Trevor Jackson
CASTERTON SANDFORD V EAST GAMBIER
ISLAND Park is generally known as a happy hunting ground for Casterton Sandford.
The Cats play better football across the border and are known to be hard to beat on their home turf.
East Gambier will taste that scenario on Saturday, with both sides yet to record a victory after one round of Western Border football.
Both sides came off big losses in the opening round.
The Cats faced a determined West Gambier outfit, with the final margin well over 10 goals.
The Roos flattered the Cats in the end, with 17 goals and 17 behinds.
However, it did not keep the Victorians in touch and only the middle two quarters produced anything meaningful for the Cats.
They kicked three goals in each of those terms, but let the Roos off the leash in the third quarter to put the game to bed.
A big signing for the Cats this season was Michael Krieger, the Mid South East leading goal kicker from Kalangadoo’s premiership side.
However, Krieger was held to just one major score in a win for the Roos.
Whether the Bulldogs can have the same effect remains to be seen.
While the Cats have lost several players from last year’s list, the likes of Dylan Ayton, Justin Carlin, Diarmid Cleary and others remain to keep a core group of experienced campaigners on the ground.
Last week East came up against the reigning premiers and Millicent left no doubt they would be back towards the pointy end this year.
Prior to the first game co-coach Kieth Ransom said he hope to build his junior players into effective seniors and they certainly had a taste of that last week.
Shaun Lock and Carl Slape were solid focuses up forward, with three goals each, while Matt Scanlon is still a prime mover for the club.
Jake Dowdy came across from Hatherleigh as co-coach and with the likes of Giancarlo Cooper, Patrick Hatch, Nick Lock and Mark Rumbelow in the roster, there is still plenty of experience running around.
Last week they were simply unfortunate to face the Saints first up and this week have a chance to provide something for their fans to look forward to.
While this game might not receive the same match-of-the-round status as North Gambier and West Gambier, make no mistake, it will provide plenty of excitement on the ground.
East enjoys playing down at Casterton and the two clubs seem to like the challenge of facing each other.
There will be nothing left on the ground at the end of the day and if the Cats can utilise Krieger well up forward, it could go a long way to securing a victory.
Likewise, if the Bulldogs can utilise all their experience and deliver the ball to a few experienced forwards, they will be in the box seat to snatch the points.
