GLENTHOMPSON-DUNKELD sits just percentage out of the Mininera and District Football League (MDFL) top five after the Rams’ 90-point win against Hawkesdale-Macarthur at Dunkeld on Saturday.

The Rams were kicking into the breeze in the opening quarter and were able to kick two goals to the Eagles’ one, putting the visitors on the back foot from the outset.

After quarter time, the home side piled on four goals and increased the scoreboard pressure with the Eagles unable to clear the ball from defence and create enough attacking forays.

The Rams’ spread from the contest created link up play throughout the quarter, as the home side extended its lead to 29 points by half time.

Hawkesdale-Macarthur started to tire in the second half and without many of its best 22 out on the field, the Rams continued to pile on the goals to record a 16.21 (117) to 4.3 (27) win.

Glenthompson-Dunkeld coach, Simon Hatherell said the strong start set up the win in what were tough conditions early on.

“They had the breeze and it died off as the day went on, but we held them and it set up the second quarter when we had the breeze,” he said.

“We didn’t change too much, we probably wanted to be a bit longer and more direct when we had the wind, but when we went into the wind, we were able to hit up targets 20 metres away and open up the field.”

The spread of contributors up forward also kept the Hawkesdale-Macarthur defenders accountable.

The home side had 10 goal kickers and Hatherell said the side always relied on a variety of options in front of goal.

“We need forwards to chip in with one or two a week and that adds up in the end,” he said.

“I am happy we created more opportunities to score, not overly concerned that we kicked more behinds than goals though.”

With the team sitting in sixth position after three rounds, Hatherell said the team needed to continue to put together strong performances to keep in touch with the top teams.

“You have to be better than two and one (wins and losses) in this comp, you need to have a lot more teams under you than above you,” he said.

“We are at 66 per cent win rate now, so need to keep building.”

Andrew Lowe kicked three goals for the Rams and was named the team’s best, with the Rams coach crediting the midfielder for a strong start to the season.

“Jesse Overall in his first game for the club was really good up forward, Andrew Lowe has started the season off super well and Tyler Staude as well,” he said.

“Gus (Noske) just had a permit, he is good mates with a few of the boys here and with Hamilton having the bye, he was able to come out and have a kick with his mates.”

For the Eagles, it was another tough outing and the team sits in ninth position with one win.

Hawkesdale-Macarthur coach, Josh Reichman said he was proud of the way the visitors fought out the contest in trying conditions.

“They had a good strong midfield and won first ball which put us on the back foot early,” he said.

“They had those contested winners and bigger bodies which was telling at the end of each quarter.

“They are a pretty structured team, so we ended up a bit out of whack.

“We were probably lucky to kick the goals we did, they set the tone pretty early and we battled well in certain periods but having the wind and not being able to take advantage hurt us.”

Reichman said the combination of height and speed was too much to overcome with the players tiring late in each quarter.

“They have got some guys who are pretty tall and are pretty agile, we lacked a bit of height and some speed an so we were trying to move the magnets to cover them which made it tough,” he said.

“They had mids kicking goals and three or four forwards who looked dangerous, but I thought our backs competed well, especially when there was pressure on the entries.

“We have had so many changes for us and probably a lot of guys playing senior footy that are underdone.

“I thought Kyle Smitten and Charlie Summers were really serviceable for us.”