Bevan Charlton-White has stamped himself as the one to beat in this season's goal-scoring charts after his boot proved decisive in the Dubbo Demons' win over the Cowra Blues on Saturday.
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The towering forward kicked six goals in the Demons' Central West AFL round one loss to the Bathurst Bushrangers Rebels but on Saturday he was even better, kicking 10 majors in his side's 17.9.111 to 9.11.65 win at Cowra.
Charlton-White's 16 goals through two games is by far the best effort in the competition, with the Rebels' Tim Hunter the next best with eight to his name.
Dubbo coach Shayne Wilesmith was pleased with his star forward's effort but it was just part of a strong all-round effort.
"Helps having a forward who kicks 10 helps but we have multiple big strong targets up forward and we are still working on structures up there," Wilesmith said after his side's first win for 2019.
"We will only get better with each game."
The Demons stamped their authority on the game early, kicking six goals in the first quarter to set up a 23-point lead.
There was tactical cat-and-mouse battle throughout the day after Dubbo elected to run a spare man behind the ball, as Cowra attempted to even the match-up early. It proved successful for the visitors as Cowra was left fragile in defence early.
That margin was virtually maintained for the next two quarters before the Demons put the game to bed in the final term and sealed a 46-point win.
Making the first win of the season all the more impressive was the Demons' lineup being without a number of players.
"It's good to get our longest away trip out of the way early in the season," Wildsmith said.
"To come away with a win with an undermanned squad is always a good thing.
"Our back six has been a strength for the Demons in recent years and it's no different in 2019. We defend strongly and created a lot of turn overs which allowed a lot of run from across our half back line."
Ben Bunt and Joey Hedger chimed in with three goals each in the win.
We will only get better with each game.
- Dubbo coach Shayne Wildsmith
While the win was a comfortable one in the end, Blues coach Ben Rodin took comfort from his side improving on its 128-point loss in round one.
"As I said to the boys after the game, the fact that we're frustrated is a good thing," the first-year coach said.
"We could only stand by our effort when we lost last week, whereas this week, despite our errors, we put ourselves in a position where we had an opportunity to take the game from Dubbo.
"Honing that competitive instinct so those in-game lapses become shorter and shorter is something that we'll continue to work on, while also making sure we take advantage of our opportunities."
Both sides will have next weekend off due to the Easter general bye.