SOMETHING IN RESERVE

[Demonland 73,326]

by Barry from Beach Road

With the senior team enjoying the weekend off with a bye, the only game in town as far as Sandringham was concerned was the reserves' clash with bottom side Casey Scorpions at Trevor Barker Beach Road Oval on Saturday morning. A fair bit of interest and spice was added to the event by the inclusion in both sides of a greater than usual number of AFL listed players with the Zebras using 10 Demons and the Scorpions some six or seven Saints.

The end result was a one sided game that was nevertheless an interesting spectacle. The embattled Zebras managed to return to the winning list and grab fifth spot on the VFL reserves ladder with an emphatic 108 point victory.

The Scorpions were really never in the hunt apart from a fight back from late in the first quarter until midway through the second but they were always destined to play catch up football after full forward Michael Newton opened up with a blaze of glory and four goals in the first stanza.

Sandy was just too good around the ground with Chris Johnson moving up into the midfield where the likes of Marc Johnston, Andrew Fleming, Daniel Corp and Mark Corrigan were dominating aided by a winning ruck combination of Stephen Ott and Ewen McKenzie. This enabled a constant supply of the ball to the forward line where Newton, Danny Hughes, Brad Miller and Guy Martyn were dominant. Newton finished with seven for the day most of which were against a solid opponent with AFL experience in Ben Schwarze.

The result was an excellent one for the Zebra reserves after a tough month or two but they still have a fight on their hands to make the finals with next week's away game against the undefeated Williamstown looming.

HOW THE DEMONS FARED

The day was one where supporters were provided with a bit of good, a bit of bad and a bit of ugly but on the whole a positive one for the Demons. The ugly was not Alistair Nicholson's head as some might argue but rather the very brief ground time of Brent Moloney who went off with a touch of osteitis pubis and an injury to Simon Buckley (possibly concussion) was the bad. The good was the almost faultless display of Chris Johnson across half back and on the ball, another solid performance from Brad Miller at centre half forward and twin goalkicking performances from Michael Newton with seven and Danny Hughes with six.

Jace Bode - an impressive left footer whose skills showed out at this level. Got plenty of the ball.

Simon Buckley - impressed early with his good ball control and long kicking but apparently suffered a knock and was off at the start of the second quarter.

Clint Bizzell - on the comeback trail after suffering a broken leg and warmed up as the game went on. By the end of the game he was a significant controlling influence in the Zebra defence.

Danny Hughes - an excellent game where he not only showed great strength in the air but was solid around the ground.

Chris Johnson - a superb performance whether running the ball out of defence or playing in the midfield in a game where he was constantly in the action, marking the ball well, gathering it in the contests and disposing with great skill.

Brad Miller - dominated a key position for the second week in a row, marked strongly, kicked accurately and moved around the forward line with plenty of authority.

Brent Moloney - made only a brief appearance for the day before he retired with a sore groin. He said later that he woke up with the soreness and it didn't feel right after he had a few kicks early in the game. Stated that it was one of those injuries and hoped he would be right next week.

Heath Neville- has pace, courage, a good mark, excellent disposal and decision making skills. He was a bit of a surprise packet on the day and definitely showed promise for the future.

Michael Newton - seven goals for the day wasn't a bad haul but it could've been more. He started off like a house on fire marking everything and converting well. His fifth came early in the second quarter but after that the opposition tightened up on him, he suffered from a bit of double teaming, dropped a few easy marks and didn't get much protection from the umpires (this included the goal umpire who failed to award as a goal one kick that went straight through the middle. The fans in the crowd were most impressed when he led to take a mark in the second quarter and drilled a 45 metre pass straight onto a teammates chest. Also strong below the knees for a tall man and will get better with an additional year of gym work and an extra 5kgs.

Alistair Nicholson - broke even in the battle of the dinosaurs against Fergus Watts. Neither player looked particularly agile or capable of playing pretty football and sadly, Nicho might struggle to get a game at the highest level the way the game is played these days.

Sandringham 8.2.50 11.4.70 18.7.125 26.9.165

Casey Scorpions 4.2.26 7.4.46 7.7.49 8.9.57

Goals Newton 7 Hughes 6 Martyn 4 Miller 3 Corp Lockwood 2 Corrigan Fletcher

Best McKenzie Bizzell Johnson Fleming Johnston Newton