Week 8 passes the halfway mark of the 2011 Gridiron Victoria season with another round of cross-divisional games.

On Saturday 25th June the Bay City Buccaneers hosted the division two Croydon Rangers2 in what was a closer match than expected with the Buccaneers prevailing 38-0. Following on at 2pm, the division leaders faced off with the division one Rangers playing the Northern Raiders. The Rangers got out to a solid lead early and cruised to a 53-0 win.

Sunday saw the Western Crusaders host the Melbourne Uni Royals, with the home team rolling to a solid win 42-0, whilst down in Morewell the Gippsland Gladiators gave the Berwick Miners a scare, with the Miners holding on for a 20-19 win.

Gridiron Victoria has reached the halfway mark of our biggest season yet in 2011.

On Saturday  the Northern Raiders hosted the Monash Barbarians. Both teams got a taste of division one football last week and were keen to rebound strong, with the Raiders getting the win 12-6. In the afternoon game, the Gippsland Gladiators were too strong for the exhibition team, Ballarat Pioneers with a 35-12 win.

On Sunday at Ranger Field in Croydon the Rangers2 hosted the Melbourne Uni Royals  and avenged their early season loss to win 20-0. In the afternoon, the division one Rangers held on in a tight finish against the old nemesis Monash Warriors 15-12 to complete the sweep in 2011.

Also on Sunday the Berwick Miners hosted the Western Crusaders with the visiting Crusaders over powering the Miners to win 62-12.

© Barend van den Hoek

Season 2011 got even more interesting in week 6 as we finally saw cross-divisional games.

On Saturday, the Bay City Buccaneers hosted the Melbourne Uni Royals at home in Corio with the Buccaneers rolling to a big win 70-0. Meanwhile, on the other side of Victoria the Gippsland Gladiators hosted the Croydon Rangers in Morewell, with the division one Rangers getting the win 57-0.

On Sunday, we headed back out west to Footscray where the Northern Raiders hosted the Monash Warriors with the reigning champion Warriors winning 44-6.

In the afternoon, the Western Crusaders hosted the Monash Barbarians and won 60-0.

© Texxas Photography

In the morning game, the division 2 leading home town Raiders hosted the Ballarat Pioneers. The Raiders were the stronger team all day and got the win 32-0. Following that game, the Bay City Buccaneers took on the the Berwick Miners and ran out winners 49-6.

In Sunday’s early game, the Croydon Rangers2 and the Monash Barbarians faced off with both teams keen to add to their one win from three games so far. It was a tough, tight contest all day and the Rangers2 got the win 26-18.

In the afternoon, the hometown Western Crusaders hosted the Monash Warriors with the visiting Warriors leading all day to win 30-22 and take 3rd spot in the standings.

© Barend van den Hoek

Week 4 of Gridiron Victoria returned to Ranger Field Saturday morning with the Croydon Rangers2 hosting the Melbourne Uni Royals. The Royals proved too strong for the Rangers2, winning 28-12.

In the afternoon the Bay City Buccaneers came to town looking to remain undefeated but ran into a well-drilled Rangers outfit that held on at home to win 28-20.

On Sunday, football was back at Berwick with the Miners hosting the Monash Warriors with both teams looking for their first win in 2011. The Warriors were back to their devastating form of previous years and over ran the Miners 55-0. In the afternoon, the Gippsland Gladiators faced the Monash Barbarians and it was the Gladiators who registered their 2nd win of the season 28-0.

Things have tightened up in both divisions with 1/4 of the season done.