James Murphy
CASTERTON SANDFORD 11.13 (79) d EAST GAMBIER 7.8 (50)
THE Cats notched up their first win of the Western Border football season with a 29-point triumph over a visiting East Gambier.
Casterton Sandford is renowned for how it performs on its home deck at Island Park and it was always going to be a tough road trip for the rebuilding Bulldogs.
An inaccurate first quarter from both teams had the Cats lead 5-2 at the change, but the hosts finetuned the accuracy and broke away in the second term.
Four goals to East’s one put the Cats out to a handy 18-point lead at half time.
A close quarter followed and the margin grew by just one point as the Bulldogs matched the Cats in a bid to claw back into the game.
However, the Victorians remained out of grasp and a four-goal-to-three closing quarter ensured the Cats claimed the points for Round 2.
Ed Pritchard made a guest reappearance for the Cats and made an immediate impact across the ground.
His efforts earned the best-on-ground honours and were capped off with two goals.
Michael Krieger and Hamish McCrae also had a piece of the goalkicking action with two each.
Down the other end of the ground Matt Killey put in a solid defensive performance, while Josh Cottier, Jarrod O’Brian and Harold Pritchard also earned recognition from coaching staff.
East looked to Reece Lillecrapp on the day, who worked tirelessly in a best-on-ground performance.
Sam Lock and Jack Lawrence were a couple of young-guns who also featured highly, while Nick Lock, Jesse Plunkett and Jarvi Mee earned mentions as well.
With a couple of games under their belt, hopefully the young Bulldogs have learnt some lessons as another tough game awaits next week.
They match up against an undefeated West Gambier in what will be a big challenge on East’s home deck.
Casterton Sandford will enjoy another home game as 2022 runner-up South Gambier travels across the border for Round 3.
