GERRINGONG have claimed their first win of the season with a comprehensive 38-10 win over Milton-Ulladulla at Michael Cronin Oval on Saturday.
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Despite the fact the match was played in atrocious conditions, the Lions didn’t show any reluctance in moving the ball around and proved too composed for the visitors.
The opening stages of the game saw Gerringong dominate possession and they jumped to an early lead after half-back Brad Davidson stepped and dummied his way past a number of defenders.
Joel Roberts’ converted to make it 6-nil after seven minutes.
After Davidson’s try possession swung to the Bulldogs and with the aid of a succession of penalties they found themselves deep in Gerringong territory.
Their opportunity went begging however when Peter Cronin plucked a Milton pass from the air and raced downfield and two tackles later the Lions extended the lead when Corey Mulhall crossed to make it 10-nil.
While it became hard to tell who was playing for who, the Lions weren’t averse to opening up the game with some second phase play and a string of off-loads led to Adam Moore barreling over under the posts, Roberts’ conversion made it 16-0 with just under 15 minutes left in the half.
While conditions continued to deteriorate the Lions, like pigs, seemed happy in the mud and pushed the lead out further when Lloyd Bowen fought his way over the line.
Roberts’ third conversion made it 22-nil.
The Bulldogs on the other hand seemed to becoming more and more frustrated, which was made evident when Luke Young got an extended half-time break after he was sin-binned for dissent.
Despite their comfortable lead at the start of the second-half, the Lions didn’t let up and it was 28-nil when Nathan Ford crashed over for a converted try in the early stages of the second stanza.
Milton finally stopped the Lions’ scoring run soon after when full-back Tom Cook reached out to cross the stripe, Young’s conversion making it 28-6.
Any glimmer of hope Milton had was soon extinguished when the Cronin brothers combined.
Five-eighth Patrick produced a deft chip kick before re-gathering and then despite Cook’s best efforts, off-loading to send Peter over to make it 32-6.
To Milton’s credit they didn’t give up and grabbed a late consolation try to Lachlan Moore before the Lions finished the game with a slick display of passing that sent Elliot Stewart over under the posts.
Roberts converted on the siren to round out the score at 38-10.
For Gerringong - Davidson, Ford and Adam Thomson all turned in fine displays, while Travis Young, Moore and Blake Summerville did all they could for Milton.