RAIN AND REALITY CHECKS

by Barry from Beach Road

Sandringham succumbed by 21 points to bayside neighbour Frankston on a gloomy rain drenched afternoon at the Trevor Barker Oval on Sunday.

The reigning premiers were put on the back foot by the visitors who were totally committed to the football and applied relentless pressure from the very outset. Frankston dominated the rucks with Clarke and Eames holding a strong edge in experience over second gamer Shane Neaves giving the Dolphin on ball brigade first use of the football. Their forwards were then able to reap the benefit of the constant supply and, aided by a wind advantage were able to capitalise with a goal feast against what was regarded as the best defence in the competition. By quarter time, Frankston had seven goals on the board to Sandy's solitary two (one of which was kicked after the siren).

As if that was not enough to jolt the Zebras back to reality, then two early goals against the wind from the Dolphins certainly did the trick. The problem with that was that by then Sandy was staring down the barrel of a 44 point deficit which is a difficult enough task to overcome in the best of conditions let along the wet, drizzly conditions that were prevailing on this afternoon. Nick Smith was called away from the forward line where he had been performing well and marking strongly and Nathan Jones lifted the work rate in the middle with the assistance of another youngster in Shane Valenti. Slowly, the home side began to work its way back into the game.

Sandringham had Chris Johnson and Simon Buckley playing with dash and confidence on a wing while Lynden Dunn continued to underline his improvement with some strong wet weather marks. Nick Sautner who had been well covered came to the fore with a spectacular high mark and goal and by half time the deficit had been whittled down to 25 points - still a huge margin in these conditions.

The Zebras continued to up their work rate after the break with a much stronger effort and threatened on a number of occasions to make serious inroads into the Dolphins' lead which was cut down to three goals late in the quarter. However, a lapse in concentration and a lack of discipline allowed them in for two crucial goals late in the term giving them a 31 point lead into the final quarter. That extra two goal buffer was precisely what the doctor ordered for the visitors. Coach Williams made a few moves and Ezra Poyas lifted his game on the forward line but while Sandy continued to threaten, it was all a case of too little, too late; especially once the rains came teeming down to blunt any possible wind advantage.

It was a tough day at the office for Sandringham which suffered as a result of injuries to both AFL and VFL listed players. In particular the team missed out on the experience and presence of skipper Chad Liddell, Guy Rigoni and the suspended David Gallagher. With the 12/10 rule in vogue, the club gave a few new faces in Daniel Corp, Marc Johnson and Andrew Fleming an opportunity in the big time. Although they acquitted themselves well, it's difficult to replace players with hundreds of games of combined experience with first gamers, especially in the conditions that applied this week.

Sandringham faces another difficult task on Sunday when it faces Tasmania in the Apple Isle. The Zebras had a lot of trouble with the Devils last year and are now in a position where a loss would see them dropping out of the top four with some further hard tasks coming up. Perhaps the defeat at the hands of Frankston will come as a sobering reality check for last year's premiers.

Sandringham 2.0.12 5.5.35 9.9.63 11.15.81

Frankston 7.3.45 9.6.60 14.10.94 15.12.102

Scorers Dunn 3.4 Sautner 2.3 Smith 2.0 Valenti 2.0 Jones 1.2 Summers 1.0 Ward 0.2 Motlop 0.1 rushed 0.3

Best Jones Johnson Valenti Dunn Smith Ward

HOW THE DEMONS FARED

Daniel Bell - an encouraging display after playing half a game with the reserves last week coming back from a groin injury. Moved well and ran with a fair bit of dash after struggling early when the defence was under a lot of pressure.

Simon Buckley - showed great pace and good long kicking skills on a wing but is very much an outside player and drifted out of the game as conditions worsened.

Lynden Dunn - best of the Sandringham players. Presented well to the ball and held his marks in the wet and slippery conditions. Kicked 3 goals 4 behinds including a couple that he perhaps should not have missed. A five goal haul might just have been enough to cause the Demon selectors to start thinking about him for a run at AFL level.

Danny Hughes - started on the interchange and wasn't on the ground all that much. Took the odd nice mark but that was about it.

Chris Johnson - played well enough and showed a few flashes of brilliance on the wing and would be a favourite for to replace Paul Wheatley in the Melbourne team this week.

Nathan Jones - worked hard to get into the game after a slowish start. Was in everything after quarter time and will be a valuable asset at AFL level once he learns a bit more about the tempo of senior football.

Shannon Motlop - footy's such a fickle sport. Last week at Werribee, he had the ball on a string and picked up a million possessions. On Sunday, he seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and looked uncomfortable.

Shane Neaves - well beaten in the ruck by a couple of experienced hands and made a couple of mistakes. Will learn from the experience.

Phillip Read - had his moments but like Motlop, wasn't getting as much of the ball as he was last week and wasn't particularly dangerous around the packs.

Nick Smith - played his best game yet for Sandy. Started as a forward and marked strongly for a couple of goals and was then seconded into the ruck where he did well around the ground. Has a big turning circle and that may not be fashionable at AFL level but he worked hard all day and could be rewarded with his first game since round 22.

Daniel Ward - a good honest performance without being spectacular.

Matthew Warnock - didn't have much of an impact.

RESERVES CRASH by Zebraman

After a bright opening whereby the Sandringham Reserves held a 13 point lead at quarter time, the Dolphins grabbed the initiate in a strong second quarter when they booted seven unanswered goals to take a stranglehold on the Sunday's curtain raiser. They then cruised to an easy 64 point victory over a somewhat shell shocked Sandy team. Forward Michael Newton showed out early but was again inaccurate, Tom Dean and Leigh Fletcher showed out at times and Demon youngster Heath Neville also impressed. The young Zebs can take a breather and regroup with a bye this week.

Jace Bode - played a half and appeared to be injured.

Andre Gianfagna - showed out with pace early and but only had an average game.

Heath Neville - a good mark with lots of pace and was probably his team's best.

Michael Newton - good early but kicked poorly for goal again. I would like to see him at a higher level to gauge his improvement.

Sandringham 3.4.22 3.4.22 4.8.32 5.12.42

Frankston 1.3.9 8.6.54 10.8.68 16.10.106

Scorers Gullifer 1.2 Heywood 1.2 Newton 1.2 Mentiplay 1.1 Semmel 1.0 Turcarelli 0.2 Gianfagna 0.1 rushed 0.2

Best Dean Neville Heywood Gianfagna Fletcher Semmel

Reported W Gullifer (Sandringham) for striking G Manson (Frankston)