EAST Gambier was made to work harder than may have been expected to claim a round-five Western Border football win over South Gambier on Saturday.
The Bulldogs hosted the Demons at McDonald Park, where a stiff breeze blew across and to the northern end.
Rain threatened, but failed to materialise until later in the game, when East already had to the contest under control.
The game was well contested, but the Demons were unable to capitalise on their time up forward, with the likes of Matt and Fraser Scanlon ensuring any forward forays were repelled.
In a typical run of play, Jayden Eldridge linked up with Riley Janeway from the last line of defence, onto coach Matt Willson and Jake Dempsey along the wing and into the attacking zone where Kevin Thomson finished off the good work.
South showed similar dash at times, with Alex Harkness on the end of one such run which he finished with a major score.
But those passages of play were few and far between for the Demons, with the East defensive unit working hard around the ground.
Kaleb Bowd and Brodie Glynn found plenty of the ball and created run for South, but by the first break the Bulldogs had already began to open a handy 16-point margin and that trend continued throughout the game.
Giancarlo Cooper joined Eldridge to provide plenty of run for the Bulldogs, as both players began to have a major impact on the contest.
Robbie Brewster began to find plenty of possessions, which would see the 2019 recruit kick three majors for the day.
Cooper would join him with the same statistic at the end of the day, with both among East’s best.
Kurt Rodis and Justin Baker shared ruck duties and provided some handy taps to their running players.
Meanwhile South struggled to find a clear pathway to spearhead forward Brayden Kain, who was kept quiet in a good contest with Matt Scanlon.
Kain managed just one major score all day.
Liam Denton again had a big defensive impact for the Demons, while Bronson Saffin and Dion Stratford moved the ball up the ground well.
It showed plenty of dash and class, but by the end of the third term South had managed just five major scores, while the hosts had recorded 10.
Unfortunately for the visitors they would not register another score for the game, as East applied the pressure in the final term with the rain falling.
While the final score suggested a comfortable 48-point win, the game was contested well, but at the end of the day the Bulldogs claimed the premiership points to remain with just one loss after five rounds.
Willson said South threw up a challenge and with several players still missing from the East lineup he was pleased with the final result.
He said it was positive to start the game well, after allowing Casterton Sandford out to an early lead last week.
“We thought if we had our noses in front at half time we could run out the game pretty well,” he said.
“I thought we were clean with the footy and our entries were cleaner, which gave us a better look at the goals.”
Willson noted the performances of Brewster and Cooper up forward, which he said had worked well with the regular goal kickers in the side.
“Robbie is playing some good footy,” he said.
“With him and Jonny Cooper kicking three goals each, it gives us a good mix of talls and smalls.
“Shem Balshaw and Kev (Thomson) provide some good bigger options which worked well on Saturday,” Matt Willson said.
“Jonny was terrific for us with his efforts inside 50 and pushing up the ground.
“He is really starting to get that consistency now.”
That work continued in the back six, where he said his side held strong and moved the ball out with pace.
“When you have Matt and Frazer Scanlon down back you know they are going to get the footy from good hands,” he said.
“Then Jack Dawe and Jayden Eldridge are both good ball users.”
With the first five rounds now complete, the Bulldogs host West Gambier this week and will hope for a repeat of the round one contest where they claimed the points, albeit with a kick after the final siren.
