Demons snare crucial victory

ON THE RUN: South Gambier’s Ben Miller shows Millicent’s Reece Duncan a clean pair of heals during Round 8 of Western Border football at Blue Lake Sports Park on Saturday. Picture: JAMES MURPHY

SOUTH Gambier has held off a fast-finishing Millicent to claim a 12-point victory in Round 8 of Western Border football on Saturday.

With the news mid-week playing-coach Clint Gallio would not suit up for the remainder of the season due to a knee injury, the Saints needed to rally to take on the Demons at Blue Lake Sports Park, but looked out of the contest from the outset.

However, an inspired final half saw South held to just one major score, while Millicent banged on a further five, but in the end fell agonisingly short.

The game started with a wet surface, but little wind, with the Demons taking up the challenge.

South needed a win to stay in touch with the top four and kicked off with that in mind.

In a tough opening few minutes, the Saints were well served by Tom Hutchesson, Callan Hobbs and Hamish Nitschke, pushing the ball wide and threatening to score.

However, the Demons were up to the task, with Brett O’Neil, Jak Ryan and Brad Bryant controlling the ball, with Carl Slape delivering a pass to Ash Bryant for the opening goal of the game.

Millicent then bottled the ball up in their forward 50, but again the Demons responded, with Slape at the end of a long pass forward, drilling a major from the 50-metre arc.

It was not long before the Saints found a major of their own, with Hutchesson finding space up forward and snapping a goal to keep pace.

But again the Demons responded, with O’Neil breaking free in the centre to kick forward for another major to Ash Bryant.

Before long O’Neil was in on the act again, chipping across to Slape who in turn passed to Chris Williams for another major and the Demons looked strong.

Trailing by 23 points, the Saints needed someone to stand tall up forward.

When Dylan Bromley took possession on the wing it looked promising, with a chip into the pocket finding Mitch Reilly.

But again South resisted and cleared the danger zone.

Eventually Nitchske lined up for a much-needed major, but sprayed his shot wide and by the first break the Saints were in trouble.

With light rain falling in the second term, little changed for the Saints, with the Demons again taking control.

As the quarter progressed Millicent managed just a handful of inside 50s, while the Demons added a further three majors.

Bromley soon changed that with a goal to break the drought and when Nitchske ran into an open goal, the Saints were looking somewhat more composed.

The second half saw a resurgence from the visitors, with the home side struggling to hold off a fast-running Saints.

The Demons held strong against a sustained attack, but Bromley soon hit the scoreboard to begin the long road back into contention.

James Weir began to find possession, linking with Bromley to push forward, but the Demons resisted.

But when Dylan Tinknell intercepted and kicked back into Sam Willis for a set shot on a tight angle, the resulting goal buoyed the Saints fans and all was looking good.

The Demons needed a settling goal and when Ryan Broome had Steve Duldig holding the ball inside South’s forward 50, he goaled to do just that.

However, Hutchesson was soon in on the action, with a diving mark up forward 10 metres out for another major and the Saints were coming hard.

By the final break the margin had been reduced to just 17 points and the Demons were looking rattled.

In a classic arm wrestle, the final term saw the hosts held goal-less, despite having six shots on goal.

The pressure began to show, with the visitors adding one major score and five minors.

With the Saints in touch late in the game, Nitchske almost pulled off the miraculous, snapping what appeared to be a goal from the pack, but it was deemed touched off the boot.

With just minutes remaining the Demons were able to hold on, claiming the win in a nail-biting finish.

For coach Heath Mitchell it was a welcome win in a game he said included no passengers.

“We made a big emphasis this week to really get our intensity up and have all 18 blokes on the field contribute,” he said.

“We had a full spread of contributors and as a result we were able to play some reasonably attractive football in the first half.”

Mitchell said the added intensity of the Saints after the long break was tough to deal with, but he thought his side coped well.

However, he said a change of focus played into Millicent’s hands.

“They came out after the break and put a lot of physical pressure on our boys,” he said.

“I don’t think we took a step backwards, but I think what happened was in the first half we played to win and in the second half we played not to lose.

“We had plenty of the football and plenty of opportunities but we went conservative, we were holding onto the footy which was to our detriment.

“They put a couple of blokes behind the football and we weren’t very smart about that.

“We were bombing the ball into the 50 instead of passing it in.

“We played into their hands and then our shots were under pressure.”

Despite a goal-less final term, Mitchell said the even spread of contributors made the difference in the end.

“We were really unhappy with our performance against Casterton, but I told the boys a poor effort like that isn’t in itself a problem, it’s how you respond to it,” he said.

“I think our boys were pretty determined to respond with something positive.”

As a result of the victory and a draw between East Gambier and Casterton Sandford, South has now returned to the top four in what has become a tight competition for a finals spot.