PORT MACDONNELL 8.18 (66) d MOUNT BURR 7.12 (54)
THE Demons have kept alive their slim chances of major round participation with an upset 12-point win at home over Mid South East Football League powerhouse club Mount Burr in round 13 on Saturday.
Although the match was played at the Bay “fortress” and the Demons and the Mozzies occupied adjacent places on the premiership table, it was nonetheless a startling result for the seasiders.
The visitors are in re-building mode with six colts in the lineup, but still fielded 13 players who have played in at least one A Grade premiership side.
The home side had the good fortune to win the toss and booted to the clubrooms end which was favoured by a blustery breeze.
The Demons peppered the goals but only managed three from their 13 scoring shots.
The Mozzies only scored a solitary behind into the breeze and sorely missed the on-field presence of their skipper and ace goalkicker Jack Gregory.
Mount Burr faced a deficit of 27 points at the first change and did not make significant in-roads in the second term when each team booted a goal.
Port MacDonnell again made use of the breeze in the third term and took a 35-point buffer into the last change.
The visitors nibbled away in the final term but never took the lead and were 12 points in arrears when the final siren sounded.
It was a tough day to be in the forward lines with no one booting more than two goals.
Best for the victors were reigning Mail Medallist Daron McElroy, skipper Zack Williams and Hamish Stevens, while Mount Burr was best served by Tyler Stanley, coach Tom Renzi and Jake Dowdy.
Port MacDonnell and Mount Burr both sit well outside of the top four and will have to rely on Kalangadoo having a drastic loss of form to reach the finals.
In round 14, Port MacDonnell takes on Kalangadoo in a season-defining clash while Mount Burr hosts ladder leaders Hatherleigh.
To round off the minor round, Port MacDonnell then takes on Tantanoola (home), Robe (away), Glencoe (home) and Kongorong (away).
Mount Burr heads to Nangwarry on August 3, has a bye in round 16 and finishes the home-and-away season against Kalangadoo (home) and Tantanoola (away).
KALANGADOO 21.14 (140) d KONGORONG 3.3 (21)
THE Magpies took no chances in their away battle of the birds with the Kongorong Hawks and bolstered the lineup with the recall of two Mail Medallists.
Ben Mules and Brett Lindner added class to the Kalangadoo lineup which set up its win with a 60-point to nil opening term.
The strong breeze was probably worth about five goals to the team which kicked towards the Kongorong Primary School end.
Mules and Lindner had “leather poisoning” in this period as they were both keen to get their hands on the ball after long lay-offs due to injury.
The former was injured in an off-field mishap several weeks ago while the latter was playing his first game in 2019.
Mules booted a game-high tally of eight goals and was named best-on-ground.
It is amazing to record he won his Mail Medal in 2000 at the age of 18 and he ended the year as the club’s premiership captain.
The win was all the more meritorious for Kalangadoo as it was without players of the calibre of Tye McManus, Braeden Ousey, Michael Krieger and Billy Galpin for various reasons.
With such talent waiting in the wings, this will make all the other Magpies work that much harder to keep their place in the 21.
It was a forgettable game for Kongorong with solitary goals coming in the second, third and fourth quarters.
On a positive note, all gate takings and raffle proceeds at the game at Kongorong were donated to the Beyond Blue and the South East Animal Welfare League charities.
Kongorong Football Club president Scott Cram addressed his Hawks and the Kalangadoo Magpies ahead of the opening bounce in A Grade.
Players, spectators and officials also honoured the memory of Kongorong footballer Wes Milne who died two years ago,
Looking ahead to Saturday, Kongorong is on the road to Tantanoola while Kalangadoo hosts Port MacDonnell.
GLENCOE 25.16 (166) d TANTANOOLA 2.7 (19)
A BEST-ON-GROUND effort with 12 goals from recruit Brodie Foster was the highlight of the Murphies thrashing of the visiting Tigers.
Tantanoola had no answer to Foster who booted a double-figure number of goals for the third time in 2019.
He had booted 11 against Nangwarry at home in the opening round and followed this up with 10 in the return game against the Saints on June 22.
Foster now sits on 80 goals and has to average five per match in his remaining four games to reach the 100 mark by the end of the minor round.
Two of those games will be against ladder leaders Hatherleigh (home) and Robe (away) as well as Kongorong (home) and Port MacDonnell (away).
The “ton” was last achieved by former Port Adelaide SANFL star Phil Smith who slotted through 103 majors for Robe during the 2009 season.
It has been a busy winter for Foster as he only had breaks for Easter and Glencoe’s scheduled bye on May 18.
The ex-Penola and South Gambier player has gladly accepted the call up for representative duties with the MSEFL in the Naracoorte regional carnival as well as the Murray South East zone team in the SA Country Championships in Port Pirie.
Another bonus for the Murphies was the arrival back home of former ruckman Lachy Medhurst for his first senior game in six seasons.
A member of a prominent Glencoe clan, Medhurst made his A Grade debut a decade ago while still playing senior talents.
His obvious talents were recognised in the capital city and he ventured to the SANFL in 2014.
He has been living overseas in recent times but is back in his home community and working with a local tradesman.
Glencoe officials undertook all the necessary registration requirement to ensure Medhurst was eligible to resume with the Murphies.
The big win was the ideal way for ruckman Matt Kasparian to mark his 100th A Grade game.
Kasparian made his A Grade debut back in 2011 when he was also captain of the Glencoe senior colts.
With such a lop-sided result, there were few positives for Tantanoola.
It fielded a significant number of B Graders and colts and this was reflected on the scoreboard.
The Tigers were goalless until the 10-minute mark of the last quarter when Zane Walker converted from a set shot.
His almost namesake Zack Walker booted Tantanoola’s second and last goal a few minutes later.
Tantanoola hosts Kongorong on Saturday and its opponents were also soundly beaten in round 13.
Glencoe heads to Robe which has had some mixed news about past player Jordan Dawson in recent weeks.
Dawson will not return to the Roosters before 2022 as he has been rewarded for great play at the elite level in the AFL with a two-year contract extension with the Sydney Swans.
HATHERLEIGH 39.29 (263) d NANGWARRY 4.7 (31)
THE Eagles returned to the top of the premiership table and banked some valuable percentage with a 232-point win at home over Nangwarry.
The result lifted Hatherleigh from a neat 70pc to 73.15 pc and could be vital if the all-important second semi-final and double chance berth is decided by percentage.
The scoreboard was not flattering to the Saints, but the blow-out occurred in the final term when the home side piled on 13.6 and conceded just 1.2.
The cause of the visitors was not helped by the absence of such class players as Ricky Lindner, the mid-match injury to past best and fairest winner Ben Deamer and the fact four B Graders also had to play A Grade.
Among them was four-time premiership player Dion Dinnison.
As expected, Hatherleigh was relatively slow out of the blocks in the opening term owing to a three-week break caused by the scheduled bye and the weekend off for the SA Country Championships.
The difference in the scores was 26 points at the first change and then the Eagles lifted the tempo.
The eldest and the youngest of the Telfer brothers proved to be the best avenues to goal with Sam finishing with eight majors while Max contributed a career-high of seven.
The Nangwarry hierarchy took some consolation from the result as it was the first time in several seasons that they had managed 11 scoring shots against Hatherleigh.
The Saints have been on the receiving end of some fearful beatings from the Eagles including the all-time record thrashing of 340 points in round seven of 2016.
Another helpful sign for Nangwarry was that two other MSEFL teams booted a lower score in round 13.
After its scheduled bye in round 14, Nangwarry hosts Mount Burr on August 3.
Hatherleigh heads to Mount Burr with the knowledge victory could almost quash the chances of the Mozzies reaching the major round.
