James Murphy
SOUTH Gambier suffered its first loss of the 2022 Western Border football season on Saturday.
Millicent visited Blue Lake Sports Park for its Round 6 match with the Demons understaffed and unsure what the clash would hold.
Yet after four quarters of heated football a statement was made as the Saints marched to a 32-point victory and claimed the top spot on the ladder.
The Saints had six players unavailable due to Covid along with a few niggling injuries, which forced them to field an even younger team than usual.
However, once again the young brigade stood tall beyond its years and brought an intensity which could not be matched by the Demons on the day.
South was not without its own absences, with Brett O’Neil and Hamish Stevens still yet to return, while Brodie Foster bowed out of the match early with minor hamstring issues.
In previous weeks Millicent had struggled with slow starts and when South posted the first two goals it looked like it could be the case again.
However, the Saints surged and at quarter time held a seven-point lead.
They posted another two unanswered goals in the second term and at half time had a handy 20-point buffer.
South came out firing after the main break but failed to gain control in the game.
Some inaccuracy from the Saints kept the Demons within reach at three-quarter time but Millicent was able to put the match to rest in the fourth.
A couple of Jacob Carger goals topped off by Dylan Bromley’s third major for the day iced the game.
After an intense battle, Gallio was pleased to come away with the win, especially under the circumstances.
“It was one of those games where you never know what is going to pan out,” he said.
“It was pretty pleasing in the end.”
He was also glad to overcome the sluggish starts which had become a trend from Millicent in recent rounds.
“The last couple of weeks our starts haven’t been great,” he said.
“We didn’t really change anything, we just talked about the benefit of a good start and how we do that.
“We just tried to get some energy up in the warm up and get a good feeling going.”
That seemed to have the desired result on Saturday and the Saints were able to bring their trademark intensity into the match from the get-go.
With impressive performances around the ground, Gallio was most impressed by his backline.
“We had some good pressure up the ground from our forwards and mids, but I thought our back six were excellent,” he said.
“Young Kalan Shanks played another ripper game and I thought Zac McGuiness was super on Brayden Kain and limited his impact.”
Shanks earned the best-on-ground honours for the second time this season, while Josh Werchon also featured prominently.
Dylan Bromley was a key target up forward and while he missed out on a mention in the best, his reliable hands were pivotal inside 50.
Kade Varcoe was consistent again and received a mention, while Kade and Frazer Bradley were also solid.
For South it was young-gun Liam Delaney who impressed and he earned the best-on-ground honours for the Demons.
Alex Harkness was also solid, while Jack Casey stood tall in the ruck against Finn Grimes.
Goals were shared around by the Demons with seven individual goal scorers.
The services of Foster were missed by the home team, while by the end of the match both teams had suffered further losses.
Late in the fourth quarter South’s Jake Tentye was stretchered off the field with a suspected knee injury, while Millicent’s Thomas Hutchesson made a short-lived return to the park.
Hutchesson had been absent since he injured his hamstring in Round 2 and looked lively in the opening quarter with a goal to boot.
However, his reappearance was cut short as he appears to have re-injured it.
Looking ahead South should bounce back against East Gambier, while Millicent hosts Casterton Sandford in what should be another victory for the Saints.
