DAY OF THE DINOSAURS

by Barry from Beach Road

Sandringham lost the points and a place in the VFL top eight as it stumbled its way to a narrow defeat at the hands of the Northern Bullants amid the crumbling ruins of a once majestic stadium known at various times as Princes Park, Optus Oval and more lately MC Labour Park.

The venue holds a special place in the hearts of the Zebras as the scene of their triple premiership run of 2004-2006 and the day was supposed to be one of celebration of the past achievements of two club stalwarts in skipper Peter Summers and the popular David Gallagher. Both were playing their 100th AFL games just a fortnight after star forward Nick Sautner passed the club games record before last week's bye.

However, in a further reminder of days past, it was the battle of the big men in Cain Ackland of the Northern Bullants and Jeff White of Sandringham that proved to be the highlight of the day. The two are not exactly "dinosaurs" and they weren't directly opposed to each other, but their respective contributions were the major influences in determining the result of the game.

In the days when former Sports Minister Justin Madden played for Carlton, it was often reported that he was a modern day dinosaur roaming Princes Park. The description is now applied to any tall ruckman closing in on the end of his career, not overly endowed with pace, but who still has the occasional capacity to win games for his team.

Yesterday's crowd was certainly treated to some polished football from two of the older brigade of ruckmen but the latter will be remembered for all of the wrong reasons after his late shot at goal from 35m out went wide and denied his team a taste of victory. While the missed shot proved costly to the Zebras, White would be unfortunate if his contribution to the game was judged on that kick alone. He dominated his position all day and finished with 15 kicks, seven handballs, 10 marks and two goals in an outstanding performance.

Unfortunately for Sandringham, Ackland, who spent a great deal of the game up forward, put on a display that overshadowed that of White because of his match winning seven goal effort – most of them in the first half.

It was Ackland who started proceedings with an early six pointer but the Zebras soon took control with goals from White, Chad Liddell and Sautner. Sandy was in control and its lead would have been bigger but for a couple of misses from the normally reliable Adem Yze.

Without warning however, the tide suddenly turned with two goals from Ackland. Sautner booted his second but the Bullants kept the pressure on and a goal after the siren to who else but Ackland reduced the margin to three points at the first change.

Sandringham opened the second term with confidence. White pulled down some great marks and Liddell scored his second for the game but the team suddenly seemed to go into hibernation with the Bullants making all the play from this point onward, piling on the next five goals and Acland was in the thick of it.

A preponderance of the free kicks went the way of the home side during the quarter and some Zebra fans were not happy as their team limped in at half time with the home side enjoying a 25 point lead and their hero Ackland, having seen off Chris Lamb and Nathan Carroll, was now looking to make young James Frawley his next victim.

Coach Andy Lovell fired his team up at the half time break and they came out playing with much greater intensity and discipline. Tom Dean was playing his best game yet for the club and he scored the first of three quick goals (the others went to Liddell and Chris Waller) that saw the pendulum swing back in Sandy's favour.

Frawley was doing his bit to slow down the Ackland onslaught but, at the other end of the ground, Sautner was being well held after his initial two goal burst in the opening term. The Sandy surge continued and goals to Summers and White late in the quarter saw the Zebras back in front and poised to take on the game in the critical final quarter.

Although the game never reached great heights, it remained a tight contest throughout the final term with both sides receiving goals from fifty metre penalties. Meesen's goal enabled the visitors to retake the lead and when Guy Martyn snapped truly, the Zebras were 7 points ahead halfway through the term.

The Northern Bullants showed a lot of desperation and fought back tooth and nail. Late in the game, when the Zebras were holding on by a solitary point, fate conspired to give the home side a five point lead through the agency of an Andre Gianfagna goal. The irony was that the young left footer spent a season playing in Sandy colours as a Melbourne rookie a couple of years back.

With the seconds ticking away, White was paid a free kick but his miss signalled a dramatic end to the Zebras' long run as a leading light in the VFL although with four rounds left, they are still capable of reversing the trend with forthcoming games against other finals contenders.

On an individual level, Peter Summers was once again outstanding with 33 disposals in his 100th game followed by veterans White and Yze (28 touches). Andy Biddlecombe put together another tight display in defence and James Frawley continued to impress with his defensive work.

The focus this week will be on a return to winning form against last year's premier Geelong in what will be a vital game for both clubs at the Trevor Barker Beach Oval.

HOW THE DEMONS FARED

Jace Bode – worked hard across half back and was in a lot of the play.

Nathan Carroll – beaten by Ackland

James Frawley – played on Ackland in the last half and dampened his influence after the tall forward threatened to blow the game apart. Has good leg speed, goes well body on body and at this level, has good disposal skills. A chance to step up this week with the injury to Colin Garland.

Ben Holland – pretty much ineffective for most of the game.

Nathan Jones – had a relatively quiet day chasing opposition midfielders for a change.

John Meesen – not a great game from Meesen who lacked impact and intensity although he did manage to score a goal late in the game.

Michael Newton – played as a key forward with a bit of a roaming role Presented well across half forward and even laid some good tackles but never looked really dangerous.

Jeff White – a quality game in the ruck from a complete professional.

Adem Yze – worked hard all day and picked up plenty of disposals although he missed a couple of shots at goal early for which the team paid dearly later in the game.

Sandringham 4.3.27 5.4.34 11.7.73 13.9.87

Northern Bullants 4.0.24 9.5.59 10.8.68 13.13.91

Goals

Sandringham Liddell 3 Sautner White 2 Dean Jones Martyn Meesen Summers Waller

Northern Bullants Ackland 7 Boundy 2 Bentick Blackwell Gianfagna Jackson

Best

Sandringham White Frawley Biddlecombe Yze Dean Waller

Northern Bullants Ackland Bannister Blackwell Vansittart Bentick Saddington

The reserves returned to the winning list after several disappointing weeks in free fall and, despite their poor kicking for goal, they were able to run out convincing winners by 17 points. Sam Monaghan continued his excellent form with a particularly strong game highlighted by a couple of long goals on the run as well as providing several goal assists. Young Demon Jack Grimes got a lot of the ball and showed enormous potential for the future while Andrew McConnell and Maddison Hardiman were busy all day.

The Zebra reserves have a bye this week.

HOW THE DEMONS FARED

There were six Demons in the team but Jack Grimes was by far the stand out player. He has lots of class and must be close to taking on senior football at last. Isaac Weetra was a useful contributor while the other Demons, Kyle Cheney, Tom McNamara, Jake Spencer and Trent Zomer were serviceable at best.

Sandringham 4.5.29 4.12.36 11.16.82 14.22.106

Northern Bullants 0.4.4 2.7.19 7.8.50 13.11.89

Goals

Sandringham Monaghan 3 Cleeve Gribbin 2 Calder Gilchrist Grimes Hardiman Johnson Lockwood Zomer

Northern Bullants Colbert Spiteri 5 Benjamin Mercuri Robertson

Best

Sandringham Monaghan Grimes McConnell Gilchrist Weetra Gribbin

Northern Bullants Williams Dennis Morgan Davies Spiteri Bransgrove