It seemed like only a blink of an eye that the young, inexperienced and gallant Saints were challenging the visitors before they were suddenly all but spectators as the Burras turned on the afterburners.
The move of Kieran Delahunty to the goalfront alongside Jae McGrath provided a juicy double-pronged target for a charging midfield that also had Tim McIntyre and Brayden Ison hovering for opportunities.
Much of the Burras’ potency came from raw-boned Tim Mackenzie who ensured the Burras controlled the corridor out of defence as John Delahunty led Nick Kelson, Nick Petering, Lachie Johns, Jake Ballagh and co into an overwhelming position.
The Burras appeared too strong and too experienced for the Saints and all eyes will now be on how Minyip-Murtoa shapes up against arch rival Stawell.
Stawell came from behind to score a memorable one-point win over Dimboola last week to remain the only unbeaten team in the competition.
The Warriors have raised plenty of eyebrows in the five home-and-away rounds this season and did again on Saturday, with coach Tom Eckel leading the way with a five-goal game.
Sam Williams, Cam Kimber, Paul Summers, Jarrod Illig and Jackson Dark were others to win best-player accolades.
The clash between the two will unfold on the wide-open spaces of Minyip, which will favour the side best suited to having a gallop.
There is also plenty of intrigue surrounding a variety of other games across the league this weekend. These include a clash between Southern Mallee Giants and Horsham at Hopetoun, with the Giants coming off a hard-fought 64-point win over Nhill and the Demons pulling the jumpers back on after a bye.
Like most teams this year, the Giants had it far from their own way against the winless Tigers, but had the firepower to turn enough attacking sorties into a solid victory.
Lucas Cook bagged eight goals in the win and along with Haydn Drew, Ed Lindon and leader Coleman Schache, will be keen to maintain momentum.
Horsham has a two-from-two win-loss scorecard so far this season while the Giants have only dropped one game. This Saturday’s result will go a long way to setting the stage for what happens for both in the next month.
Dimboola players, meanwhile, would be far from happy with their narrow loss last week and will attempt to bounce back against Warrack Eagles at Warracknabeal.
Saturday’s loss was the first for the Roos, who had Darcy Dubois, Jarryd Graham, Matthew Rosier, Elliot Braithwaite, Jayden Lehmann and Tom Clugston featuring in the top-six best. Jack Landt also kicked three goals.
At the same time the Eagles pushed Ararat in a show of defiance, although ultimately came off second best to the tune of 35 points. Riley Morrow won recognition for his efforts, Dane Stewart kicked three goals and others such as Jacob Cheney and Phillip Huebner impressed.
The Eagles will find it a tough assignment against the Roos, who with a little more refinement across the season will present a serious threat to all.
Ararat must continue to put together a winning formula to remain in striking distance of the leaders and is preparing for a home-game battle against Horsham Saints.
The Rats had at least 28 scoring opportunities against the Eagles and will want to be on target against a Saints side that has the ability to hurt opponents in transition. Brody Griffin continued his hot streak of form for Ararat at the weekend, as did Liam Arnott and Tom Mills. Jeziah Woods also bobbed up with a good game as Corey Taylor kicked three goals.
The Saints, who have been blooding a variety of youngsters, are good on the spread, but the team has to work as one for the methodology to work.
The Saints were good for a half last week, showing how well they can control the perimeter when they have the ball. As the game turned on them, the Saints still had willing players in Angus and Mitch Martin and Daniel Rees and Will Brennan were good. This contest could go to the wire.
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