ON a damp and windy day for football, East Gambier and Casterton Sandford went head-to-head in the 2017 preliminary final rematch on Saturday.
The Cats travelled to McDonald Park, with their Island park complex not yet ready for use, where they put on an impressive display of football.
The visitors took control early in the contest and never let up from there.
The desire and execution was on display from the opening bounce, despite the conditions not being conducive to quality football.
The Cats kicked off with the aid of the wind, which in itself was a tough prospect.
The ball was blown hard across the ground, but with a clear advantage to the northern end.
Callum Currie returned to his home town this season and made his mark early, kicking the opening major of the day to put the Cats on the board and the Bulldogs on notice.
East recruit Corbyn Johnson looked to reply at the other end, but distance was an issue kicking into the teeth of the breeze.
Accuracy soon became a problem at the other end of the ground, with the Cats struggling to tame the breeze, with a second major eventually finding its mark.
Currie continued to have an impact on the contest, clearing the ball from the centre, but a subsequent Josh Stephenson shot was also blown off line.
The Cats were dominating play, with Tom McArlein finding plenty of early touches.
Eventually the Bulldogs broke free, with a chip from Jake McKeon to Mark Rumbelow on a sharp angle.
Rumbelow’s attempt was too shallow, with a behind all he could muster.
The final goal of the term went to Dylan Ayton, but with just three majors for the quarter, the question remained – did the Cats do enough with the wind to hold out the home side?
That was answered after the second quarter, with the Cats again dominating the ball.
The Bulldogs took the challenge early, with a long shot to Rumbelow blown off line.
East coach Matt Willson led by example, finding plenty of the ball around the stoppages, while Jayden Eldridge and Jesse Fry were also rising to the challenge.
However, they were unable to apply scoreboard pressure, with the Cats prevailing in the back half, allowing few close shots.
Fry eventually found a major for the Bulldogs, threading a long shot through the middle on the breeze.
But it was short lived, with a Tom Sullivan snap at the other end of the ground holding the Bulldogs at bay.
East had made little use of the wind and when Tynan Shannon goaled for the Cats late in the term, the writing was on the wall, with a 27-point advantage heading to the change rooms.
Last week the Bulldogs staged a stunning second-half come-from-behind victory over North Gambier and many pundits would have hoped for a similar scenario on Saturday.
Also last week Giancarlo Cooper fired up in the final term, to help his side across the line.
Saturday he threatened to do the same after the long break, when a combined effort saw Shem Balshaw, Willson, Brad Rathjen and Rumbelow all involved, before Cooper finished off the job with an early goal.
Unfortunately there were few others to come, with the Cats not about to let the game slip away.
The visitors continued to push hard, with five third-quarter goals to just two from East, setting up a huge final stanza if the Bulldogs were to get home.
Kicking with the wind, East began to pull back the 45-point margin, holding the Cats to just one behind for the term.
Three majors saw the margin reduced, but several shots on goal went begging, with Rumbelow having three in a short space of time, all blown wide or over-compensated for.
In the end the Cats were victorious, chalking up their second win of the season to sit just behind Millicent in second position on the ladder.
Ayton and Currie were named the best two by Casterton Sandford, with both adding three goals.
For East, Willson had a standout game, while Eldridge was named second best, among a handful of others who could well have gained that honour.
For Cats coach Hamish Jarrod, it was a day where his game plan came into play, with early pressure setting up the victory.
“It was good to get the points and I thought we played some pretty good footy really,” he said.
“The conditions dictated the game a bit, but we were able to get a break early and maintain that.”
The second quarter could have change that momentum, but to the Cats credit, they continued on with their game plan and limited the Bulldogs ability to find the big sticks.
“We knew at quarter time we had to be good into the breeze,” Jarrad said.
“We had areas we wanted to make them move the ball to and I thought our coverage around the football was outstanding.
“We were able to control the source and that meant we could dictate where the ball was moved to.
“I think that was a real telling thing.”
Jarrad said it was the work by the mid-field brigade, such as Ayton, Currie, Stephenson and others, who helped achieve that goal.
“Before the game we knew we had to control that source, because if East Gambier can get on the inside and feed it outside, they are a very attacking footy side and they can really carve you up,” he said.
“Our mid-field maintained the footy inside, won it and fed it out of the stoppages really well.
“That is something we haven’t been able to do previously, but it worked really well.
“That was the best I have seen our mid-field work together since I have been back.”
