South holds West at bay

YOUNG BRIGADE: South Gambier’s Connor O’Reilley – one of a handful of youngsters staking a claim on a permanent A Grade position – kicks the ball forward during Saturday’s Round 9 Western Border football win over West Gambier at Malseed Park. Picture: JAMES MURPHY

IN a tough Western Border football contest at Malseed Park, South Gambier fought off a determined West Gambier to claim a well-earned 16-point victory.

But it took three quarters to break away from the Roos, with the Demons still trailing at the final break, albeit by a solitary point.

The pressure was on early, with Alex Hentschke bagging the first major of the game to put the Roos up and set the tone for the remainder of the match.

While the Demons were attacking, a lack of efficiency up forward saw just a minor score, before West found another.

By the first break the Roos held a tentative five-point lead, which spilled over into the second term, with West again more efficient in front of goals.

Brett O’Neil broke the ice with a major to put the Demons in front, but it was short-lived, as goals came from Sam and Tom Zeitz to return the lead to the home side.

They were the only two shots on goal for West in the quarter and despite five opportunities for South, the half-time margin saw a seven-point lead to the Roos.

The third term saw a similar arm wrestle, with the Demons finally finding some accuracy to kick two straight goals to the Roos single, with the home holding holding a one-point advantage heading into the final stanza.

From there South hit its straps, with the young brigade stepping up to the plate to deliver the ball accurately into the forward line.

An early behind to the Demons levelled the scores and from there it started to fall into place.

Ash Bryant broke through a pack at centre-half-forward, slamming home a major to give South the lead, followed soon after by a major to Jak Ryan.

West hit back but again the Demons pushed forward and when Brayden Kain goaled the margin had slipped out to 14 points.

From there South added another to extend the margin and West struggled to counter, with full time seeing a well-deserved and timely win for the Demons.

South now holds a three-point margin to Casterton Sandford for fourth position on the ladder, just two points behind third-placed Millicent, ensuring a tough final half of the season after the break for the South Australian Country Championships this weekend.

For South coach Heath Mitchell it was a pleasing result, with his whole side contributing to the win.

“One of the things we spoke about before the game was having effort from all 22 players,” he said.

“For three quarters we probably played unattractive football, but there was no question our effort was there.

“It was a lack of efficiency from us in that first three quarters which was a contributor to the state of the game, but to West’s credit, their pressure was exceptional and that did drag the efficiency down as well.

“We were very wasteful going forward and when we finally hit our straps in the last and opened it up, we played some really attractive football.”

Mitchell said the result was more pleasing considering the youth on the Demons’ roster.

“We had 14 blokes who were under 21 years of age in the side,” he said.

“Of those, two were 15 years old.

“We had three blokes across half-forward who were 18 years old and they took 23 marks between them.

“Our top six is as good as any in the competition, but we can’t rely on them to carry us across the line each week.

“We need the effort from the rest of the boys collectively and we felt we finally got that result on Saturday.”

Mitchell said he was confident heading into the final half of the season, with plenty of improvement from those younger players.

“The key for us going forward will be the improvement from our bottom dozen players,” he said.

“For the first time in a long time we will have pressure on spots and a number of players will miss out the week we come up against East, which will put a healthy competition into our group.

“There are plenty of blokes improving and we have boys coming up from reserves putting pressure on our A Grade spots.

“That will drive us if we have any show of holding onto fourth or even sneaking up to third.”