LEETON-Whitton’s march towards finals gained further momentum with a 79-point thrashing of Coolamon on Saturday.
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The Crows made it four wins on the trot as they proved far too good for a young Coolamon team, 19.18 (132) to 7.11 (53) at Leeton Showground.
Leeton-Whitton started strongly but it was the second quarter where they put the Hoppers away as the Crows kicked five goals to none to go into half-time 50 points clear.
The Crows stretched the lead to 70 points in a scrappy third term before the Hoppers went goal for goal with Leeton-Whitton in a high-scoring final quarter.
Leeton-Whitton captain-coach Jade Hodge led the way with a seven-goal haul, while experienced midfielders Ben Curley, Toby Conroy and Bryce O’Garey all played starring roles in the win.
Hodge is happy with the way the Crows are building towards September.
“It was a good win, I was pretty happy. If someone said before you will win by about 80 points, I would have said yep, I’ll take that,” Hodge said.
“They’re not far off the mark so to beat a side like Coolamon by 80 points is a good effort. We’re starting to play some pretty good footy.”
Hodge said the Crows still have plenty to work on and pointed towards the second half as an example.
“The disappointing this was, we got away from things in the second half,” he said.
“We had a chance to put them to the sword and didn’t.
“To their credit, they fought until the end and put a fair bit of pressure on us but we went and did a bit of kick-chasing and fell away from our structures.”
Leeton-Whitton sit in third position, with games against Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong, Collingullie-Glenfield Park and Turvey Park to finish the year.
While favoured to finish third and earn a double chance, Hodge is not prepared to lock it in just yet.
“We can’t afford to drop one,” he said.
“A top three spot would be nice but I’m just after that consistency.
Hodge was the Crows best with five goals to half-time, as he finished with seven.
He was most impressed by his defensive group, particularly Mitch Conlan and Jayden Lehman.
Curley, Conroy and O’Garey led the midfield charge, while Michael Wescombe and Tom Handsaker were others to shine.
For Coolamon, young gun Luke Redfern was right in the thick of the action all day, while Steve Senior impressed in his first grade debut.
Hodge hopes to welcome back Will Wakeman, Ben Gaynor and Tyh Evans for next week.
Wakeman was dropped to reserve grade for disciplinary reasons, while Gaynor returned from injury in the same game.