James Murphy
Millicent 15.15 (105) d Casterton Sandford 4.8 (32)
Millicent has bounced back from its disheartening loss to South Gambier in a big way.
The Saints made the cross-border journey to Island Park for Round 12 of Western Border football and trumped the home team by 73 points.
It took a quarter for the visitors to shake off their Casterton Sandford hosts, but by half time the margin was out to 34.
The opening quarter was an arm wrestle and it appeared the Cats might be able to replicate their Round 7 performance, where they scared the Saints with a slim four-point loss.
Inaccuracies cost the Cats early but they remained in the fight with 10 points the difference at the first change.
However, Millicent settled in the second quarter and was able to utilise its running game to open up the contest.
From there the Saints were able to take control and held their hosts to just two more goals for the match.
After the disappointment of last round’s 57-point loss to the Demons, Millicent coach Clint Gallio was pleased to have bounced back in a convincing fashion.
“It was a good result in the end,” he said.
“I felt like it took us that first quarter to get into it but we found our way and were able to control the game.
“We played some decent footy which was nice to see.”
The man of the match was Dylan Bromley, who soared to new heights in the forward line.
He bagged an impressive eight goals for the day and had almost twice as many scoring shots in a dominant performance.
The Cats had little answer to his agility and marking ability, much to his coach’s delight.
“He had a great four-quarter game,” Gallio said.
“He is the sort of player who makes our team better, not just with his performance but his fun around the group.”
Another impressive outing from Kade Bradley saw him among the best again.
He made an impact at both ends of the ground, with his usual defensive prowess on show, while also pushing forward to score three goals for the match.
He kicked the first two goals of the game, while his work down back provided a challenge for Casterton forwards.
“His work rate this year has been really good,” Gallio said.
“He can be fairly attacking, but when we need him to be he is really defensive.”
With Bradley’s current form Gallio hopes to see him selected in the final SA Country Zone team and believes he is worthy of the call up.
Jacob Carger and Eli Redman were also solid, with a goal each to show, while Finn Grimes put in a strong performance as well.
Casterton Sandford was best served by Ethan Currie, whose on-ball efforts earned the Cats plenty of the ball.
Justin Carlin was also in fine form through the middle, while Hamish McCrae had another big day in the ruck.
It was Alastair McCrae who stepped up in front of goals and his marking ability in the pack was on show as he scored a team-high three majors.
Diarmid Cleary and Gabe Parsons maintained their recent form, while youngster Charlie Jarrad rounded out the best.
The loss puts a larger gap between the Cats and finals contention, as fourth-placed West defeated North to give it a one-win buffer over the Victorians.
