By: Ben SHEARS

BARWON RED hosted 3^rd placed Breakwater Eagles in Round 9 action of the GRFC Men’s Division One competition at Grovedale Reserve last Sunday. In a close match that ended in a 1-0 result for the home side, Barwon Red maintained its second spot on the ladder and trail leaders Deakin Gold by three points.

Barwon’s Sean Mahon netted the only goal for the winning side to shove Breakwater down to 4^th spot on the ladder and give his side some breathing room near the top of the standings.

Drysdale took on the less dominant Barwon Blue side on Friday night also at Grovedale Reserve in which the visiting Drysdale team played better than the home side.

Barwon failed to create any clear chances throughout the game, which didn’t enable them to get on the scoresheet. Danny Hegarty scored the first goal within 10 minutes to give Drysdale the lead and Nick Hopper doubled the advantage in the second half with a clinical finish.

Bell Park hosted third placed Surfside Waves in a close matchup at the Bell Park Sports Centre which saw the visiting side run out narrow 4-3 winners in a high scoring clash and retain their third spot on the ladder.

Surfside Waves were missing their key striker Jack Pedler but managed to come away with the three points when Matthew Kirk, Craig Groom, Alexander Ketchen and Stephen McGain stepped up to fill his absence and get their names on the scoresheet. On the opposing side, Sahin Gorgu scored a hat trick for the All Whites.

Deakin Ducks registered a comfortable 3-0 victory over 8^th placed Geelong Rangers at Deakin University’s Waurn Ponds campus. At half time the score was 1-0 courtesy of a Ipyana Killimbe goal in the 30th minute. After half time Deakin, closed out their lead with two more goals netted by Nicholas Musarra and Harry Woolley.

Barwon Heads hosted Deakin’s second side Deakin Green at Village Park and displayed total dominance to win 4-1. The Barwon Heads team led strongly in both halves with Robert Armstrong scoring a brace. Tim McKiernan and Jame Ramage rounded out the scoring for the Hammerheads with singles apiece.

Geelong SC visited Surf Coast at Banyul Warri Reserve and came away with a well fought 3-2 victory. The goalscorers for Surf Coast included Jack Duffy and Craig Potter while on the winning side Amritpal Singh Chhina netted a brace and Paul Edebohls scored a single. Following this game, 6th placed Geelong and 7^th placed Surf Coast are separated by a mere two points on the ladder.

The final game of the weekend was played between Deakin Ducks Black and Elcho Park Cardinals at Deakin University. The one sided game ended with an easy 5-1 win for Deakin. Timothy Brain led the charge scoring a brace while Michael Goodhew, Nicholas Roberts and Beng Kai So all scored singles apiece. James Purcell scored the consolation goal for the 10 man Elcho Park side.