Berwick Miners quarterback Sam Walker impressed again on the weekend, with two touchdown passes and a two-point conversion in his side’s 34-6 victory over the Bay City Buccaneers.By Marc McGowan
THE Berwick Miners crushed the bottom-placed Bay City Buccaneers 34-6 to register their second straight Gridiron Victoria success at Deakin University in Geelong on Sunday.
Berwick was a heavy favourite entering the round nine contest, and despite making a tentative start soon hit the scoreboard hard to lead 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.
The highlight was an interception by the diminutive Daniel Logan, who ducked and weaved before turning on the afterburners to complete a 70-yard touchdown run, which was his first in senior ranks.
The defensive show continued in the second term, with Steve Baker racking up two interceptions of his own – both of which he returned for scores.
A strength of the Miners this season has been their receiving corps in Jamie Stafford, Cameron Neale, Lee Lindsay and head coach Dale Warren.
Stafford has been a constant end zone threat since handing over the quarterback reins and his red-hot form was again on display with two long touchdowns – one a 35-yarder and the other a 20-yard reception.
Quarterback Sam Walker and debutant Alex Afoa completed the scoring with two-point conversions each.
The 34-0 scoreline at half-time allowed Warren to experiment and he even gave Neale a crack at the quarterback duties.
Unfortunately, the trial came unstuck when an errant Neale pass handed the Buccaneers their only touchdown of the match.
However, it did not remove the gloss from an imposing performance, and Warren was pleased with his squad.
“It was a good win and it obviously gives us some momentum for the last few games against the top sides,” he said.
“We started off a bit slow, which we won’t be able to do this week, but once we got going the defence really controlled the day.”
It all leads to the pivotal match-up at Sydney Pargeter Reserve at 2pm on Saturday when the Miners clash with the undefeated Western Crusaders, a team which overcame the Miners 30-0 in round five.
“This weekend is a big one. Apart from the finals, this is our biggest game of the year,” Warren said.
“They’re a physically fit side and we’re a technical side. It was only 6-0 at half-time last time.
“It will come down to our offensive line and their ability to block for Sam, and our defence needs to put a lot of pressure on their quarterback.”
