Trevor Jackson
NORTH GAMBIER V CASTERTON SANDFORD
NORTH Gambier hosts Casterton Sandford in Round 5 of Western Border football on Saturday, with plenty of interest in the clash this early in the season.
The Tigers currently hold down third spot on the ladder, but only by percentage over the Cats.
Both sides will want to break that deadlock to take the advantage, which should produce an exciting contest.
North has lost two games – to West Gambier and Millicent – as have the Cats.
Sam Stafford and Toby de Wit were in good form last week against East Gambier, with the Tiger duo bagging 11 goals between them.
That provides some positive focus up forward for the Tigers, with the likes of Nick McInerney and Nick Blachut providing plenty of experience through the middle of the ground.
For the Cats, Hamish McCrae has been the major goal kicker, with 11 so far for the season.
Michael Krieger is yet to make his mark up forward, playing further up the ground than he would have been accustomed to over at Kalangadoo.
The Cats strung back-to-back wins together in Rounds 2 and 3, with comfortable victories over East and South Gambier.
However, they come off a big loss to Millicent last round, with the Saints off to a strong start and forcing the Cats to play catch-up football for the remainder of the day.
In the end it was a 74-point loss to Casterton Sandford, which did no favours to the Victorians’ percentage.
The Tigers enjoyed a big win over South in the opening round, before going down to West and Millicent.
They returned to the winner’s list against East last round and will look to carry that momentum into this week.
On their home deck the Tigers should claim the win in a tough contest.
