Coburg Lions Development side has made in four wins in a row against Sandringham, on Saturday at Piranha Park.
The young Lions impressed in a hard fought contest in the wet, contested ball and tackling pressure the highlight.
Zak Wunyhm and Matthew Stillman (26 disposals) stood out, while Cams Holdsworth provided some flare up front kicking two goals.
Refreshed from the statue league bye round both sides came out with solid intent, the Lions applying great tackling pressure around the ground, going inside 50 multiple times to take an early 5 point lead.
Wet and dewy conditions effected skill levels as the ball moved from forward line to forward line in a slow grind, Jackson Clarke and Tom McConville created play of half back however poor use of the footy cost.
Despite having 6 more scoring shots than the Lions, the Zebras 5 point leaders at the first change.
Sandringham started the better of the two sides in the second term, extending their lead to 10 off the back of some tight work at the stoppage.
The Lions bounced back through some clean stoppage of their own in the forward fifty, Tom McConville the beneficiary of a Tim Sutherland tap down. Sutherland adding another immediately to give the home team the lead mid-way through the term.
The back six combined well to ensure the visitors wouldn’t score for the rest of the quarter.
Garret McDonagh finished a brilliant Jake Kalanj tackle and Cam Holdsworth roved well off the pack to extend the lead to 14 points.
The development side carried momentum early into the third quarter as Merlo, Valeri and Flower began to get on top in the middle.
Zak Wunyhms first goal for the club and a second to big man Tim Sutherland extending the Burgers lead to 40 points.
Some poor foot skills from Coburg allowed Sandringham back into the game, as the Lions were reduced to three rotations, with Kalanj going down with a broken nose and McConville limping off with a leg injury, the three quarter time margin 19 points.
The visiting side started the last term keen to atone for a poor third quarter showing, pressing multiple times, as the Lions back six led by Stillman, Gregory and Clarke repelled.
Mark Kovacevic also stood up taking two big grabs in the back half, allowing the Lions to wrestle back some momentum and lock the ball into their half.
Sandringham would struggle to break the Coburg line for the rest of the game, as they ran out eventual 8 point winners.
Best: M. Stillman, J. Clarke, S. Gregory, J. Corigliano, Z. Wunhym, M. Kovacevic
Goals: T.Sutherland, C.Holdsworth, 2 Z.Wunhym, M.Orr, J.Flower, J.Kalanj, G.McDonagh, T.McConville.
