SOUTH Gambier continued its impressive run with a stunning Western Border football victory over East Gambier on Saturday.
The Round 9 clash was expected to go the way of the reigning premiers, but the Demons were up to the challenge, chasing their second victory on the trot.
From the outset the Demons were put to the task, but from the second term they turned it on to surge to the lead and expand on it from there.
In the end it was a decisive 43-point victory and moved South off the bottom of the ladder at the expense of North Gambier.
The victory came on the back of another top performance by Demon forward Brayden Kain, who found four goals with a Sherrin that must have felt like a bar of soap.
Kain’s effort was complemented by youngster Henri Capewell, who found three of his own.
In all the Demons kicked 10 goals, more than the combined effort of both sides in any other game on the day.
The day unfolded with an even effort from both sides, with the Bulldogs leading the way early with a two-point advantage at the first break.
But from there the Demons hit their straps, with nine scoring shots to two in the second term, which produced a return of four goals and five behinds.
In contrast the Bulldogs only added one goal and one behind.
The rain had eased early and allowed the Demons to use the run of Brett O’Neil and Nick Tarca through the middle of the ground to feed Carl Slape across the centre-half-forward, who gained
possession and delivered deep into Kain and Capewell to open a decisive 20-point margin at the long break.
However, the Demons did not rest on that, but pushed on to add four straight majors in the third term with the rain tumbling down, while the Bulldogs could only manage one more.
The result saw a 35-point advantage at the final break, which put the game beyond the reach of the reigning premiers, who added a solitary behind in the final term, while the Demons managed one major and four minor scores.
It was a timely win with a couple of tough rounds coming up.
This weekend the Demons host top-of-the-table Casterton Sandford, with second-placed Millicent the following week.
But regardless of the next two rounds, this week was all about knocking off the reigning premiers, which the Demons did in style.
Coach Heath Mitchell said it was more about the preparation leading up to the contest, rather than the day itself.
“It was another really good victory for the boys, not dissimilar to the North game last round,” he said.
“From Tuesday onwards the boys really committed themselves to those conditions.
“We all knew what was coming and our boys mentally and physically trained for it, then Saturday they reinforced how excited they were to get in amongst that weather.
“Then they couldn’t have played any better.
“It was just 22 blokes playing classic wet-weather football.”
Despite the conditions, the goals came with regularity, which Mitchell again put down to a well-constructed plan.
“I can’t overplay the importance of Carl Slape coming back into the side,” he said.
“What Carl did to ensure we got a contest at half forward, which meant we could get the ball to Kain at full forward, that impact has been enormous on this team.
“Even in those conditions he just gave us an avenue.
“Instead of losing the ball at half forward, we could continue on and get deep and I think that’s why we managed to score on the day while others didn’t.
“We were getting the ball inside 30, which meant Kain and Henri and the boys could get a result.”
Mitchell gave young Capewell a big rap, regarding him highly in the team lineup.
“Henri has just gone 17 and one of his strengths is he can play both tall and small,” he said.
“He is very good in the air and very good below the knees.
“He is probably one of the most adaptable footballers you will come across in that regard and is someone you will have to watch going forward.”
Still without Brad Bryant in the side, the mid-field worked well, which Mitchell said gave them an opportunity to push forward.
“Brad is still a week-by-week proposition and just has to get over the last hurdle of when do you pull the trigger on an injury like that,” he said.
“But Nick Tarca has been a wonderful inclusion in our squad.
“He is happy to go out and do a role and that may well be to give Brett O’Neil a little bit more freedom.
“His impact in the last few weeks can’t be overplayed.”
After a tough first half of the season, Mitchell said the result was another important one for the club going forward.
“Those couple of good wins are important to us,” he said.
“We don’t want the back half of the year to be a waste.
“We have goals internally and Saturday for us was a really good way to kick off the back half of the year and achieve some of those goals.”
