WEST GAMBIER 81 d CASTERTON SANDFORD 38
CASTERTON Sandford had a pre-game blow when Chelsea Hulm was a late withdrawal after suffering an injury in the 17 and Under clash.
The absence of the young goal attack did not help the Cats’ cause, with a determined and in-form West Gambier setting the tone of the match early.
West piled on 21 goals to the Cats’ 13 and from that point on, the Roos never took their foot off the pedal.
Cats coach Jodie Humphries was forced to reshuffle her line-up which had Caeleigh Humphries move from defence to goals, to cover Hulm.
Madalene Cleary also had a stint in the shooting circle and tall A Reserve shooter Shelby Nolte was given a quarter to try and make inroads into West’s lead.
The eight-goal quarter time lead became 18 at the half, 28 at three quarter time and a relentless final quarter had the Roos power to a 43-goal victory.
Amy Cram dominated the defensive third for West, while sister and coach Lisa McGregor not only fed shooting partner Sarah Ritter to perfection but also shot plenty of goals herself as the Roos’ duo swapped bibs for the second half in a rare shift in the frontline.
Ritter certainly came to play, netting 17 from 18 in the opening quarter.
However, from that point on the shooting responsibilities were evenly shared as McGregor finished the match with 32 goals from 38 attempts in a best-on-court performance.
In the end the Cats were able to generate 52 scoring opportunities, thanks in no small part to the hard running of Cleary and youngster Madeline Patton, but that paled to the Roos’ 95.
It really was a story of possession and West dominated that stat.
Cats goal keeper Ebany Jarrad battled hard all day given how much ball she had to face in the defensive circle, while Cram and McGregor led the way for a line-up that has no apparent weaknesses.
