THE Bathurst Giants produced the best opening term of their senior Central West AFL history on Saturday to set up an 18-8-116 to 9-8-62 victory over the Bathurst Bushrangers Outlaws.
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The Giants booted seven majors in the first quarter at George Park 2 - bettering the six goals they kicked in the opening stanza of their round one victory over Parkes last season.
That effort gave the Giants a 29-point lead over the Outlaws and from there they went on with the job.
"It was impressive to watch, it was really good," Giants coach Mark Kennedy said of that first quarter.
"Our centre clearances in the first quarter just made the difference, getting it in quickly to the forwards. We kicked seven goals in that first quarter which really put us in good stead for the rest of the game.
"Bushrangers just couldn't catch up."
Needing a win to prevent the Outlaws from leapfrogging them on the ladder, and to build on a strong result against Dubbo the previous week, Kennedy was expecting a tight contest.
But the Giants took control of the midfield early, enjoyed plenty of inside 50 entries, and capitalised on their scoring opportunities.
Though the second quarter was closer, the Giants still went into the long break with an 11-3-69 to 4-3-27 advantage.
The Bathurst rivals booted three goals three apiece in the third term, but the Giants again seized the momentum in the final quarter to notch up their fifth win of the season.
"It sort of solidifies us in that top four at the moment, hopefully we can get a couple more wins towards the end of the season and a home final, which would be nice," Kennedy said.
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"We had a couple of players out which I though might make a difference to us, Reilly Mitchell was a late out and he's a really important player for us in the midfield. Jacob Molkentin was crook as well and he plays well on the wing for us.
"But everyone else stood up and played out of their skin. I struggled to pick a stand out player for us ... everyone across the board dug in and gave it their best."
This Saturday there is a general competition bye due to representative fixtures, but when the Giants return to action they'll meet the Bushrangers Rebels.
"We haven't played well against them in the past - I don't know what it is - but we are going to now focus wholely and solely on that game because I think they're the team to beat this year," Kennedy said.
