James Murphy
MILLICENT 12.10 (82) d SOUTH GAMBIER 3.5 (23)
THE Saints made short work of a visiting South Gambier outfit on Saturday and were never threatened on their way to a 59-point victory.
Despite close encounters in previous rounds, the Demons could not match it with their Millicent hosts and it took until the final quarter for the guests to find the big sticks.
By quarter time the Saints held a 21-point lead, before adding another three unanswered goals in the second term.
By half time the margin was out to 40 and South had only managed three minor scores.
With plenty to address at the break, it was more of the same for the Demons in the third quarter.
A solitary behind was all they could muster, while Millicent piled on another three-goals-two.
The game was all but over at the final change and a 59-point deficit left South in damage control.
To its credit a three-goal effort in the fourth kept the margin from blowing out further, but it was too little, too late.
Millicent kept things consistent with another three majors to wrap up the game, in a solid all-round performance from the Saints.
It was a credit to the reigning premiers, especially while missing a couple of in-form talents due to the weekend’s SA Country v WA Country clash in Perth.
Coach Clint Gallio and young-gun Kade Varcoe made the westward journey for the match at Optus Stadium and as such Tom Renzi stood in as coach on Saturday.
“South came off a good win the week before and we knew they would come out with a fair bit of pressure,” Renzi said.
“We just had to match that and set up defensively so they couldn’t make their way back inside 50 too easily.”
The Saints did just that and the Demons struggled to find a foothold all day..
“One of our focusses is our defensive pressure and our ability around the footy,” Renzi said.
“We wanted to keep them goalless for as long as we could.”
Renzi described the game as a team performance and credited the pressure up the ground and through the midfield which assisted the defenders in denying South forward entries.
Harry Tunkin has been in fine form of late and his efforts on Saturday rewarded him with the best-on-ground honours.
He stepped into a midfield role to help cover the absence of Gallio and Varcoe and he excelled on the ball.
“When you are born to play and tackle and you love the physicality side of things, that game suits you to a tee,” Renzi said.
“He probably hasn’t had much of that opportunity, but with Clint (Gallio) and Kade (Varcoe) being away it was his turn to step up and it was pleasing that he did.”
Jacob Carger continued his impressive run and also featured prominently, backing himself with a goal to complement his solid midfield performance.
The main target up forward was Frazer Bradley and he was in trademark form taking strong leading marks and finishing off well to top score with three goals.
Mitchell Reilly backed the young talent with two of his own, while the remaining six majors came off different boots.
Josh Werchon and Jack Verbena were goal magnets through the midfield and they played instrumental parts in moving the ball forward, while ruckman Sam Waring rounded out the best.
He used his height to advantage both at stoppages and while resting up forward, with an impressive pack mark in the goal square rewarding him with a goal.
For South it was once the efforts of wingman Mitchell Harrold which stood out and he secured the best-on-ground honours for the second week in a row.
He was also rewarded for his efforts with a fourth-quarter goal, while Brett O’Neil and Jed Sims also found the big sticks.
Mitchell Sims was another who ranked highly in the best players, along with Luke Foran, Jed Sims, Bryce Whicker and Chris Fallas.
However, it will no doubt be a busy week on the training track for the Demons as they look to address some issues before resuming their push for a last-minute finals berth.
