BULLDOZED

[Demonland 73,326]

by Barry from Beach Road

Trevor Barker Oval was the scene of a dour struggle as the top two dogs of the VFL competition slogged it out in dark, dismal and drizzly conditions yesterday. The result after two hours of play was that the Northern Bullants prevailed over Sandringham by a mere three points with the home side running out of time and space in their last ditch comeback late in the game.

The visitors opened proceedings kicking with the aid of the breeze as a light rain drizzled, the wet conditions making it difficult for players to handle the ball and the narrow ground making it easy for defenders to bottle up play.

The Bullants pushed forward early and a strong mark and goal from former Kangaroo and Blue Digby Morell set the scene for the first quarter. Morell goaled again soon after and the northerners were away to an excellent start. Most of the play for the quarter was in their half of the ground and the Zebras rarely went forward in a display reminiscent of the opening quarter of the game against Frankston earlier in the season. By quarter time they trailed by 20 points.

When Sandy attacked with the wind in the second quarter the Bullants bottled up the game which developed into a real slog. Simon Godfrey and Nathan Jones were the best of the home team's players and they worked hard on the ball against an experienced battle-hardened outfit. Daniel Harford and Callum Chambers provided them with plenty of opposition and the Bullant back line stood firm in dogged defence. Blues' defender Luke Livingston was giving Nick Sautner no quarter and the Zebras were finding it difficult to find an avenue to goal until Shannon Motlop eventually broke through for Sandy's only major for the half.

It was more of the same after the break, although as the weather began to moderate, the Zebras started finding their feet and they managed to hold the Bullant lead to 28 points going into the final break after scoring the only two goals kicked at the southern end of the ground during the third quarter.

The conditions in the final term were the best of the day and Sandy fought hard and raised its supporters hopes by getting to within three points with five minutes to spare. The Zebras attacked constantly but the Northern Bullants fought hard all the way and managed to smother the ball on a couple of occasions when a clean kick from a Zebra forward might have changed the result.

The Sandringham team missed the excellent ruckwork of young Shane Neaves but had a reasonable back up in Stephen Ott playing his first game for the season after coming up from the reserves. Midfielder Guy Rigoni could not take place in the team and he was sorely missed as the conditions on the day would have suited him.

Chad Liddell was, as ever strong and courageous, and his lion hearted efforts were instrumental in his team's late comeback. Andy Biddlecombe and Chris Lamb were solid in defence and they were well backed up by Ryan Ferguson who recovered from a shaky start against Morell. Ezra Poyas chipped in with two goals and David Gallagher was busy but, all in all, it was a case of the opposition playing the better football for most of the game.

The Zebras travel to Port Melbourne for a clash against a traditional rival that has struggled as a stand alone side this year. It's one game that is not to be taken lightly however as a number of rivals are breathing down their necks for a top two spot on the ladder.

HOW THE DEMONS FARED

Daniel Bell - a solid performance all day. Handled the conditions with a lot of strength and poise backing his judgement and, although he made a few mistakes, that comes with the territory when you take some risks.

Nathan Brown - quiet early but started to make a bit of an impact in the second term. Still working his way up to speed after a longish lay off and will need at least another run at this level.

Ryan Ferguson - an excellent performance in a key defensive position after a poor start when Digby Morell out positioned him in the early going. After that however, he came back well and played with dash and courage in conditions that suited defenders.

Simon Godfrey - played his heart out in conditions that were to his liking. Got a lot of the ball and made a few disposal errors but that can be expected in the wet. Hard and tough at the ball, he was Sandy's best.

Daniel Hughes - started on the interchange and was quiet when on the ground although he improved in the latter part of the game and kicked a crucial goal.

Nathan Jones - like Godders, was a real tough nut in the midfield. At times, he showed exceptional poise, balance and hardness for a player who was perhaps the youngest on the park.

Brad Miller - matched up early against Blues' forward Ian Prendergast and had the better of him but was shunted around the ground during the day spending some time at centre half forward where he did not show out. It was tough going for key position forwards and Miller struggled at times.

Shannon Motlop - flashed in and out of the play and had too many flat spots.

Michael Newton - had very little time on the ground until the last quarter. Did a few nice things that underline his potential but that was about it.

Nick Smith - rarely sighted all day and was well below his best. He played better later in the day when the rain stopped and he took a nice strong grab towards the end of the game and kicked a goal that restored Sandy's hope for victory.

Matthew Warnock - a good solid backman's performance without being spectacular. It was however, a perfect day for defenders of his ilk.

Paul Wheatley - handled the difficult conditions surprisingly well and must be pressing for inclusion into the Demons side.

In the reserves, Paul Johnson's attempted comeback turned into tragedy when he re-injured his unstable right shoulder. Johnson will have reconstructive surgery later this week and will miss the rest of the season. Simon Buckley impressed with his good ball handling skills in the wet conditions while Jace Bode and Heath Neville defended strongly all day. Andre Gianfagna got plenty of the football in conditions that really didn't suit.

Sandringham 0.1.1 1.2.8 3.4.22 7.7.49

Northern Bullants 3.3.21 3.5.23 7.8.50 7.10.52

Goals Poyas 2 Crowe Gallagher Hughes Motlop Smith

Best Godfrey Jones Ferguson Ott Biddlecombe Liddell

The Reserves were unlucky to go down after a hard fought battle with the Bullants. Kicking with the wind in the first term, they were off to a good start with wingman Mark Corrigan showing great skills in the wet conditions and he produced his best form since coming back from his knee injury. Paul Johnson was in the thick of things in the ruck and kicked an early goal but went off in the second quarter with a recurrence of his shoulder problems.

At half time, the visitors had their noses in front by just two points Sandy worked hard in the third quarter but was still down by 5 points at the final break and kicking into the breeze in the last.

However, the Zebras were not going to go down without a fight and, after an early Bullant goal, the home side fought valiantly and broke away to a two goal lead by mid quarter and despite pushing against the tide they led by 7 points deep into the final term. The visitors were assisted by a couple of lucky decisions including one dubious one late in the game for deliberate out of bounds when the ball already appeared to be out. To make matters worse the Bullant forward was given a very generous angle to kick for goal from the pocket and he ran off the mark to kick the winning goal.

Tom Paule and Tom Paterakis revelled in the conditions and Andrew Taranto booted three goals while Ewen McKenzie worked hard in the ruck after Johnson left the field.

The loss will make it difficult for the Zebras in the run home to the finals and they remain in sixth place.

Sandringham 5.3.33 7.4.46 10.6.66 14.6.90

Northern Bullants 2.3.15 7.6.48 10.11.71 14.11.95

Goals Taranto 3 Corrigan Lockwood Turcarelli 2 Dean Gianfagna Goold Johnson Paule

Best Paule Corrigan McKenzie Neville Martin Lockwood

BUS TO NORTH BALLARAT

The Zebras are planning a bus ride for supporters for their round 14 clash against the North Ballarat Roosters. The game is to be played on Saturday 15 July at 1pm.

The bus will leave Trevor Barker Beach Oval to transport supporters to and from the match. To book your seat on the bus please send an email to [email protected] or ring the club on 9598 8629. (Price will be dependent upon numbers)