Lily Milner and Brooke Kelly inspired Gippsland to a 5.18(48) to 4.5(29) victory over Sandringham at Shepley Oval on Saturday morning.
Milner continued her purple patch of form, finishing with 19 classy disposals and eight tackles in a clinical midfield display, while Kelly, a double bottom-ager, had a breakout game, of sorts, but finished with a wayward 1.7.
“She was best on ground today,” coach Michael Farmer said of Milner.
“The thing we love with Lily is she gives us really good run and carry with her disposal.
“We got a good look at that today but the best thing about Lily’s game was her ability to bring her teammates into it with her clearance work and unselfishness and contested work.
“Brooke was outstanding as well with her pressure and getting to the right spots to generate scores.
“On another day, she ends up with five or six.”
Gippsland opened up a 15-point quarter time lead, and never looked back thereafter, with the continued development of ruck Maya Crestani again impressing as she finished with a game-high 19 hitouts.
“She has been very good for us in the last month and probably got more game time for Vic Country last week,” Farmer said.
“Today, she was outstanding – it wasn’t just the numbers, but more where she was putting the ball.
“She’s starting to get some really good direction with her taps.”
Meanwhile, intercept defender Ollie Wilson and small forward Keenan Boi led the Power’s boys to a comfortable 12.12(84) to 7.9(51) victory over Bendigo.
Wilson had 15 disposals and five marks, while Boi kicked 3.2 and had plenty of impact higher up the ground after being snubbed of Vic Country selection in an under-17s trial last Saturday.
Willem Duursma had 21 disposals and a goal, while fellow top prospects Brodie Atkins and Zach O’Keefe each spent extended periods of the match forward.
