James Murphy
South Gambier 16.11 (107) d East Gambier 6.6 (42)
DESPITE a strong opening, East Gambier could not best the Demons in Round 7 of Western Border football.
South Gambier visited McDonald Park off of a disheartening loss to reigning premier Millicent and was eager to bounce back in a big way.
The Bulldogs had other ideas in the opening half and looked to be around the mark despite staffing issues.
However, the Demons surged in the third quarter to run away to an eventual 65-point victory.
The guests started strongly but were unable to transfer their dominance onto the scoreboard, while East pounced on the opportunity to slot away four first-quarter goals and lead by 16 at the change.
“I still thought our first eight or 10 minutes we really dominated, but we struggled in front of goal,” South coach Brayden Kain said.
“We kicked 1.3 in those first 10 minutes and then they were able to wrestle the momentum back and kicked four.”
South settled at quarter time and a renewed effort in the second term allowed it to take back control.
Four unanswered majors handed the Demons a seven-point advantage at half time.
From there they kept the foot down and held the Bulldogs scoreless in the third term, while banging through six goals of their own.
During that time debutante Nelson Forbes had already taken the game by the horns as he made an impact up forward in his first taste of A Grade football.
His efforts were impressive to say the least and he finished with four goals and the best-on-ground honours in a dream first game.
Kain rated the 17-year-old’s performance highly and said it was a privilege to witness.
“That second quarter when we really needed someone to stand up, he took the game into his own hands, kicked a couple of goals and kickstarted that momentum,” he said.
“He was able to continue that for the rest of the game.
“He finished up with four and was hands-down our best player for the day.”
Overall it was an impressive performance from the Demons and another display of the immense depth at the club.
South has a list of talent sidelined with injury, including the likes of Brodie Foster, Josh Woodall, Brett O’Neil, Hamish Stevens and most recently Jake Tentye.
However, with the quality of both the Reserves and Under 18 sides there has been no shortage of skilled individuals to call upon in recent weeks.
Some player returns can be expected in coming weeks, which is sure to make selections even more difficult.
However, Tentye will not be among those, having underdone a knee reconstruction following the Millicent clash.
“He tore pretty much everything possible in there,” Kain said.
“He will be a few months off work and then I’d say at least 12-18 months away from coming back to any competitive sport.”
East will be disheartened to suffer another loss at home and with just the one win for the season the group will be starting to feel the strain.
Carl Slape was solid all game as he worked tirelessly in the ruck, while Nick Lock was a standout in defence.
He gave Kain a run for his money, particularly in the first half as he continues a strong 2022 campaign.
Other reappearances to the best were Luke Johnston and James Byrne, while Garret Ha and John Forster also put in maximum effort.
Ha led the Bulldogs with four goals as he again provided a focal point inside 50.
However, the diversity from South in front of goal was too much to handle, as Forbes and Kain both bagged four, while Liam Delaney and Dane Handreck scored two each.
Delaney earned a mention in the best players again, while James Paprotny and Todd Reid were also solid.
