ZEBRAS WIN SHOOTOUT AT TBO

[Demonland 71,128]

by Ice Station Zebra

A resolute and determined Sandringham, clearly stung by last week’s shock loss against the Cats and fully aware that another loss could see it sliding out of the top four, bounced back after with a strong 31 point win over traditional rival Williamstown after Sunday’s high scoring shoot out at Trevor Barker Beach Road Oval.

The visitors were packed with players listed with their AFL affiliate Collingwood, fielding 15 Magpies including all three Cloke brothers and there was a large Collingwood presence there to support them with the previous night’s hero Nathan Buckley among the faces in the crowd. Sandy had twelve Demons in the line up but a couple like Colin Sylvia and Paul Wheatley were clearly underdone, and spent long periods on the bench.

The Zebras were well served by a couple of tough nut on ballers in Phil Read, who worked tirelessly all day applying pressure in the packs, and youngster Nathan Jones, who burrowed in constantly all day. Heading a strong and consistent group of VFL players was full forward Nick Sautner who rebounded from a poor game last week to boot seven goals and regain the lead on the goal kicking ladder with 35 goals for the season. He was given great support by seasoned players in David Gallagher, Ezra Poyas and the evergreen Guy Rigoni who supplied their spearhead with plenty of the ball throughout proceedings.

Conditions were cold and crisp and a slight breeze favoured the social club end to which Williamstown kicked in the opening quarter. The Zebras wore their traditional striped guernseys against the old rivals and rose to the occasion, coming out of the blocks with a tough brand of football and giving no quarter to the Seagulls. They won the all-important early midfield clearances and, as a consequence, took a handy 16 point lead at quarter time thanks to their direct, long kicking brand of play.

Williamstown however, worked hard to get back into the game when it kicked against the breeze in the second term and got back to within three points going into time on before some undisciplined football cost it dearly with Sandy scoring the last four goals of the first half to take a 28 point lead into the main break.

The umpires earned the displeasure of the crowd at times - particularly the Williamstown supporters and at one stage, the ball had to be recalled from one end of the ground to the other because the all clear had not been called after a Zebra point. To its credit, Sandy maintained its composure well and remained focused on the ball right through the game.

The Zebras withstood great pressure when proceedings resumed after the main break and to their credit, again finished the quarter strongly to lead by 32 points at three quarter time.

The game continued to be of a high standard and Williamstown came back again to narrow the gap in the last quarter, but Sandy was not to be outdone and steadied to run out the winner by 22.13.145 to 16.18.114.

Sandy was well served by the experience of Daniel Ward whose form was outstanding. He ran through the lines and set up many scoring opportunities. The Zebra rucks were well on top with Shane Neaves continuing his learning curve. He is showing good improvement every week and was again well supported by Nick Smith was in superb marking form. Matthew Warnock played his best game since breaking a thumb during the AFL pre season competition.

After the game, coach Mark Williams was full of praise for the team's effort saying, ..."it doesn't matter how many aligned players you've got, it just depends on how you play as a team. You can't tell the Melbourne fellas from the senior fellas, that's how well we gel, and we think we have a really good alignment and it's showing on the scoreboard."

Sandringham’s next assignment sees the team travel to the new VFL venue of the Casey Scorpions at Casey Fields, Cranbourne. The local population has taken to the Scorpions who will be hard to beat at the multi million-dollar sporting complex. The match starts at 2pm with the reserves kicking off at 11.10am. The ground is located at 161 Berwick-Cranbourne Road, Cranbourne (Melways reference 134 D7).

Sandringham 7.2.44 13.6.84 19.8.122 22.13.145

Williamstown 4.4.28 8.8.56 13.12.90 16.18.114

Goals Sautner 7 Motlop 3 Smith Ward 2 Crowe Liddell Neaves Newton Poyas Read Rigoni Sylvia

Best Read Warnock Jones Smith Neaves Ward

HOW THE DEMONS FARED

I gladly took on the job of reporting on the game last week with the help of the Demonland editorial staff but I'm not all that familiar with the Melbourne players so please forgive me if I don't go into too much detail or follow the usual format when one of the Demonland aficionados reports on a game. I didn't see all that much of Ryan Ferguson, Daniel Hughes, Michael Newton, Colin Sylvia or Paul Wheatley. The latter two spent time on the bench which was understandable as they are coming back from injury. Sylvia and Newton kicked a goal each.

As mentioned above, I was very impressed with a couple of hard in and under footballers in Phil Read and Nathan Jones. In the case of Read, he might one day thank the VFL Tribunal for reviving his career because a holiday this week would have robbed him of the opportunity to show his meanness, his hard it peskiness, the tackles and the pressure football that ruffled a few Seagull feathers. I don't know if his style would be appreciated in the AFL these days - suffice to say that if I played football at that level I wouldn't like to be caught in a sandwich between Read and Byron Pickett.

Nathan Jones is equally hard as Read and has a fair bit of skill and talent. He will have to bide his time for the moment as the Demons are traveling well. However, he was in everything whether on the ball or going forward and is definitely a future prospect.

Another prospect - perhaps a little longer term - is rookie ruckman Shane Neaves whose enthusiasm, mobility and marking around the ground were excellent, as was his rockwork. Given time, this big lump of a lad could become a top ruckman.

His partner in crime in the big man department was Nick Smith who consistently provided a target for the players further downfield. He has had an impressive month at this level and must be close to promotion.

Daniel Ward was a fantastic attacking defender and the Demons would be grateful to have him as a back up in case of injury. Shannon Motlop was his usual self, going in and out of the game and finishing with three goals in an elusive crumbing role. Matthew Warnock was also good, picking up lots of the ball and kicking long and direct.

I missed the reserves thankfully but understand that Clint Bizzell had a bit of a run coming back from a broken leg. As you can see from the score and the brief report below, it wasn't the type of game in which anybody wearing the Zebra colours stood out.

RESERVES THRASHED

The Sandy Reserves were simply outclassed by undefeated ladder leader Williamstown and were never in the hunt. In one fell swoop they dropped out of the top five and also lost significant ground in percentage to their nearest rivals for a finals position. Peter McGettigan was again the Zebras best and is pushing for promotion.

Sandringham 1.1.7 2.1.13 2.3.15 3.4.22

Williamstown 5.0.30 11.2.68 17.7.109 26.12.168

Goals Gianfagna Lockwood Turcarelli

Best McGettigan Johnston Gianfagna Corrigan Fletcher Martin

Reported B Hall (Williamstown) for allegedly striking A Fleming (Sandringham) B Hall (Williamstown) for allegedly striking T Paule (Sandringham)