YOUNG ZEBRAS SHINE

[Demonland 73,140]

by Barry from Beach Road

Sandringham grabbed top spot on the VFL ladder after leading all day to record an impressive 70-point win against Werribee at Trevor Barker Oval on Sunday. The win meant that the Zebras displaced Geelong after the Cats suffered a surprise loss by a solitary point at the hands of the Casey Scorpions.

Sandy regained full forward Nick Sautner after a week's break with studies but lost Andy Biddlecombe (groin) and Byron Pickett (shoulder) who both pulled out of the selected side with injury. Colin Garland's late recall to the Melbourne team which played in Brisbane and yet another player dropping out through injury (this time it was youngster Phil Zarra who was to have made his senior debut) left the side's playing ranks severely depleted. This made no difference however, to the team which contained a number of players with little experience at this level. They managed to shine as the Zebras rose to the occasion and overpowered the struggling Tigers while treating the crowd to a sterling display of relentless pressure football.

Sandringham was quick out of the blocks and with Mark Jamar giving plenty of drive from the ruck and Peter Sommers, Shane Valenti and Brent Moloney dominating in the middle, they provided plenty of ball supply to forwards in Nick Sautner, Ben Holland, Rod Crowe and the dangerous Ezra Poyas.

The quarter time lead of 26 points blew out to twelve goals for a brief period before the half time break thanks to some exceptional team football including some stand out displays from the younger brigade who were getting their opportunity after showing good form in the reserves.

You can count the number of senior games played by Tom Paterakis, Guy Martyn, Rennie Gilchrist and Sam Monaghan on the fingers of one hand but they were all prominent and among the goalkickers. Their enthusiasm lifted the team a further level and stunned the Werribee faithful who must have thought before the game that their team was a chance to win given the large number of AFL listed players their host club had unavailable through injury.

One player whose thoughts were far away from playing this game earlier in the day was young Demon rookie Daniel Hayes who was kitted up to play for the reserves but got the call at 11:00am to come into the main game as a replacement for one of the injured players. He was quiet in his senior VFL debut but still showed some magical ball skills. Another youngster, Heath Neville also played well in only his second senior match.

Meanwhile, the Sandy back line was as strong and as dominant as ever. At full back Chris Lamb was solid as a rock and he was well backed up by Ryan Ferguson, Matthew Warnock and the improving Jace Bode. Tomi Johnston looked at home on a wing in only his seventh game and the Zebras coasted to an 87-point lead at the final break.

The pressure valve was released in the final term and Werribee kicked a few late goals but their efforts were overshadowed by Sandringham's brilliance. Late in the game Nick Sautner kicked his seventh goal of the game after an incident in which Bulldog rookie Marty Pask had his number taken for allegedly striking the Zebra spearhead.

A review of a Sandringham game is never complete without mention of the courage, strength and leadership skills of the skipper Chad Liddell. At one stage, he executed a brilliant smother and spectators close by heard a sickening thud and saw a brief wince on the face of the captain as if some limb had been smashed in the incident. Within seconds he was up on his feet and in the next passage of play he was there smothering another Werribee kick off the boot. As long as a team has someone setting examples of this nature, even its most inexperienced young player will stand tall.

Next Sunday, the Zebras travel across the bay to Burbank Oval where they take on Williamstown which led the competition just three weeks ago. The Seagulls seem to have fallen into a hole lately but are always a dangerous proposition on their windswept home ground. A win to Sandy in these hostile surroundings should consolidate its already strong grip on a top four placing with the finals looming in sight.

HOW THE DEMONS FARED

Jace Bode - easily his best game since coming to the club. He found plenty of the ball, delivered it well and showed heaps of courage. It's marvelous what you can do when you get plenty of time in a game and can build up your confidence.

Ryan Ferguson - a standard game in defence from the ever-reliable Ferg. Very solid, backed up strongly, spoiled a lot of opposition thrusts and marked well.

Daniel Hayes - a late call up and was played off the interchange. He was tentative to start with and looked a bit lost at times but he showed glimpses of good ball skills. Will benefit from the run in this company but is likely to finish of the year in the reserves.

Ben Holland - looked really in the frame and made a good foil up forward for Sautner. He stood out with his marking and finished with three goals but it could easily have been five.

Mark Jamar - strong in the ruck against good opposition in Minson. His play around the ground was excellent and he marked strongly whether on the ball or up forward. If only he could replicate that sort of form in the AFL.

Brent Moloney - went in hard and strong, got a lot of the ball and delivered it well. However, he had a few sluggish periods possibly suggesting that he still has a way to go before he reaches full fitness. Subject to whatever plan the club's medical people have in place to deal with his groin problem, he might be a chance to play at the Dome next week.

Shane Neaves - played second fiddle in the ruck to Jamar and had a relatively easy day. He did nothing wrong and was a good ruck back up on the day.

Heath Neville - spent a lot of time on the bench but was reasonable in patches when he was given his chances.

Matthew Warnock - a solid game in defence. Kept his opponent in check and went about his job quietly and effectively.

Sandringham 7.5.47 15.11.101 23.12.150 26.17.173

Werribee 3.3.21 5.5.35 9.9.63 15.13.103

Goals

Sandringham Sautner 7 Holland Poyas 3 Crowe Gilchrist Martyn Paterakis 2 Jamar Liddell Monaghan Sommers Valenti

Werribee Gleeson 3 Skipper 2 Ericksen Baird Barham Faulkner Furfaro Hill Minson Robinson Rockefeller Tiller

Best

Sandringham Lamb Paterakis Poyas Liddell Jamar Monaghan

Werribee Skipper Baird Sheringham Wight Tiller Gleeson

Report

Werribee M Pask for striking N Sautner in the 4th quarter

Not surprisingly, the reserves side which was severely weakened as a result of the loss of players copped a bit of a hiding.

Sandringham 3.1.19 5.2.32 7.4.46 7.9.51

Werribee 6.4.40 10.11.71 14.18.102 23.19.157

Goals

Sandringham Dunne 3 Collyer Gileno Tregear Weetra

Werribee Garth 8 Hughes McDougall 3 Gardiner Moloney 2 Batchelor Eddy Penny Stack Twomey

Best

Sandringham Johnston Richards Martin McKenzie Collyer Dean

Werribee Hughes Hudson Garth Gardiner Wormald Batchelor