By Trevor Jackson
Port MacDonnell 17.12 (114) d Nangwarry 14.7 (91
Nangwarry almost pulled off a fairytale victory over Port MacDonnell in Round 5 of Mid South East football on Saturday.
A win would have been the ideal result, as the Saints officially opened their new clubroom facilities after the game, with member for Barker Tony Pasin on hand to cut the ribbon.
However, the Demons held off the hard-running Saints late in the game, after the home side briefly held the lead.
Both sides were on the board early, with the Saints kicking two majors for the opening term, while the Demons banged on six to take a handy 27-point lead to the first break.
While the Saints found the big sticks more often in the second quarter, the Demons were up to the task and added a further five majors to their tally to open the margin to what would have appeared a winning 37-point lead.
However, the third term turned the game somewhat, with Nangwarry rallying and banging on another four majors, while holding the Demons to just one.
That left a 21-point deficit for the home side to close down and they did just that but could not hold on in the final minutes as the Demons kicked clear.
In a fitting finish, brother Luke and Kev Thomson kicked five goals each for their respective sides.
Andrew Hyland found his range and led all scorers with six goals for the Saints, while for the Demons, coach Simon Merrett returned in style form a week off with three majors.
Wade Chant and Alex Ridding added two goals each for the victors.
Best for the Demons were Kev Thomson, Tim Sullivan, Wade Chant, Kyall McClean, Alex Ridding.
Best for the Saints were Joel Virtanen, Gus Bourke, Jake Mckeon, Thomas Vanderhorst, Benjamin Deamer, Dylan Podobnik.
For Merrett it was a good result after a strong challenge.
“They were pretty good,” he said.
“We started the game pretty well then after quarter time they really took it up to us.
“Their first win is not far away.
“They hit the lead with probably 10 or 12 minutes to go, then we managed to kick the last four and dig deep.
“It was a good test for us and we will benefit from a result like that.”
Merrett conceded his side has not been playing good football but he was pleased they were able to grind out such a tough win.
Considering the changes from the 2021 premiership-winning roster, he said to have a 3/1 win/loss record so far was pleasing,while providing plenty to work on as the season continues to unfold.
By half time the Demons had built a handy lead but Merrett said the effort and ball movement from his players was not where it needed to be, which eventually saw the lead reduced in the third quarter.
“We rocked up with the right mindset but they physically took it up to us,” he said.
“We probably didn’t respond until they hit the lead which was a bit of a worry.
“They were up to the challenge and clawed their way into the game.
“There were times we just couldn’t stop them.”
Once the Saints hit the lead late in the game it was then a matter of putting training regimes into practice.
Merrett said one pleasing aspect of the game was how his players responded when the game was in the balance.
“We spend a lot of time at training in those situations – couple of goals up, couple of goal down – and how we want to move the ball for those scenarios,” he said.
“When they hit the lead we knew what we had to do and were able to carry it out.
“It was pleasing to kick the last four goals and seal the game.”
At the end of the day Merrett was pleased with the outcome.
“We came away from the game with our heads up and pretty happy,” he said.
“I think if they played like that against a lot of other sides they would have got their win.
“We have a lot to work on – we are not the side we were last year – but we are sitting three and one and not playing very well, so we are going all right.”
