MILLICENT 47 d EAST GAMBIER 40
EAST Gambier was off to a flier against Millicent on the weekend off the back of some tough defence from Bo Creek and Sharna McKinnon.
Aided by impressive finishing from Malinda Foster and Renee Henke with 15 goals from 15 attempts, the Bulldogs set up a six-goal quarter time lead.
That forced a change in the Saints’ shooting circle, with Kalani Dunn making her A Grade debut and starting off with an impressive nine from 10 in her first quarter in the top grade.
Millicent’s defensive effort also improved and East was only able to create seven scoring opportunities for the quarter.
Fortunately East again converted without a miss and maintained a two-goal buffer at the main break.
It was in the third term the Saints made their move as their new-look frontline started to connect.
The hard running of Lisa Duldig in centre was critical as she continually found Nikeisha Facey and Dunn in space, while Lauren VanEeden and Portia McRae built on their improved second quarter performance by again making it tough for the East shooters to find space in range.
Ambah Beveridge entered the clash for East in the shooting circle in the second half and again the Bulldogs shooters were accurate – it was a lack of supply which was the main issue.
Having built a four-goal three-quarter time lead, Millicent was able to build on it from there.
Dunn and Facey converted accurately and McRae and VanEeden snapped up some strong rebounding opportunities, which allowed the Saints to secure a seven-goal victory at the final whistle.
