James Murphy
NORTH GAMBIER 15.13 (103) d CASTERTON SANDFORD 8.12 (60)
THE battle of the cats was won by the Tigers at Vansittart Park on Saturday, when North Gambier hosted Casterton Sandford for Round 5 of Western Border football.
Toby de Wit had a field day in front of goal and finished up with a haul of seven majors, contributing towards the 43-point win.
The home team started strongly against the breeze to be up by 11 points at the first break.
They carried the momentum into the second term and at half time held a 19-point advantage.
However, the Victorians opened the third quarter with a renewed intensity and a purple patch to start the quarter rewarded the Cats with four goals and the lead.
The Tigers settled and finished off the quarter with three majors to claw back in front, but only seven points separated the sides heading into the last.
With the game on the line the hosts stepped up when it counted and a huge seven-goal effort blew out the margin and left the Cats at the mercy of North’s forwards.
De Wit came to life during that time and his marking ability came to the fore as he helped the Tigers pull away.
North coach Ben Hardy was pleased with the result and in particular the way his team responded in the second half.
“I think we knew they (Casterton) would come at some stage and they had a 10-minute spurt at the start of the third quarter,” he said.
“I was really impressed with the boys to kick the next three goals to finish off the quarter and put us up by seven points at three quarter time.
“Then we put on seven (goals) to one in the last.”
Despite de Wit’s efforts, it was the work of fellow forward Tyson Christophersen which earned the best-on-ground honours.
His work rate and efforts down the ground provided a crucial link to attack and did not go unnoticed on the day.
“Last year Sam Stafford had to work really hard down to our defence as a bail out option,” Hardy said.
“With Tyson coming in as a third big, his work rate is second to none and he really gets up the ground nice and high and works his defenders.
“It allows Sam and Toby to stay a little deeper than they would have in the past.”
The results speak for themselves and with three goals from Stafford and two from Christophersen, the Tigers’ attack has become a force to be reckoned with.
With the likes of Justin McConnell still to come into the side the Tigers should only continue to improve as the season unfolds.
Jake Schutz was another standout on the day, while Josh Jenner continued his consistent start to the year.
Youngster Mackye Baron also caught the eye of his coach, who has plenty of praise for the rising talent.
The Cats were best served by Dylan Ayton down back, with his efforts preventing a further blowout on the scoreboard.
Michael Krieger was also impressive, while Hamish McCrae and Diarmid Cleary continued to build on their strong starts to 2023.
