Eight goals from Lancaster captain and makeshift full forward Charlie Mclay helped Lancaster to a 63-point win. The Wombats had three debutants in the game as half-a-dozen premiership players were missing from the line-up.
Lancaster will manage several of its premiership players from the last two seasons in a four-week period when it faces three of the bottom four teams in the Kyabram district league in the next month,
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On Saturday, against Merrigum, the Wombats had two teenage debutantes, another playing his first game since 2022 and two other players appearing for just the second time at senior level in the yellow sash.
In the next three weeks they face Longwood (11th, one win), Violet Town (13th, one win) and Girgarre (12th one win), with the following week’s match against eighth-ranked Dookie United (two wins from six games).
The Wombats sit second after their fifth win of the season, having recovered from a highly physical match against top team Murchison-Toolamba the week before - a drawn match which sets the scene for a bumper game the next time the club meet, most likely in the finals.
Veteran Lancaster Phil Carrolll was at his generalling best in the defence, but in this instance was collared by Merrigum's best player Brayden Hall.
Oliver McCormack, in his first season at the club, played under-16 football with Kyabram last year, and can still play in the under-18 competition next year.
He kicked a goal in his first game, playing mostly at half-forward
Nate Oliver, who has played 50 games in the Lancaster thirds in the last two-and-a-half seasons, was also playing his first game. Their appearances come on the back of the seven-goal second round debut of Declan Hallett.
Steven George was the third player to be included in the 2pm game, along with Wez Hill and Bayley Lloyd (both in their second games of senior football for the season).
George played four senior games in 2022, but played all his football last season at under-age level and the first five games of this year in the reserves.
Without Oliver McAuliffe, Lachlan Boscarini, Daniel Foley, Adam Vick and Riley O’Neill the team did well to come out of the weekend’s game with a 65-point win.
The win came on the back of another eight goals from captain and makeshift full forward Charlie McLay. He now has 26 goals from six games, including a bag of 10 against Rushworth in round three.
Lancaster still has a little time to wait for the return of goal kicking ruckman Nick Ryan, who still has four weeks to serve of his 10-week grand final suspension.
Another premiership player, Ricky Thomson, is also due to return in coming weeks and star goalkicker Jake Mills is a registered Lancaster player but no time frame has been put on his return.
Coach and former McNamara Medallist (best-and-fairest for the league) Tom Davies, who didn’t have his operation to March, won’t play at all this year.
Lancaster's defensive work was outstanding at Merrigum on Saturday, evidenced by the fact Bulldogs goalsneak Jake Gascoyne was kept goalless for the first time this year.
Lancaster kicked extremely accurately on the weekend, finishing with 20.8 (128) to Merrigum’s 9.9 (63).
McLay’s bag of goals was supported by three from Zac Cerrone (19 from six games) and three from Tannar Cerrone (playing in his 100th game for the club).
For the second successive week Nicholas Kellow was among the best players on the ground, kicking two goals and filling the void in the physicality stakes with the retirement of premiership captain Brad Orr.
Kellow is a former Elmore player, who spent one season at Echuca United and has been a terrific addition to the Wombats.
He worked in tandem with captain Sam Spedding, Noah Sewell and Kyle Kidd to provide plenty of opportunities for McLay and company. In defence Logan Demasi and Phil Carroll were stars
Merrigum doubled its output in the second half, kicking six goals on the back of three from Matthew Wild and a pair from Leigh Cuthbert.
Brayden Hall was the Bulldogs best player, with ruckman Kellan Robinson working hard against Coby O’Neill and Luke Rennie, while Brad Taylor and Zak Parkinson were the best ball carriers for the team.
Coby O'Neill has been one of Lancaster's most consistent players in the ruck this season, filling a void left by the 10 week suspension of Nick Ryan and the absence of premiership player Ricky Thomson.
Merrigum has another neighbouring club as its opponent next week, facing Girgarre in a Sunday match on June 2. The Bulldogs don’t face another top three team until July 27 (round 13) when they confront Shepparton East.
– Rampaging Murchison-Toolamba full forward James Lloyd took his goals tally to 55 from six games with a third double figure tally for the season against Girgarre on Saturday.
Lloyd kicked 10, on the back of 12 against Violet Town, 11 against Longwood and nine opposite Merrigum, while his brother Aidan kicked six and the third Lloyd, Andrew, was near best on ground in the victory.
Murchison-Toolamba won the game 29.16 (190) to Girgarre’s 5.1 (25), the Kangaroos managing just one scoring shot in the first half.
Ruckman Byron Dryden was the Kangaroos best player, while Josh Marino and Kade Northausen did well in the mid-field alongside the consistent Joshua Wheeler.
