Queenscliff has all but locked away a top-five berth and appears set to start its finals campaign from no worse than a qualifying final after taking care of Barwon Heads by 67 points at Queenscliff Recreation Reserve.
After trailing by two points at quarter time, the Coutas clicked into gear, kicking 14 goals to six from that point on to claim a 16.25 (121) to 8.6 (54) result.
The win was Queenscliff’s 11th of the season, helping maintain its percentage break over Geelong Amateur at the top of the ladder.
“I was really happy with the performance today,” coach Heath Jamieson said.
“The first quarter, we probably weren’t at our best; we were trying to find our way into the game.
‘But after quarter time, I thought we were pretty comprehensive.
“We locked the ball in our forward half for long periods of time, and we were able to set up well behind the ball.
“Our ball use was a lot better than what it’s been in previous weeks, so our forwards got some good looks.
“We’ve had 41 scoring shots against them, a side that beat us earlier in the year, and we’re pretty happy with that.”
Jamieson admits the loss to the Seagulls in Round 5, where Queenscliff had four more scoring shots, provided enough motivation heading into Saturday.
“We definitely spoke about the fact that they beat us, and they were probably the last team that we had to beat to get a result over everyone in the competition this year.
“It’s always nice if you do play them again, knowing that you have beaten them in the year,
“They were right up for the game when they beat us early in the year, and we probably didn’t match it, so we wanted to make sure that we came out with better energy this time around.”
As he did against Barwon Heads earlier in the season, Sol Bowtell kicked four goals for Queenscliff, while Jayden McHenry returned from injury to contribute three majors.
The value of off-season additions Nick Rippon and Sam Kalbfell was also on show.
The Coutas now turn their attention to a meeting with finals hopefuls Newcomb, which will be followed by a clash with Geelong Amateur that could determine the minor premiership.
“As people say, July is moving month,” Jamieson said.
“We’ve got two very big games coming up. Probably the two biggest away games in the competition at the moment
“It’s a big fortnight for us. We need to get to work and make sure that we can put our best foot forward in these two games.
“It’ll be good to test ourselves the next couple of weeks.
“We won’t look too far ahead, but we know that if we can get the result that we want that it’s going to set us up later in the year.”
With Kye Smith sidelined and Mitch Jensen unavailable, Jack Henderson did much of the heavy lifting in the Barwon Heads forward line, finishing with three goals.
Kyle Polley, Noah Young, and Luke Davis also battled hard for Seagulls, who face a tricky meeting with Drysdale at Mortimer Oval next week.
Geelong Amateur (2nd, 11-2) has held off a stirring final quarter fightback from Newcomb (6th, 6-6) to maintain pace with Queenscliff in the fight for the minor premiership.
The Pegs, who led by as much as 34 points early in the final quarter at KFC Oval, held on to win by a solitary point, 16.6 (102) to 14.17 (101).
While Ammos co-coach Sam Lloyd was playing the hero at one end, Newcomb co-captain Tom Webster nearly did the same at the other.
Lloyd finished with seven goals, taking his season tally to 64, keeping alive his hopes of topping the ton in 2026.
Webster, who was swung forward to great effect in the Power’s pre-bye loss to Anglesea, kicked a career-high six majors.
Nick Beekmans and Lachie Reilly also impressed for Geelong Amateur, with Ash Medal favourite Logan Wagener and Josh Taylor standouts for Newcomb.
Portarlington (7th, 6-7) has won three consecutive matches in a season for only the second time in 32 years after overcoming Modewarre (9th, 3-10) by 17 points at Portarlington Recreation Reserve.
Despite being held to just one goal in the final term, the Warriors were inaccurate, kicking 2.4.
The Demons’ victory, 11.13 (79) to 8.14 (62), gave them six wins in a season for the first time since 2008.
Big man Scott Greenhough kicked three goals and was among Portarlington’s best, along with Teia Miles and Brock Williamson.
Jordan Harrison and Mitch Uhlhorn battled hard for the Warriors.
Big man Mitch Lindsey and classy defender Luke Preece were among the best as Drysdale (8th, 4-9) made its first visit to Summertime Pools Oval a winning one, beating the Surf Coast Suns (11th, 1-12) by 49 points.
The Hawks used a 6.7 to 0.1 first quarter to great effect in posting a 13.17 (95) to 6.10 (46) result.
Captain Mitch McGuire and Joel Watson kicked three goals apiece for Drysdale.
Tim Lee finished with two goals for the Suns.
Anglesea (5th, 7-5), Ocean Grove (10th, 3-9), and Torquay (3rd, 9-3)) each had the bye
