Sport
24 July, 2026
Bucknall leads Maryborough to 8-1 win
Ahead of their crucial away trip to Ballarat North United, the Maryborough Soccer Club strengthened its clutches on the Ballarat and District Soccer Association third division’s top spot with an 8-1 victory over Ballarat.
After missing the blue and whites’ 4-0 win over Forest Rangers, 2025 club best and fairest Luke Bucknall made up for lost time with a sensational four-goal performance to preserve Maryborough’s eight-point gap in first.
Fresh off scoring a hat-trick in Bucknall’s absence the week prior, Kynan Carter kept his shooting boots on at Ron Sinclair Oval, opening Maryborough’s account with a tidy finish to make it 1-0 in the 16th minute.
Riley Gardam doubled the blue and whites’ advantage eight minutes later before Bucknall added his name to the scoresheet to give Maryborough a commanding 3-0 lead with more than an hour left to play.
Credit to Ballarat, they battled hard to ensure their deficit didn’t worsen by half time, resulting in Justin Whitcher sparking signs of life in the visitors with his goal in the 49th minute.
Following some tense passages of play, a timely interception from Neil Smyth and a brilliant one-two between Bucknall and Hartaj Dhanju allowed Bucknall to restore Maryborough’s three-goal cushion in the 60th minute.
Bucknall quickly completed his hat-trick after leaping onto a delicious corner delivery from Mitchell Gardam and made it 6-1 in the 82nd minute after Smyth, who was having an excellent game on the right flank, darted down the wing and delivered a textbook pullback.
Shortly after Bucknall’s quadruple, Mitchell Gardam scored his second goal of the season by pouncing on a loose ball after a corner.
Following an unfortunate own goal from Ballarat’s Declan Pollard, James Macer made a last-ditch clearance to deny the visitors a late consolation goal and cap off another convincing win for the blue and whites.
Things will certainly be trickier for the blue and whites this Sunday when they travel to Russell Square to face second-placed Ballarat North United.
In their last meeting with the Panthers, a late winner from Cameron Mullaney handed Mary-borough its first defeat of 2026, losing 2-1.