Quick Cats slash through Tigers

UNDER PRESSURE: Casterton Sandford’s Dylan Ayton releases a handball mid-air under plenty of pressure from North Gambier’s Chris Birks in Round 14 of Western Border football on Saturday. Picture: TREVOR JACKSON

IT was an almost perfect day for football on Saturday – unless you were a North Gambier supporter.

The Tigers hosted Casterton Sandford at Vanisttart Park and quite simply were dealt a thrashing.

Nothing could slow the Cats down as they ran rampant on their way to a 121-point victory.

This season has been a hard fall from grace for the Tigers – after finishing runners-up for the flag just last year – and the weekend simply magnified that.

Saturday it was all about the Cats, as they controlled the contest from the outset and never gave the Tigers a chance to compete.

Will Macdonald kicked it all off in the centre, providing first use to the likes of coach Hamish Jarrad, Aaron Nesbitt, Tom Sullivan and Callum Currie, with the latter finding the scoreboard on several occasions to finish with a handful of major scores.

But while the forward movement was impressive, it was the defensive effort that was the difference in the contest.

When the Cats were off line for a minor score, the Tigers struggled to break free of the danger zone, with the flooding defensive work not allowing for any clearing kicks.

The Cats showed plenty of confidence in their game plan, with the majority of players past the centre circle.

The Tigers were then forced to chip the ball around, before ultimately coming to grief and handing the ball back to the Cats in a scoring position.

Many forward forays by the Tigers were stopped, with Macdonald taking some big intercept marks and Dylan Ayton running off the backline with speed and class.

The likes of Currie (5 goals), Madison Rogers (3), Kane Davis (3) and Angus Cleary (3) were all impressive.

They were joined by Billy Galpin and Sam Broomby with two goals each, while Macdonald and Jackson Gibbs added singles.

In contrast the Tigers were only able to add two major scores for the day, along with three minors.

In fact, North did not score a major after half time, with the Cats piling on the pressure right to the final siren to ram home their authority.

The Cats were expected to bounce back after recent losses, but the brutal approach on Saturday caught many by surprise.

The result returned the Cats to the top of the table and back to premiership favouritism, after Millicent was dealt a big defeat at the hands of West Gambier.

Jarrad was obviously impressed with the result and how his players went about their duties.

“I was rapped,” he said.

“It is probably the best we have played all year.

“We had a tough couple of weeks and we really identified a couple of areas we have been breaking down in.

“The boys really executed the adjustments we made to perfection.”

From the word go the Cats were in control, with five first-quarter goals, while the Tigers could manage just one.

The Cats were on top in the centre and pushing forward, but the flooding defensive effort simply kept the Tigers out of the contest.

“Our zone the last couple of weeks probably hadn’t been at the level I expected, not like it was earlier in the year,” Jarrad said.

“We really fixed that up, which made a big difference on the day.”

It would have been easy for the Cats to drop their intensity, especially after the long break where they had already built a 54-point advantage.

But the onslaught continued, with Currie and Sullivan playing a hand in a Davis goal early.

Jarrad said it was easy to keep his players motivated after half time.

“The group was intent on improving our work rate from the last two weeks,” he said.

“At half time I didn’t have to remind the boys what we had to do.

“They really took it upon themselves to stand up and drove the work rate as a group.

“It was just one of those days where they really did what they had to do.”

With the Tigers trailing by 88 points heading to the final stanza, there was no respite, with the defensive effort of the Cats keeping the home side scoreless and with just 15 points on the board when the final siren sounded.

Jarrad said that was one of the most satisfying aspects of the victory.

“The last few weeks we have leaked too many easy goals,” he said.

“We pride ourselves on being a defence-first then attack footy side.

“To be honest, to keep them to two goals is more impressive than the 20 goals we kicked.”

Jarrad said he was impressed with Currie’s performance, who he said played probably 80pc of the game in the mid-field.

“He was outstanding,” he said.

“His work rate from one end of the ground to the other was first class.

“He has probably been down the last few weeks, so to see him back up this week was good.”

Rogers found himself in an unfamiliar role in the forward half and repaid his coach’s faith with three goals.

Jarrad said it was a change that worked well.

“We changed his role and threw him forward – I don’t think he has kicked a goal all year,” he said.

“Madison is a really high work rate player, so we put him up there to run and give us movement ahead of the ball, which he did a really good job of.”

Once again Macdonald stood out around the ground, which Jarrad said was to be expected as he returns to full fitness with games under his belt.

“We haven’t seen the best of Will yet because he hasn’t had any continuity in his footy and has been carrying injuries,” he said.

“His body is feeling good now and the weekend was the best he has moved all year.”

As for Ayton, Jarrad said he also played an important role for the team.

“He really set us up in the back half,” he said.

“Losing (Trent) Nesbitt for the season – he really controlled our backline and set us up all season – Dylan went back to play that role and did an outstanding job of it.”

As the finals fast approach, Jarrad said he was pleased to regain the psychological advantage of sitting back on top of the ladder after such an impressive display of football.