James Murphy
SOUTH GAMBIER 11.8 (74) d WEST GAMBIER 5.10 (40)
SOUTH Gambier completed a successful round of Western Border football and has now defeated each of its five rival teams.
The final box was ticked on Saturday when it claimed a 34-point win over West Gambier.
After an even opening half, the host’s fitness came to the forefront and the Demons were able to run away with the match.
The clash once again proved the scary amount of depth at South Gambier, as several players were absent due to injury or illness.
However, with the Reserves also sitting on top with an undefeated record, there was no shortage of talent to call upon.
“It was a bit of a danger game in a sense, but it was pleasing to be able to have a few fresh faces in and still be able to stick to our structures and come away with a relatively convincing win in the end,” A Grade coach Brayden Kain said.
The Roos came out of the gates firing and held the lead at the first change.
However, their three-point advantage was traded for an eight-point deficit as South hit back before half time.
From there the Demons demonstrated their ability to keep the pressure on for four quarters.
With six second-half goals to West’s two, South finished relatively comfortable despite the early intensity of the match.
Kain said despite South’s undefeated record, it has been good to have a few arm wrestles to prevent any complacency in the side.
“We have really had to grind out three or four quarters to get the result,” he said.
“We are building some good behaviours in a sense that it could take us the whole game to win and it is not just going to be given to us in the first quarter or two.”
To risk sounding like a broken record, Brock Keding was in stunning form on Saturday.
He earned the Demons’ best-on-ground honours for consecutive weeks with his finesse around the ground second-to-none.
He managed to pop up with a goal as well, which came from an impressive end-to-end play.
“He has been running on confidence the last couple of weeks, so we have given him that license to just go wherever and do whatever he wants,” Kain said.
“He is beating his man and creating so much impact out of that half-back line.”
Kain himself also had a day out, with the key forward posting a season-best six goals.
Another standout was Kaleb Bowd, who found his grove through the midfield after a couple of weeks in different positions.
With Brett O’Neil still sidelined by injury, Jake Tentye has stepped into the captaincy role and has led by example.
His efforts against the Roos did not go unrecognised and he was among South’s best, along with Jack Casey, Taylor Saffin and Ethan Chuck.
For the Roos Michael Minuzzo was in fine form and clinched the best-on-ground title, while Dale Robbins and Lawry Bradley-Brown also put in solid efforts.
In front of goal Nathan Taylor and Jordan Williams were the main targets, with two majors each.
There is no doubt South has set itself as the benchmark of the competition so far.
However, Kain is under no illusions moving forward and will continue to expect the best from his team each week.
“We will take a lot of confidence and momentum out of those first five games,” he said.
“But these teams will start coming after us and we can’t be complacent.”
