ZEBRAS HONOUR THEIR MAN

[Demonland 73,140]

by Barry from Beach Road

After a difficult week for all at the club, the Sandringham team honoured the memory of their Club President Gary Gilchrist, who passed away suddenly and tragically during the week, by returning to the winning list in emphatic fashion by 70 points in bitterly cold and windy conditions against old rival Port Melbourne at TEAC Oval.

The day started with a fitting eulogy and a minute's silence for the club's inspirational leader of nine years. In that time he steered the Zebras through the union with the Melbourne Football Club, three flags including back-to-back premierships for the first time in its history and gained great respect from the whole football world for the Sandringham Football Club.

Special thanks must go to the VFL, the Port Melbourne Football Club and the Werribee Football Club, the umpires and the crowd for their part in the presentation of the brief but moving service in Gary's honour.

Sandy captain Chad Liddell won the toss and kicked with the wind to the City Road end and the Zebras swung into action early with goals to David Gallagher playing forward and the skipper whose long goal set the tone for the quarter. After a reply from the Borough, Sandy moved up from cruise mode and, with Paul Wheatley dominating with his long kicking and Ryan Ferguson, Nick Smith and midfielder Nathan Jones all in good form, they skipped away to a 33 point lead at the first break. The result was never in doubt after that!

Port Melbourne however, was primed to fight back and started the second quarter with great enthusiasm but the Zebra defence, led by Ferguson, Matthew Warnock, Andy Biddlecombe and Chris Lamb was too strong and held on tightly continually pushing the ball back forward to set up scoring opportunities against the wind. Their efforts were rewarded two fold - they kept the Borough down to just two goals for the quarter and saw their team stretch its lead to 41 points at half-time.

Sandringham continued where it left off before the break but some poor kicking in front of goal prevented the outcome from becoming ugly for the bottom of the ladder stand alone Borough which was clearly struggling through a lack of height, strength and experience.

Daniel Bell, Nathan Brown and Wheatley kept pumping the ball forward while the Zebra midfield of Jones, Peter Summers and Shane Valenti were running rings around their opponents. The loss of Rod Crowe and Simon Godfrey through injury could not stop the flow and Sandy led by 53 points at three-quarter time.

The Borough players displayed their traditional never-give-in spirit with a couple of early goals in the final term but Sandy had all the answers but it peppered the goals with little reward. Nick Sautner finished with three goals but it could so easily have been double that, his normal accuracy in front of the big sticks eluding him on the day. Lynden Dunn returned from his duties as emergency for the Demons in Brisbane with a great display of running, marking and pinpoint passing and he also booted two goals for the game.

The Zebras outscored the Borough in every quarter - an excellent result given the strong northerly wind and they eventually ran out 70-point winners to consolidate second place on the VFL ladder. They can now look forward to the remainder of the season with confidence and this week travel to North Ballarat to take on the Roosters in what promises to be an interesting match up.

HOW THE DEMONS FARED

The 12 strong Melbourne contingent was terrific on Sunday with every one of them making a contribution towards the Sandringham victory. The following comments might be tempered by the fact that the opposition was not very strong but you can only beat what's out there. In different days, there would be more than half a dozen players banging down the doors for selection with the Demons. However, the fact that there are only five days between the VFL game and Friday’s match against the Tigers, we can realistically expect no more than two players to be promoted and they are Lynden Dunn and Paul Wheatley who were standouts.

Daniel Bell – took on and a strong and wily VFL opponent in Steven Lawrence and beat him hands down. Often backed his judgement and played an attacking game coming out of the last line of defence.

Nathan Brown – another player who ran and contested strongly using his experience to his team's advantage. A courageous and gutsy player who will prove very handy for the Demons later in the season.

Lynden Dunn – roamed far and wide across the forward line and stood out with his strong leading and marking and some excellent disposal of the ball. Also chipped in to kick two goals and did enough to suggest that he has earned a very quick return to top company.

Ryan Ferguson – played an excellent blinder at half back where he showed out not only with his characteristic courage in marking contests but also provided lots of run out of defence and even setting up a good few goals. Also spent a bit of time in attack and demonstrated conclusively that he’s over his rib injury problem.

Simon Godfrey – a gutsy hard nut performance and was in everything and accumulated a number of possessions until he left the field with what the Age described as "tightness in his knee, but the club is confident he will not miss matches".

Danny Hughes – spent a fair amount of time on the interchange but contributed when he came on with a few strong marks and also showed that he is working on his ground skills.

Nathan Jones – another really tough in and under display from Jones who showed clean hands and good decision making skills. Often worked the ball out of packs to his team’s advantage and gave it a great advantage at the stoppages. His kicking was good as well and he must be close to AFL selection.

Shannon Motlop – a very solid workmanlike game in which he showed touches of brilliance and good long kicking for goal. Would struggle for promotion however, because his performance on the whole was patchy.

Michael Newton – coming off the interchange Newton had limited opportunities in the first half but showed that he was willing to chase hard to get the ball – something that was not evident when he was with the reserves last year. Although it’s difficult to play as the third or fourth tall in the team's forward line, Newton again showed some flashes of absolute class and natural ability in so many facets of the game. While Dunn is well ahead of him at this stage of their development, it won't be long before the two young twin towers will be wowing them in the big time.

Nick Smith – often criticised for not performing for four quarters, he defied his critics on Sunday, taking countless strong marks around the ground and holding his own in the ruck. Not a classic ruckman but would be a handy back up if something were to happen to the Melbourne duo.

Matthew Warnock – was one of a number of solid performers in the Sandy defence. Whilst he didn't do anything flashy, Warnock beat his opponent comfortably.

Paul Wheatley – a great game for Wheatley who has had to work hard since he was put of business by a hamstring injury earlier in the season. Showed great skills, pace, and produced some brilliant long kicking including a sensational goal from almost in the centre.

The Reserves game saw Alistair Nicholson back after a long lay off with injury. It was his first game of football since he played with the Zebra seniors in Round 1, also against Port Melbourne. Simon Buckley was the pick of the remaining Demons which included Heath Neville and rookies Jace Bode and Andre Gianfagna.

Sandringham 6.4.40 9.9.63 13.15.93 18.19.127

Port Melbourne 1.1.7 3.4.22 4.6.30 8.9.57

Goals Gallagher Sautner 3 Dunn Motlop Wheatley 2 Bell Jones Liddell Smith Summers Valenti

Best Wheatley Brown Ferguson Gallagher Dunn Smith

RESERVES FALTER AT FINISH

A superb display by Mark Corrigan who booted four goals in a best on ground performance was not enough to win the points for Sandy Reserves which led for all but the last minute or so of their game against Werribee also played at TEAC Oval on Sunday.

The Zebras held a six goal lead at the final break but for the second week in a row were unable to hold off a fast finishing opponent which snatched the game late in the time on period.

Ewan McKenzie again proved an invaluable fill in for Stephen Ott in the ruck and is starting to fulfil the promise he has shown in his time at the club while Marc Johnston was very solid in the midfield. Tom Mentiplay also made a welcome return with three goals but the team is now up against it in its quest for a finals appearance after losing three games in a row.

Sandringham 5.2.32 8.5.53 14.14.98 14.16.100

Werribee 2.2.14 7.7.49 9.8.62 15.12.102

Goals Corrigan Lockwood 4 Mentiplay 3 Fletcher Gianfagna McGettigan

Best Corrigan McKenzie Johnston Buckley Paterakis Lockwood

FOOTNOTE: All at DEMONLAND send their sincere condolences to Gary's family, friends and the Sandringham Football Club. The funeral details are as follows:

Wednesday 12 July 2006

10: 30am

Moorabbin Town Hall