The race for the top of the ORFFA ladder tightened during Round 5 action, with the league's only two previously unbeaten teams - Birdsville and Iron Knob - both suffering defeats.

Foul Bay 1342 d Birdsville 1313
Late game heroics from Brent Moloney and Daniel Wells were not enough to haul Birdsville to a victory, with the Chickens scoring a 29 point win.
Entering the last set of matches narrowly behind, the Battlers would not have had much confidence in notching a win given they had one fewer player left on the park. However Brent Moloney's 127 saw Birdsville actually almost entirely close the gap going into the last match-up.
Ultimately though the Chickens' pair of Roughead and Adams steadied and did enough to thwart Daniel Wells' 125.
Moloney and Wells were the Battlers' top scorers, while Foul Bay got great contributions from JJK (124), McLean (126) and Bartel (109).

Mt Beauty 1414 d Iron Knob 1244
A stunning effort from the Uglies has seen it knock off the high-flying Codpieces by 170 points.
Mt Beauty rode a wave of Richmond-inspired high scoring, led by Trent Cotchin (144). Hartlett, Sidebottom, Brandon Ellis, Rioli, Dusty and the Berger all topped the ton as well in a formidable display.
For Iron Knob, Ablett did his job with 160 but didn't receive enough support - only Shuey, Goldstein, the surprising Richard Douglas and Big Will Minson scoring 100+. The Codpieces' young forwards in Jacky R, Darling and Breust were disappointing.
The only sour note for Mt Beauty is the long-term injury to Cyril Rioli, who will be out of the game for the best part of 2 months.

Wakikamoocow 1264 d Charlie's Opening 1262
The thriller of the round was taken out by the mob from across the Tasman, with the Incorrigibles emerging with a 2 point victory over the Spelunkers.
A close, hard-fought match throughout the weekend culminated in a Drew Petrie/Andrew Swallow v Isaac Smith match-up in the late stages of the game. And despite the Dish (83) and Swallow (125) outscoring Smith (72), it wasn't quite enough for the Spelunkers to snatch the win.
For the Cow-kickers, the magnificent Harry Taylor fist-pumped his way to 138 points, while McVeigh (125), Hibberd (115) and Hannebery (107) provided support.
Charlie's Opening were led by Heath Shaw in the early going with 130, followed by Swallow, Jack (114) and Montagna (111).

Darraweit Guim 1175 d Lovely Banks 1070
The long-awaited household battle between Jen and Chris88 never reached great scoring heights, with the Guim running out 105-point winners.
Both teams, like their respective coaches, seemed like they had taken the weekend off and were on holidays - with a number of low scores, subs vests and, most unfortunately, a serious injury to Kepler Bradley.
Ultimately it was again Andrew Walker who drove the nails into the opposition coffin, continuing his hot form with 124. Able support came from old reliable Matthew Boyd (107), the returning Trent McKenzie (108) and late inclusion Alex Rance (111).
For the Lilacs, a great return to senior footy by Jason Winderlich (123) was not enough. Dane Swan's 127, Ballantyne's 108 and Jack Grimes (93, and comfortably winning the Battle of the Grimes over Dylan (34)) provided support.

Wagga Wagga 1206 d Nunawading 1157
The Wombats' great start to the year continued, defeating the Nuffers by 47 points.
Late game heroics from a clutch of Kangaroos players - Thomas, Thompson, Macmillan and Bastinac - as well as a 95 from gun rookie Sam Mayes, were enough to cement the win for Wagga Wagga.
Only Cox (105) scored over 100 for the Wombats, underlining the even team effort across the board - especially in defence.
For Nunawading, Cheerful Charlie Dixon waltzed over, around and through the defence for a superb 142. The guy is a delight to watch. Midfielders Simpson (102), Stanton (119), Kennedy (109) and another rookie gun in the J-Bomb (119) all notched tons.
However the injury to Tex Walker (36) and the absence of a fourth forward proved the Nuffas' undoing. Again, the league hopes that Tex can return fit and firing once he overcomes his knee injury.

Venus Bay 1264 d Whitsundays 1056.5
The Vultures' good form continues, comfortably accounting for the Warriors by 207.5 points.
Venus Bay were led by midfielders Jobe Watson (126), Luke Parker (124) and Gaff (105). Garlett chimed in with 104 up forward, and Richards scored 111 in defence.
For the Whits, the Blue duo of Warnock and Judd top scored with 101 and 105 respectively. Motlop's 98 was appropriately flashy, while Birchall (80) was down on recent stellar form.
However too much was left to too few, with some late withdrawals and injuries forcing players to play OOP or be subbed off, and causing the Warriors to end up 1 player short.

Cradle Mountain 1454 d Larrikin Lagoon 1083
The Boys from Tassie went smash, flexing their muscles and providing the Lefties with a 370 point reality check.
Seven Devils scored over 100, with Stevie J (160) leading the way. Dayne Zorko returned to 2012 from with 151, Zaharakis continued his love affair with Anzac Day footy (140), while Heppell, Spurr, Redden and Pendles rounded out the centuries.
For the Lefties, losing Conca to injury mid-week was further exacerbated by Priddis' nose-dive into the Footy Park turf - his 5 points and red vest hitting hard.
Carrots and Scott Selwood led the scoring with 106 and 101 respectively. Scotland, Monfries and Golby scored 90+ - the latter showing some encouraging signs. Bailey's stellar early game efforts were negated by a late subbing off, leaving him stranded on 62 points.

Gariwerd 1150 d Gundagai 1070
Gundagai's tough start to the season continued, overpowered by Gariwerd by 80 points.
Despite late game heroics from Rockliff (113) and Mitchell (137), the Hoppers gave the Cockies too much of a start. Col Sylvia's 98 in the late stages sealed the win for Gariwerd.
Gundagai's other top scorers were the brave Lenny Hayes with 131, ROK with 104 and big Jono Griffin with 123. Youngster Stringer (69) showed encouraging signs.
For Gariwerd, Hurn and Lids topped the ton, with solid efforts from Gray as he returns to fitness, Murphy in defence, Burgoyne and Koby Stevens.


Powlett Plains 1101 d Marble Bar 984
Despite being a man down, Powlett Plains enjoyed a 117-point win in a low scoring game against Marble Bar.
The Packers' effort was headed by a vintage 152 from Rooey. Liam Jones played his best game in the ORFFA with 107, while young Thomas Lynch came off the bench to score 95. Big Bellchambers (109) rucked tirelessly, though the Packers' midfield were unable to take full advantage.
For the Misfits, Ward led the way with 113, while Enright and Whitfield were solid. Again though too much was left to too few - though the return of a number of players this week from injury should result in a gradual boost to the Misfits' performance in coming matches.

Ladder after Round 5
Iron Knob 16 7061
Birdsville 16 6673
Waikikamoocow 16 6499
Venus Bay 16 6445
Wagga Wagga 16 6311
Powlett Plains 16 5968
Foul Bay 12 6545
Mt Beauty 12 6154
Cradle Mountain 12 6139
Darraweit Guim 12 5683
Charlies Opening 8 6181
Whitsundays 8 5860.5
Gariwerd 8 5834
Nunawading 8 5745
Larrikin Lagoon 4 5774
Lovely Banks 0 5714
Gundagai 0 5301
Marble Bar 0 5077

Round 6 (AFL 6) 3/5 - 5/5

BL Remembrance round - May Day

Now for a round in remembrance of our other fallen comrade... BigLance was much loved in the ORFFA, but unfortunately found his marching orders after being found guilty of serious draft tampering by not submitting a team for weeks on end.
MayDay is mostly observed around the world by a general strike on May 1st each year; however is often lamely observed on the first weekend in May by those who are not willing to organise a strike on a week day.
While we may not be lame, we will do the latter. MayDay is in remembrance of the executed anarchists who fought for the 8 hour working day. These so called leaders of the movement were not provided with a fair trial and were executed for publicly opposing the state.
As was the case in the X Remembrance round, the team that BL's Namatjira became - Larrikin Lagoon - has been allocated a home match for this significant round for that team.
A number of great matches headline the round, but perhaps one of the more significant will see either Gundagai or Lovely Banks break their duck and record their first win 2013.

1 Marble Bar v Nunawading

2 Larrikin Lagoon v Waikikamoocow

3 Iron Knob v Gariwerd

4 Birdsville v Mount Beauty

5 Whitsundays v Charlies Opening

6 Darraweit Guim v Wagga Wagga

7 Powlett Plains v Cradle Mountain

8 Lovely Banks v Gundagai

9 Venus Bay v Foul Bay