Laurimar have returned to the Heidelberg Golf Club Division 3 winners list in a big way, after defeating Heidelberg West by 63 points at Heidelberg Park.
A win in this top four clash was crucial for both sides and it was the Power who looked the more determined outfit throughout the contest, finishing 19.13 (127) to 8.16 (64) winners.
Both teams finish Round 15 in the same positions on the ladder as they did coming into the match, but the gap between the two sides has now stretched to 12 points, with match ratio preventing Laurimar from moving into the top two and Heidelberg West dropping out of the top four.
Kaiden Arthur was excellent for the visitors, roving from half back to the wing to be a powerful link up player and setting up multiple majors for his side in the process.
Ethan Bateman continued his brilliant intercept marking form on Saturday and was a key reason why the Hawks struggled to keep up with the visitors on the scoreboard.
Noah Mooney led the Power’s goalkicking by booting four majors, whilst Joel Lawson kicked three goals for the third straight game.
Lachlan Evans continued to fight in the ruck despite his side struggling in the middle of the ground, while his presence in marking contests gave his teammates multiple chances to win the ball at ground level.
Louis Hill worked tirelessly at stoppages and won plenty of hard balls while the home side’s eight goals were spread between eight individual goalkickers.
Kyan Watson got things started for Michael Missen’s men by kicking the first goal of the match inside the first minute, and early signs suggested the Hawks were up for the fight.
But the Power quickly took over, kicking five consecutive goals to develop a 21-point quarter time lead.
The Hawks once again came out hard at the start of the second quarter as Billy Wright found the big sticks.
However, as Laurimar continued to control the match, Heidelberg West began to grow frustrated, giving away several 50 metre penalties to allow Jimmy Atkins’ men to stretch their margin further.
What also helped the visitors maintain momentum was the Hawks’ poor goalkicking, as despite registering the same scoring shots as their opponents, they could only muster 3.7 for the term.
As Laurimar kicked seven of the 10 goals scored in the second quarter, they went into half time 41-point leaders and were well in control.
A quieter third term played out as Heidelberg West looked to peg their way back into the contest.
Both sides had their chances to score but struggled to convert due to poor inaccuracy, combining to produce 4.7.
Heidelberg West in particular were unable to find the big sticks and scored 1.3 to fall even further behind at three quarter time.
54 points to the good heading into the final term and with the game all but sewn up, Laurimar had the opportunity to grab a much-needed percentage boost.
The hosts inaccuracy continued to haunt them and despite ending up with more scoring shots in the last quarter, they mustered just 2.4 for their efforts.
Laurimar meanwhile kicked a four-goal term, finishing as 63-point winners and keeping their charge towards a top two spot well and truly intact.
