General News
19 June, 2025
Jack's Neylon it for consistency
By ADAM BOURKE BRIDGEWATER enhanced its Loddon Valley premiership credentials with an emphatic 56-point win over top-five rivals Bears Lagoon-Serpentine. The Mean Machine demolished the Bears, 19.13 (127) to 10.11 (71), to move two games and 26 per...
By ADAM BOURKE
BRIDGEWATER enhanced its Loddon Valley premiership credentials with an emphatic 56-point win over top-five rivals Bears Lagoon-Serpentine.
The Mean Machine demolished the Bears, 19.13 (127) to 10.11 (71), to move two games and 26 per cent clear in third place on the ladder.
To rub salt into Serpentine’s wounds, star forward Josh Mellington (five goals) left the ground in the third quarter with a hamstring injury and will potentially miss key games over the next month against fifth-placed Inglewood, second-placed Pyramid Hill and ladder-leader Marong.
While the Bears had very little to smile about, Bridgewater coach Lachlan Sharp was grinning from ear-to-ear after the big win.
“It was probably the best team performance we’ve had all year,’’ an elated Sharp said.
“We didn’t let up all day. We’ve had some lapses against the good sides where they’ve been able to kick five or six straight goals on us, but the pleasing thing about this win was that we were really gritty in the way we stuck at it even when Serpentine had some good patches.
“It was one of the better games we’ve played in terms of our physicality and competitiveness.”
Bridgewater could have put a major gap on the Bears inside the first 10 minutes of the game.
The wasteful visitors had 1.6 on the board before the Bears went inside forward 50 for the first time.
Serp’s midfielders worked their way into the game and the home side started to give Mellington some opportunities to score.
After kicking one goal in the opening quarter, Mellington turned the game on its head with a three-goal burst in the second term to give his side the lead.
In a sign of things to come, Bridgewater responded to Serpentine’s challenge.
Key midfielder Jack Neylon set up a goal for Oliver Watt, before a Bears’ turnover opened the door for Oliver Muggleton to kick his only goal for the day.
A Tom Paterson goal cut the Mean Machine’s lead to just four points and it appeared as though there’d be little between the two teams going into half-time.
However, in the final two minutes of the second term the Bears conceded goals to Alex Powell and Bo Alexander.
Powell’s came on the back of a 50-metre penalty against Mellington, while Alexander’s set shot for goal came after the half-time siren.
The Bears did draw within 11 points midway through the third quarter, but yet again the Mean Machine stood up under pressure.
Half-back Darcy Wood, who impressed all game, intercepted a Bears’ thrust and worked the ball forward to his coach Sharp, who calmly kicked truly on the run.
Later in the quarter, Wood floated forward himself and slotted a goal on the run from 40 metres.
The Bears kicked five of the final six goals of the third quarter and by the last change the margin was 34 points.
The Bears did kick the opening two goals of the final term to give their loyal home fans a spark, but that was extinguished by goals to Jack Symons and Neylon, who fittingly capped his best on ground performance with a major.
When the final siren sounded, the Mean Machine had kicked six unanswered goals to finish the game.
Alexander (four), Sharp (three) and Watt (three) kicked 10 of Bridgewater’s 19 goals.