Bendigo Football League: Lachlan Sharp tops goal tallies with 124

THE first challenge Strathfieldsaye spearhead Lachlan Sharp faced this season was trusting his knee.

THE first challenge Strathfieldsaye spearhead Lachlan Sharp faced this season was trusting his knee.

Lachlan Sharp. Picture: SAA Imaging

The 26-year-old returned from a knee reconstruction after injuring his anterior cruciate ligament in Round 3 last year.

Now Sharp has made history, topping the Bendigo Football League goalkicking tallies with 124.

“That’s the most I’ve done. It hasn’t sunk in yet,” he said.

In a remarkable year for the two-time premiership player, the games at either end of the season stand out.

Sharp said his favourite game was Round 1. He made a return from his injury about two months earlier than he had anticipated and kicked four goals in a win against the reigning premier, Sandhurst.

“It was nine months in the making to get back, for me to get that game and get back out there was the best one,” he said.

“It was a surreal feeling to be playing again, especially that early. I was pretty nervous, but that was by far my most memorable game for the year.”

The biggest bags of goals he kicked through the season were against the bottom two sides, including a haul of 14 goals against Maryborough in Round 5.

He finished on Saturday with 11 goals against Kyneton, the first top-five side Strathfieldsaye had played since mid-July.

“It was probably the best game our team has played all year over four quarters,” Sharp said.

“This year we’ve had a ­pretty good midfield and it makes our job a lot easier when they’re kicking it in so good. It was a good day (on Saturday), but all thanks to our midfield.”

He said that match would be a “kick start for the next couple of weeks”, starting with a qualifying final against ­Golden Square.

“Playing the bottom sides was not a good thing coming into finals but (Saturday) was a really good hit out,” he said.

Sharp is only the third Bendigo league player in a decade to achieve a ton in a regular season, behind Grant Weeks (145 in 2010, 125 in 2011 and 148 in 2012 for Golden Square), and Justin Maddern (100 in 2010 for Kangaroo Flat).

In the Hampden league, Port Fairy’s Dan Nicholson kicked 11 goals against Portland in the last home-and-away round, taking his tally for the season to 66 goals.