The Lions prepared for the showdown with a big win over Tallygaroopna last Saturday while Lancaster continued its unbeaten season with a resounding win over Rushworth.
The Wombats brought the Tigers — who accounted for Tallyaroopna the previous week — back to earth with a thud in a dominant display.
Zac Cerrone, coming off a 10-goal haul the previous week, was dominant again with seven goals, while Nic and Billy Ryan and Brad Orr each helped themselves to three majors.
Midfielders in James Ross and co-coach Tom Davies led the onslaught while Coby O’Neill and Logan Demasi also got plenty of the ball.
● Stanhope brushed aside Tallygaroopna to prepare for the Lancaster showdown.
The Lions were always in control and if not for inaccurate kicking for goal — they kicked 26 behinds — could have won by a lot more.
Jack Young, Jye Patten, Matt Gill and Nathan O'Reilly turned in strong games for the visitors with Jonathan Pearson and Luke Mann again doing the finishing work around the goals with five majors each.
Jarrod Burn, Nathan Carr and Brett Sheriff battled hard for Tally but didn’t get much support in the whitewash.
Tally looks to be in for another long day this Saturday taking on Nagambie at Nagambie.
● Merrigum claimed another big scalp in its good start to the season, knocking over Violet Town by 51 points.
Merrigum was in control from the start with Jack Sinclair with four goals and Jacob Chessels again showing the way.
They received plenty of support from Jason Christou, Jacob Martin and Jack Cordingley.
Josh Smith bagged five goals and Ethan McLaren four to keep the goals coming for the home side, which has another winnable game this Saturday against Dookie United at Dookie.
For the Towners, Matt McCarthy with three goals was a standout with Lachlan Baldwin and Nic Brazil giving the most support.
Star goalkicker Josh Mellington was held to just one goal for the game but spent a lot of time on the ball.
● Dookie United surprised a depleted Girgarre with an 82-point win on Girgarre’s home ground.
United broke the game open with a five-goal third term and added another six majors in the final term while keeping the ’Roos goalless.
Lachy Hill, coach Billy Barnes, Tim Cipriani and Hayden Phillips did all they could to keep Girgarre in the game but a lack of dominant forwards proved costly.
Jack Threlfall, Andrew O’Connor and Liam Hermann showed United the way to victory along with Tom Sennett and Pat McMullan who bagged nine goals between them.
Girgarre should get back on the winners’ list this Saturday against the winless Longwood while Dookie United has the in-form Merrigum to contend with.
● In the other two games, Nagambie was too good for Shepparton East while Ardmona thrashed Longwood in the battle of the cellar dwellers.
After a seven goals to one first term by Nagambie the home team rallied to get back into the game by half-time. But a nine goals to one last half landed a decisive win for the Lakers.
Mark Nolan was a standout for the winners while Mark Wilson, Nathan and Blake Fothergill and Trent Gladwin also were prominent.
Jake Pheiffer, Adam Serafini and Liam Trevaskis were best for Shepparton East.
● The much anticipated Ardmona-Longwood clash turned out to be a fizzer with the Shane Crawford Bush Cats scoring a thumping 136-point win at home to record their first win for six years.
Some celebrated recruits helped in the win but locals in Beau Jackson with six goals and Cam Hall with three and Josh Patmore also played key roles.
Reece Dimech, Mitchell Van De Duim and Nathan Watson tried hard for Longwood but with little support.
Ardmona will now be confident of another good showing this Saturday when it travels to take on Rushworth.
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