A rampant Howlong belts a lacklustre CDHBU by 10 goals

The Power had started the season in promising fashion after reeling off five consecutive wins to sit on top of the Hume league ladder.

But question marks still remained on the Power's finals credentials with their only notable scalp against RWW Giants in the opening round.

Facing their biggest test of the season so far, the Power crumbled against the Spiders who kept the opposition goalless for two quarters on their way to a 16.11 (107) to 6.9 (45) victory.

Both sides went into the clash undermanned with the Power missing clever goal sneak Corey Smith alongside high-profile MNPL recruits Rohan Heasley and Ben Landry and veteran Brent Rose.

The Spiders also had some significant outs in Azzi medallist Peter Hancock, classy midfielder Ben Baker and tall forward Sasha Newnham.

The home side quickly assumed the ascendancy in the midfield with Azzi medallist Hamish Clark alongside co-coach David Miles creating plenty of opportunities for the Spider forwards.

Tyler Lampe and Matt Wilson were creating plenty of headaches for the Power's defence as they quickly helped establish an 18 point lead at the first break.

The Power sorely missed their most potent attacking weapon in Smith lurking in attack and were restricted to two points for the term.

Clark kicked the first goal of the second term to help establish a 25 point advantage.

But some individual brilliance from Jason Marks helped the Power to storm back into the contest.

The Corowa-Rutherglen recruit got off the leash to boot five goals for the term and was instrumental in getting his side to within 11 points at the main break.

But it was all the Spiders after the main break who booted nine goals to one to run out comfortable 62 point winners.

Their defence led by Nick Shelley and Tyson Logie was outstanding with Lampe and Wilson damaging in attack to finish the match with four goals each.

The Power were best served by Kade Wilson, Mick Collins and ruckman Callum Butler.

Spiders ruckman Sam Morrison had an enthralling battle with Butler in the absence of Hancock.

Howlong co-coach Matt McDonald was happy with his side's performance apart from the lapse in the second term.

"I thought it was a fairly dominant display except for the second quarter when Jason Marks got off the chain," McDonald said.

"We knew he was a dangerous player and he proved that.

"We just dropped our pressure and intensity around the contest and paid the price.

"The competition is fairly even and if you give sides a sniff, that's what can happen.

"I was happy with the response when we were challenged and to keep them to one goal after half-time was a fantastic effort.

"I was confident coming into the match that if we were able to produce our brand of footy that we should be able to get the four points.

"We've had a tough draw and know our brand stacks up against the good sides.

"Yes we had a lapse for a quarter but were able to get the job done in the second-half."

The Spiders sit fourth with a 4-2 record after the opening third of the season.

They will start warm favourites against Culcairn, Henty, Lockhart and Magpies over the next month.

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