaders.

Deakin Ducks continue to apply pressure to the top sides, running out easy 3-0 winners over bottom side Breakwater Eagles at Torquay’s Banyul Warri Reserve on Sunday.

Kyle Cushion, Tristan Gutteridge and Mitchell Reid-Skalic all scored singles for the victors, thrusting the Ducks in to 3^rd spot with 22 points, just two points behind new leaders Surfside Waves.

Fresh from a bye last round, Drysdale SC thumped Corio SC 6-1 at Howard Glover Reserve on Sunday to leapfrog Barwon – who this week had the bye – into fourth spot on the ladder.

The league’s leading goalscorer, Louis Stockman, scored a hat-trick against the Eagles to bring his season’s tally to 11, while the other scorers for the Hawks included Simon Blanch, Danny Graham and Hayden Reed.

DIVISION TWO:

Despite managing to keep the Division Two leaders Surf Coast FC to an incredible 0-0 draw last Friday night, 6^th placed Elcho Park Cardinals have slipped further away from the Top Four after the sides above them on the ladder all gained recorded valuable points on the weekend.

Fifth placed Bellarine Sharks drew 1-1 with second placed Barwon Heads SC on Friday night at Barwon Heads Village Park with Andy Ingham netting for the home side and Patrick Somsong scoring for the visitors.

Fourth placed Lara defeated lowly Barwon Blue 4-1 and third placed Deakin Ducks overcame Bell Park 3-1 to extend the gap between the top five and the sixth placed Cardinals to seven points with just four rounds remaining until the Finals series.

DIVISION THREE:

The top two sides in Division Three, Geelong (1^st) and Corio Bay Blue (2^nd) have skipped away from the rest of the pack following easy wins last weekend.

Geelong SC defeated fifth placed Surf Coast Blue 4-1 at Banyul Warri Reserve on Friday night to maintain top spot with 34 points.

Second placed Corio Bay Blue, meanwhile, easily accounted for third last placed Barwon Green 4-0 at Grovedale Reserve on Sunday.

Corio Bay trails the Lions by a solitary point in what is essentially a two horse race in Division Three.

PHOTO: Surfside Waves' Jack Peddler scored a pearler late in the game against the Rangers (Photo: Patrick Callow)