MILLICENT footballers suffered as South Gambier bounced back in emphatic style in round four of Western Border football on Saturday.
The Demons went from two major scores last round against West Gambier, to 15 goals against the Saints.
A couple of late goals to the Saints flattered the scoreline somewhat, but the 100-53 result heavily favoured the home side at Blue Lake Sports Park.
It belied the early contest, with the Saints right in the game until the Demons broke loose late in the second term.
By the long break the margin was 16 points and that was about as close as the Saints would get for the remainder of the contest.
The Demons put in a big effort in the third quarter to take the game away from the Saints.
Sam Willis had a chance to add a major for Millicent early in the third term, but was offline and the Demons made him pay.
From there they employed plenty of run through the middle of the ground and threatened to score at every opportunity.
Luckily for the Saints the likes of Fin Grimes and Steve Duldig held strong, or the final score could have been more damning.
However, a long running goal from Bronson Saffin rewarded the Demons for their time up forward and the flood gates then began to open.
Kyle Jones was soon in on the act for the home side with a running goal, then received a dish off from Brayden Kain just a minute later for another major and suddenly the lead had leaked out to 36 points.
When Todd Reid added a goal after a strong mark inside, the game was all-but put away.
Millicent did manage a major score late in the quarter through Zac Bradley who marked right in the goal square, but by then the writing was on the wall.
The game was nullified somewhat in the final stanza, as both sides kicked four major scores each and the Demons ran out emphatic victors.
The likes of Liam Denton and Nick Tarca were impressive for the Demons in the second half of the game, providing plenty of run to move the ball forward with pace, while Henri Capewell began to grow into the game with some useful touches.
Kain led the goal scorers for South with five majors, while Reid managed three and Jones two.
For the Saints it was Willis who again led the scorers, this time with three goals, while Bradley and Peter Duncan contributed two each.
South coach Brett Exelby said he was pleased with the effort of his young players yet again, with around six senior players missing from the lineup.
He said the likes of Duncan Reid in the ruck provided versatility and support to Scott Fleming.
“Duncan is a really good athlete,” Exelby said.
“I remember watching him last year in the Under 17s and he really impressed me with his athletic ability.
“Mason Hein was away this week so it gave him an opportunity to have a taste.
“He jumped up hard, gave us a good contest and competed really well around the ground.”
However, Exelby also noted the extra work rate from the whole team as a result of last week’s big loss to West.
He said the senior players also took on a lot of responsibility with such a big group of Under 18s in the side – eight in all.
“We had a chat last Tuesday night before training and reviewed the three weeks,” he said.
“We all made a commitment we would improve our work rate all over the ground for a full game.
“Players like Bronson Saffin, he was massive for us.
“He led the team well.
“Nick Tarca found plenty of the footy around the stoppages and used his strength to feed it out, which opened the game up for us.
“Brent Howard was fantastic, just with his hunger to win the footy.
“We were much better around the contest this week.”
While Exelby said the balance of the team was working well, one of the most important factors was to simply enjoy the game.
He said that was certainly the case, with the win a bonus on Saturday and the short-term future looking good.
“If we win along the way it makes it a lot more enjoyable,” Exelby said.
“You look down the track at who will come back into consideration in four to six weeks and we have guys like Tye Opie who had a knee reconstruction last year.
“With Brett O’Neil, Connor O’Rielly, Dion Stratford and Mason Hein – we have some good players coming back.
“Sitting two and two, I am happy with that.”
