TURNING UP THE HEAT

by Barry from Beach Road

Sandringham's eight game winning run ended on Saturday when a hot Coburg Tigers side applied the pressure in the second half to run out 19 point winners after the Zebras dominated most of the early proceedings at Trevor Barker Beach Road Oval.

Kicking against the breeze with the ground bathed in sunshine, Sandy started in blazing fashion and could easily have nailed the game there and then but for a repeat of the wayward shooting for goal that marred the team's performance a week earlier against North Ballarat. They had all the play but managed to cobble together a lead of only three points at the first break.

With Shane Neaves on top in the ruck, Peter Summers and Shane Valenti winning in the midfield and skipper Chad Liddell crashing through the packs with inspiration, forwards Sautner and Stefan Martin were being fed well and each had two goals on the board by quarter time. Ezra Poyas was in everything and was dominating proceedings while the Tigers were making mistakes aplenty under the relentless pressure of the home side.

The Zebras continued to hold sway in the second quarter and by the 20 minute mark, they were threatening to run away with the game. At that stage they had kicked five goals six behinds to Coburg's two goals from two rare excursions into the forward line for the term.

With Sandy holding a 27 point lead that should have been more but for the wasted opportunities in front of goal, a sudden and complete change came over the game in the last ten minutes of the first half.

Coburg captain Travis Ronaldson grabbed the ascendancy in ruck and the Tiger players began to show more accountability against their immediate opponents. The Zebra defence, led by full back Chris Lamb, Clint Bizzell, Andy Biddlecombe, Colin Garland, Tom Paterakis and Sam Monaghan had been well on top but was suddenly put under pressure with Coburg kicking two goals to narrow the margin to 13 points at the main break. Things were not helped when Lamb limped off with a hamstring strain to play no further part in the game.

Coburg took over the running from early in the third term and it was now Sandringham's turn to make mistakes under pressure. The Zebras appeared to be fading in the warmer conditions and were finding it difficult to find targets as their opponents gathered steam and brushed past their hosts to take a seven point lead going into the final huddle.

A goal after the siren from Tomi Johnston had given Sandringham great hope for a final quarter reversal and the expectation remained that they would regroup and take back the lead with the wind at their backs. However, this was not to be as the young Sandringham side could not match it with a Coburg team that had some match-hardened AFL stars providing the necessary added fitness and run in the hot conditions.

The Tigers were finding the goals while Sandy was off target and missed several golden opportunities to get themselves back in the game. To their credit, the Zebras kept plugging away but a 13 goals 24 behind score line is hardly going to win a high scoring open game of football.

Nick Sautner was uncharacteristically off target with 3.6 from 10 shots for the day but he did manage to pass another milestone kicking his 727th goal, which surpassed the mark set by Williamstown’s Ron Todd in the late 1940s. Sautner's season tally of 59 goals wins him a seventh Frosty Miller medal for leading goalkicker in the VFL.

Summers finished with 27 touches and was his team's best on the day with Rod Crowe and Poyas close behind him. Paterakis put in a feisty effort and was involved in a couple of strong contests with opponents who wanted to take him on in wrestling matches, one of which resulted in a torn jumper causing him to play out the game with an unfamiliar number on his back. The team missed the run of David Gallagher whose knee will have recovered in time for next week's qualifying final against Williamstown.

Sandringham maintained its policy of blooding youngsters in the wake of the continuing loss of AFL listed players due to injuries at Melbourne. Tom Dean and Isaac Weetra made senior debuts this week. Dean capped off a solid display with a goal to remember his first game.

The coach and his selection panel will be looking for the return to fitness of a number of players for the weekend's clash against the Seagulls at Trevor Barker Beach Road Oval. They will not doubt also be working on the disposal skills of their charges, particularly in front of goal as the heat is turned up even higher with the coming of September and finals action.

HOW THE DEMONS FARED

The Melbourne Football Club contribution to Sandringham's effort was minimal. Only two players Clint Bizzell (162 games) and Colin Garland (2) had any AFL games under their belt while the other two senior listed players, Heath Neville and Isaac Weetra have spent most of the season in the Reserves. This situation is unlikely to improve in the first week of the finals as the Demons' injury toll continues to mount.

Clint Bizzell – strong in the first half, mopping up in defence and marking well and held the defence together under persistent pressure from the opposition in the second half. Given that he may not remain on the MFC list next year, he should be given a farewell game at the MCG on Sunday. He's earned that on ability alone.

Colin Garland - steady without having a major impact in defence.

Daniel Hughes – quiet early but came into the game with some strong marking in the second half.

Shane Neaves – had an interesting duel in the ruck with the Coburg skipper and held up well for a big man in trying conditions.

Heath Neville – had little impact on the game.

Isaac Weetra - overawed and didn’t get his first kick until after the 30 minute mark of the final quarter. Still very much a development player and will need to work hard over the pre season after an injury interrupted debut year at the club.

Sandringham 4.7.31 9.13.67 11.16.82 13.24.102

Coburg Tigers 4.4.28 8.6.54 13.11.89 18.13.121

Goals

Sandringham Martin Sautner 3 Martyn Valenti 2 Dean T Johnston Poyas

Coburg Tigers Bowden F Caruso 3 Connors Hyde Krakouer White 2 Howat Hughes Shelton Trajkovski

Best

Sandringham Paterakis Crowe Bizzell Gilchrist Martin Summers

Coburg Tigers Connors Caruso Ronaldson Shelton Hyde Bowden

A much depleted Sandringham Reserves went down to top side Coburg Tigers but not before a spirited first half display which was marred by some wasteful play in front of goal in contrast to the visitors whose accurate kicking was the difference between the teams for the first three quarters. The Tigers kicked away in the end to win by the comfortable margin of 63 points.

Sandringham Dragons fill-in Atila Yamas was the best of the Zebras while Peter McGettigan, Jake Williams and Daniel Gribbin all put in solid contributions. The team's numbers plight was emphasised by the need to include a second top up player from the Dragons in Hiwad Shakaib.

Reserves

Sandringham 5.6.36 6.10.46 11.15.81 12.18.90

Coburg Tigers 5.1.31 10.2.62 17.7.109 23.15.153

Goals

Sandringham Curcio 4 Dunne 2 Henry McGettigan Tregear Williams Yaman Zarra

Coburg Tigers Corr Mullins 4 De Sousa Gazzo 3 Peterson Rayson 2 Carrick Dagher Foster Liddle Smith

Best

Sandringham Yaman McGettigan Williams Gribbin Turcarelli Cleeve

Coburg Tigers Carrick Vasilevski Corr Mullins Keogh Liddle