By DAVID NAGEL
PEARCEDALE has broken through for its first win in the Nepean league this season with a 75-point, 26.15 (171) to 14.12 (96), victory over Tyabb at Tractor Park.
Winless after four rounds, last year’s finalists overwhelmed the Yabbies with a special 11.7 to 1.0 second term.
The 67-point advantage of the second stanza proved important with Ben Cadd’s men winning the remaining three quarters by just eight points overall.
The Yabbies took a 21-point lead into quarter time, but buckled as players like Pat Cadd, Troy Jacobson, Dylan Hoare and Andy Douglas did as they liked before the main break.
Pat Cadd and Basil Sibosado kicked five goals each for the winners, while Douglas and Pat Heijden were next best with three apiece.
The Panthers spread the load with 12 contributors to their 26 goal total, Ben Cadd and Ben Mitchell being others to shine on a day that could launch the home side’s season.
Jake Anderson and Callum Morris kicked three each for the Yabbies.
Devon Meadows will be kicking itself after squandering an ideal opportunity to go four-and-one after a nine-point 10.18 (78) to 10.9 (69) loss to Somerville at Glover Reserve.
James Bow was outstanding for the still fifth-placed Panthers, slotting six, but it was the home-side’s inability to find a second fiddle that proved its undoing on the day.
Pat Harmes, Daniel Watson and Gavin Kerr battled hard, but it was all to no avail.
In other games, Sorrento defeated Hastings by 23 points, reigning champs Dromana scored a 53-point win over Frankston Bombers, while former Bombers’ coach Tony Blackford led Red Hill to an impressive 21-point victory over Rosebud.
Crib Point remains the only unbeaten side in the competition after accounting for Rye by 23 points at Rowley Reserve.
This week Devon Meadows travels to Hastings while Pearcedale also hit the road to take on Doug Koop’s Dromana.
