Roos bound into third position

UNTOUCHABLE: West Gambier’s Tom Zeitz was untouchable in front of goals on Saturday, bagging an impressive six goals in the Roos’ 27-point victory over North Gambier at Malseed Park. Picture: JAMES MURPHY

SATURDAY saw the completion of the split Round 5 of Western Border Football, with West Gambier moving up to third place on the premiership ladder after a solid come-from-behind win against North Gambier at Malseed Park.

With tipsters favouring the Roos for the clash, the Tigers bared their teeth early to kick five unanswered goals in under 10 minutes, with Brad Stafford leading the charge.

He kicked the first two for North in the opening minutes, then set up the third with a kick to Tom McLennan, who converted for his first of the quarter.

Jordan Hollitt put through the next major in the sixth minute, before McLennan replied with the Tigers’ fifth a minute later.

West finally put a goal on the board at the 10-minute mark through Dale Robbins, but North continued to control the quarter, rounding out the majors for the term as Malcolm Lewis found the big sticks in the 20th minute.

Down by 28 points at the first break, the Roos had to make a statement in the second term if they were to turn the game around.

And they did just that, using the wind to their advantage to kick five goals and four behinds to North’s two majors.

West’s Tom Zeitz opened his ledger for the match, which saw him eventually finish with an impressive six goals for the day.

Trailing by just six points at the long break, the real test for the Roos was the “premiership” quarter, as they handed the wind advantage back to the Tigers.

However, West stood tall and scored another five majors for the term, while holding North to just a single goal.

Lawry Bradley-Brown scored the first goal for the quarter, which put his side in the lead for the first time.

His work around the ground was also impressive and his efforts earned him the best-on-ground honours for the Roos.

Steve Wenman was also in solid form, with his work in the backline pivotal in holding the Tigers at bay while West reeled in the scoreline.

Wenman also hit the scoreboard, coming forward to kick the second major for the third quarter to solidify the lead.

“He’s the sort of player you wish you had three or four of,” West playing coach Brad Wilson said.

Wilson is another player the Roos would surely like to duplicate, as he led by example once again this week, working hard through the midfield with the likes of Tom Holmes, Todd Lewis and Sam Zeitz – all of which were named among the best on the day – while also kicking two majors.

North’s Thomas Gould made the only impact on the scoreboard for the Tigers in the third, finding the big sticks late in the term.

Going into the final stanza, Nick McInerney opened the scoring early with a major for North, but West soon replied with two of its own.

The Tigers managed two more before the final siren, while Tom Zeitz rounded out the game with his sixth major, kicked from the boundary after receiving a pint-point pass from Kynan Betts.

North was best served by Mayson Ashby, as the consistent hard worker once again claimed the best-on-ground honours.

Sam Stafford also performed well, with his efforts in the ruck seeing him named second best, while Fraser Marshall, Stafford, Nick Blachut and Malcolm Lewis were also recognised.

For West, Wilson was impressed with his team’s effort and said he could not be prouder of how the side turned the game around.

“It was an all around team effort,” Wilson said.

“North really stuck it to us in the first quarter.

“I’m really proud of our lads to dig themselves out of that hole and push on after.”

With the second and third terms critical in the Roo’s win, Wilson was pleased with the work rate of his players in these vital quarters.

“The second quarter was huge, to get it within striking distance at half time,” he said.

“Our effort in the third quarter, kicking into the wind, to control the play and put a few goals on as well made a big difference.”

In terms of best players on the day, Wilson said it was good to see everyone lift after the first quarter and put in the hard yards to come back into the match.

“Across the board after quarter time we were a lot better,” he said.

“We didn’t have too many winners at the start of the game.

“A few of our senior lads stepped up and a few younger guys followed.

“I really liked Lawry Bradley-Brown’s game.

“Steve Wenmo (Wenman) is still doing his thing back there (in the backline) and Tom Zeitz ended up with six goals, so it was a pretty good day out.”

Each of these players were rightly named at the top-order of West’s best players’ list and they will all be looked to again this weekend when the team travels to Island Park to face an undefeated Casterton Sandford.

With the Cats having the week off due to the split round, Wilson said recovery will be a priority as his Roos prepare for the clash.

“It’s going to be a tough game,” Wilson said.

“We’ll just refresh during the week and try and reload.

“They got us last time, but it was really tight and it could have gone either way.”