Harvey leapfrogs Dons

Harvey big men Phillip Pohlenz-Saw and Kieran Germs outmuscled Donnybrook around the stoppages to hoist the Bulls to a 15.19 (109) to 3.5 (23) win at the Harvey Recreation Ground on Sunday.

In a slippery and at times windy game, the Harvey ruck duo dominated the hit outs to give their side first use of the ball and that advantage proved definitive as the Bulls ran away against a heavily depleted Donnybrook team.

Reigning Hayward medallist Jeff Smith and WAFL recruit Simon Parry were both absent on State Country duty but the Dons were also missing a gaggle of other regular contributors including Curtis Guglielmana, Hayden King and captain John Hearman.

Harvey was not at full strength either with Greg Sanders, Matt Robson and David Faulkner all missing in action but the Bulls losses were offset by the inclusion of former East Perth forward Robert Saylor who was influential on the day, finishing with a pair of majors.

Bulls recruit Danny Criddle opened the scoring in the first minute of the game, taking a clever mark before playing on to snap an unopposed goal.

Saylor doubled Harvey’s advantage after winning a free kick inside the goal square but the Dons hit back through majors to Chris Smith and Jarryd Guglielmana.

That was as close as the game got with Harvey setting up camp in the Dons forward 50 for the remainder of the quarter, netting two more goals for their efforts.

Donnybrook was held to just two points in the second quarter as Harvey piled on four more majors to lead 8.8 (56) to 2.2 (14) at half-time and when Dons key defender Chris Sheehan limped off the field with a groin injury early in the third the floodgates opened.

At the other end of the field, Harvey back men Dean Miller, Brett Lofthouse and Logan Egerton-Green stood firm to snuff out the rare Donnybrook attacking forays launched by the hard-working Guglielmana and Jason Brennan.

Harvey forwards Criddle, Saylor, Jamen Williams and Glen Wallam were rewarded for their work up front with 10 goals between them.

Scoreboard

Harvey Bulls 4.3 8.8 10.16 15.19 109 def Donnybrook 2.0 2.2 3.2 3.5 23

Goals:

BULLS – D. Criddle, J. Williams 3, R. Saylor, G. Wallam 2, D. Miller, R. Mooney, P.Pohlenz-Saw, T. McNamara, K. Germs.

DONS – C. Smith, J. Guglielmana, T. Gregory.

Best:

BULLS – P. Pohlenz-Saw, R. Saylor, K. Germs, D. Criddle, D. Miller, B. Lofthouse.

DONS – J. Guglielmana, L. Smith, J. Brennan, M. Manea, C. House, S. Cristaldi.

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