LEOPOLD has continued its push for a spot inside the GFNL top-five, holding off a spirited Bell Park by 23 points at Hi Sushi Oval.
It’s a fourth-straight win for the Lions after a sluggish start to the season for last year’s Grand Finalists, leading at every break to end the match victors 9.9 (63) to 12.14 (86).
Leopold is now sitting in sixth spot, with a massive win for South Barwon over St. Albans in Round 9 keeping the Lions out of a finals spot on percentage.
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The Lions had eight separate goalkickers with four players scoring twice, coach Garry Hocking said it was pleasing to see an even contribution.
“You want a strong contribution from the team in regards to the scoreboard,” he said.
“If Mitch (Patten) is having an off day or being defended really well, you don’t want to just rely on one person.
“I think this where Leopold, our footy club has become a lot better, we’re not just reliant on one person, we have a real ‘we’ sort of mentality, not a ‘me’ mentality.
“The boys just know that we can flip people around and we can get what we want.
“(Connor) Giddings came on in the last quarter, had a bit of a crack at him and just said he’s got to compete forward.
“So he comes back into the forwardline and then takes the next three or four marks and imposes himself.
“We’ve got some flexibility with our mids who are good aerial and good groundball.”
The Lions will be hoping to make it five-straight, hosting St. Albans at Memorial Park for Round 10, the Dragons travel to Burdoo Reserve for an important clash with Grovedale.
By: Will Boddington
Twitter: @krockfootball
