Hard-fought win for Demons

TOP EFFORT: James Paprotny put in a best-on-ground performance for the Demons in their hard-fought win over North Gambier. Picture: James Murphy

James Murphy

South Gambier 12.10 (82) d North Gambier 9.4 (58)

AFTER some convincing victories in recent weeks, South Gambier had to fight for the points against North Gambier on Saturday.

The Demons visited Vansittart Park for the Round 13 clash, where it took them until the final quarter to shake off their Tiger rivals.

North was up at the first change, before the lead traded hands in the second to see South hold a nine-point advantage at half time.

The Tigers pushed hard after the main break but despite some strong runs through the middle – many of which came from the quick-footed Nick McInerney – they were unable to find the ascendency on the scoreboard.

As such the quarter was a relative stalemate with two goals each and at the final change South remained 11 points up.

Despite an eventual six-goal haul from North forward Sam Stafford, the Tigers succumbed to the pressure in the fourth term and the Demons pushed out to a 24-point win.

South coach Brayden Kain had another strong outing in the forward line, with five goals to show for his efforts.

Brodie Foster also found plenty of the ball to bag three.

With a strong contest through the midfield, it was James Paprotny who stood tallest for the Demons.

His work through the midfield earned him the best-on-ground honours.

“When we get the footy forward he managed to hit a target just about every time,” Kain said.

“When we can hit the goalfront from his hard work up the ground, it really takes the pressure off the guys down the backline.”

Josh Woodall, Hamish Stevens and Chris Fallas also had standout games in the hard-fought contest.

“It almost felt like a finals atmosphere,” Kain said.

“The boys were certainly lucky to get through it in the end and we managed to get over the line.”

North was best served by Jay Turner, who continues to make an impact for the Tigers in recent rounds.

Mitchell Kelton also impressed in the ruck, while Cameron Ortlepp and Stafford were also recognised for the efforts.

McInerney was explosive through the midfield, while Jake Schutz stood tall in the backline.

Despite the closeness of the match, Kain felt South had decent momentum throughout the four quarters.

“We never let them score too many goals in a row, but we felt like it was our skill errors and execution which let us down.

“We missed a couple of easy goals which could have put us in a bit better position.

“Credit to North, they stuck around and they are very well drilled.

“It was probably only the last eight to 10 minutes we managed to break free and hit the scoreboard and relieve a bit of that pressure.”

Kain said it was good to enter this weekend’s bye off a hard game and looks forward to building further momentum leading into finals.