LOSING DOWN THE HIGHWAY

[Demonland 73,264]

by Ice Station Zebra

Sandringham made the trip down Nepean Highway to Frankston City Oval on Sunday only to suffer a major setback to its finals prospects when it failed to handle the opposition, the venue or the blustery conditions and went down by a margin of 52 points - its heaviest defeat for the year.

The Zebras lost Daniel Bell and Paul Wheatley from the team that missed out by a point against Geelong last week but regained the likes of Nathan Brown, Lynden Dunn and Chris Johnson while lively winger David Gallagher was again out of the team with injury. On paper they should have been able to overcome the stand alone Dolphins but from the very beginning, they seemed to be unsettled and struggled to make use of their opportunities. Despite this, they still managed to hold their ground for most of the first term before a 50-metre penalty enabled Frankston to break away and take a 13-point lead at the first break.

Dunn lifted with two early goals in the second quarter to put the visitors in front but the Dolphin's spearhead Aaron Edwards broke loose and goaled three times to give Frankston the lead by 15 points at half time. Edwards finished with six goals for the game to take a stranglehold on the Frosty Miller Trophy for leading goal kicker in the VFL with the Zebras' Nick Sautner well behind in second place.

Sandy had plenty of opportunities to fight its way back into the game in the third quarter but it failed to score a goal for the term and thereby allowed Frankston to increase its lead to 23 points at three quarter time. Ezra Poyas who is normally so reliable in front of the sticks was the main offender with just four behinds for the day.

With their tails up the Dolphins could do little wrong in the final quarter and they used the centre corridor well and blasted through nine goals to four to finish the game full of running over a bedraggled looking Zebra side.

Sandringham struggled in the ruck throughout the game as leading VFL ruckman Eames and veteran former Demon Daniel Clarke dominated Neaves and Smith. As a consequence, the Zebras were well beaten through the midfield. Frankston combined their sound knowledge of the ground and the conditions with some strong tackling to keep up the pressure all day against an uncharacteristically indecisive opposition. The game was a triumph for another former Demon in Dolphin coach Brett Lovett while former Zebras Paul Kennedy and Toby Conroy also had an impact on the game.

After Sunday's performance, coach Mark Williams will have some sleepless nights with the finals just a fortnight away. His team will need to lift its game considerably in the run into finals series if it is to emulate the feats of 2004 and 2005.

The pick of the Zebra players were mainly defenders. Andy Biddlecombe, who has had a great year and Alistair Nicholson were the pick of them. Chris Lamb and Matthew Warnock worked hard all day while Phil Read was the only midfielder who could be satisfied with his effort on the day. Demon Brent Moloney played half a game and has strained his adductor muscle ruling him out for the rest of the year.

A change in the VFL fixture has spared Sandringham a Saturday night fixture in Bendigo and instead they will play the lowly Bombers at the Queen Elizabeth Oval Bendigo on Sunday at 2pm.

Sandringham 2.2.14 6.4.40 6.9.45 10.13.73

Frankston 4.3.27 8.7.55 10.8.68 19.11.125

Scorers Sautner 3.3 Motlop 2.1 Dunn 2.0 Summers 1.1 Brown Nicholson 1.0 Poyas 0.4 Crowe Rigoni Warnock 0.1, rushed 0.1

Best Nicholson Lamb Read Biddlecombe Warnock Crowe

The reserves sealed a place in the finals place in a thriller with their one-point victory over the Dolphins.

Mark Gibb was again in excellent form in defence while Simon Buckley displayed excellent skills for the Zebras. Forwards Michael Newton and Daniel Hughes kicked six and two goals respectively in what was an upset result given that the Dolphins won by well over 100 points when the teams met earlier in the season in a practice match at the same venue and again by 64 points in the wet at the Trevor Barker Beach Road Oval.

Sandy plays bottom side Bendigo this weekend and irrespective of the result, will finish in fifth place and play in an elimination final in a fortnight's time.

Sandringham 3.2.20 9.7.61 10.8.68 13.12.90

Frankston 5.2.32 6.4.40 10.8.68 13.11.89

Scorers Newton 6.2 Hughes 2.3 Lockwood Martyn 1.1 Mentiplay, Paterakis Turcarelli 1.0 McGettigan 0.2 Fleming Johnston rushed 0.1

Best Gibb Buckley Johnston Hughes Fletcher Newton