Panthers cruise to big win

Carey Park settled into the top four and set itself brilliantly for the second half of the season after a 49-point thrashing of old foes South Bunbury at Kelly Park.

An impressive seven-goal second quarter assault from the Panthers blew the margin out to 41-points halfway through the term and set up the 19.15 (129) to 11.14 (80) win.

An out-of-sorts Matthew Martin was the catalyst, with the burly spearhead kicking three goals for the term.

Martin started the game as he had left off last week after a goalless match against Harvey and looked a shadow of the player that had bagged eight majors against the Tigers in round one.

But the big man could not be faulted for lack of effort and reward came early in the second term as he grabbed the opening major of the quarter.

His second, which he kicked less than a minute later, was a defender’s nightmare. Panthers’ vice-captain Jake Omara sharked the centre clearance and laced the ball to Martin deep inside the 50.

Goals to Jason Winwood and the competition’s form small forward Arron Hill — who finished with five goals— allowed Carey Park to skip out to a seven-goal lead halfway through the term before the Tigers hit back with four of the next five goals.

Guy Piggott started the resurgence with a superb set shot from beyond 50 before sibling Braden, ruckman Luke Doyle and Damon Bull also goaled to give the Tigers a brief ray of hope.

But man of the momentMartin steadied the ship with his third in time on and the Panthers went into half-timewith a 34-point lead.

The second half belonged to a composed Panthers, despite missing key playmaker Scott Roche to a hamstring strain.

Liam McGuire stole best on ground honours with a terrific performance through the midfield.