Football: Bulldogs shine

East v South Football & Netball nightgame
KEY PLAYER: East Gambier’s Jesse Fry was a solid contributor to the Bulldogs’ convincing win over South Gambier in Round 3 of Western Border football under lights on Friday night. Picture: FRANK MONGER

A BIG crowd gathered at McDonald Park and were treated to a fine display of football when East Gambier convincingly defeated South Gambier under lights on Friday night in Round 3 of the Western Border competition.

Slow starts have been the key issue with the reigning premiers in 2018, but East coach Matt Willson would be pleased with the Bulldogs’ improvement on Friday.

East started well, with a goal to Shem Balshaw in the opening minute of the contest.

However, South had no intention on laying down early and Jack Capewell was putting in the hard work up forward.

The young Demon kicked three straight in the opening quarter to minimise the margin at the first break.

East still held the advantage by 15 points, but Willson had hopes of increasing that deficit in the three quarters to follow.

The Bulldogs were showing glimpses of their premiership form with strong running through the centre, while their defensive pressure across the ground was second-to-none.

Alex Pfeiffer had an impact early down forward and East looked unstoppable.

Shem Balshaw, Josh Ransom, Matt McCallum and Jesse Fry were all tough around the contest, while Matt Ferguson and Luke Thomson were making life difficult for South in the backline.

Brett O’Neil and Brad Bryant were doing their best to have an impact around the ground, but the Bulldogs’ switching and hard running was proving difficult to stop.

However, despite being convincingly beaten around the ground, there were some impressive personal performances from a number of the up and coming Demons.

One in particular being Ty Opie.

The youngster had a shut down role on East forward Mark Rumbelow and was doing well to get a fist to most deliveries.

His defence was capitalised on in the forward line when Jack made room for brother Henri Capewell.

The youngster followed in his sibling’s footsteps with a few goals of his own to minimise the deficit.

Mason Hein was also doing well in the ruck and getting to many contests to give South a chance.

However – despite the youngsters best efforts – the Bulldogs’ hunger for the ball proved difficult to beat.

East was winning the ball around the ground and a late snap from the pocket from Kev Thomson – after the siren – allowed East to hold a five-goal lead at the long break.

The Bulldogs – in their usual form for 2018 – hit their straps in the second half of the contest.

It was a dominant quarter with Pfeiffer continuing his role up forward, while Willson and Brad Rathjen also came into the contest.

South was running out of legs and East took advantage, extending its lead to 41-points.

The trend continued into the last quarter and while the Bulldogs were not as accurate in front of goal as Willson would have hoped, their zone out of their forward line made up for it.

East would make its way to every contest and force the ball to ground where it could repossess the football and have another chance at delivering into its forward 50.

Corbyn Johnson made the most of his possession and ran hard to give the Bulldogs their best chance at a big victory.

South did its best to stop the constant delivery into East’s forward line and when it had the ball looked sharp, but the lack of possession made scoring opportunities difficult to come by.

The Bulldogs’ six-goal haul in the final quarter allowed them to hold a 74-point lead at the final siren.

While there is plenty of aspects of the game they can perfect, Willson said he was pleased with the Bulldogs’ efforts on Friday night.

“Our starts were a focus point going into the game,” he said.

“North and Casterton both got the jump on us early, so starting off well against South and not allowing that to happen again, I was pleased with.

“We started to play the football that I know we can.

“While we obviously have a lot to improve on, we certainly took a massive step in the right direction on Friday night.”

After a disappointing loss to Casterton Sandford the week before, Wilson said he was pleased with the way all 22 footballers played under lights.

“It is disappointing to lose games of football, but I think we judge ourselves on how we bounce back the following week, not on that game itself,” he said.

“I think the best part about Friday night is we did not have any passengers, we had 22 contributors.

“Obviously there were some really good individual efforts though.

“Luke Thomson was really good down back, Brad Rathjen had a good game, Alex Pfeiffer managed five goals and Kev Thomson and Nick Jenkin had a really good battle.

“Across the board I was pleased.”

Friday night football was well received with a large crowd attending McDonald Park and Willson – along with the rest of the Bulldogs – was grateful for the opportunity to play under lights.

“A Friday night game is a big occasion and something country footballers do not get a lot of opportunity to do,” he said.

“It was a good experience for the players and we stepped up in that environment, which was really good.

“I would just like to thank South Gambier for embracing the Friday night concept.

“I think it was really good for both clubs and something the league should push for in years to come.”

East now prepares for its Round 4 clash with West, while South will turn its focus to tomorrow’s Anzac Day game against North.