MATCH REPORTS

Westgambiervcastertonsandford

Casterton Sandford can aest to the fact there appears to be no premiership hangover at Malseed Park with West Gambier looking as polished and well drilled at the weekend as they did as they powered to their drought breaking premiershiplastseason.

The reigning premiers had 15 goals on the board before Madalene Cleary need the Cats’ first in a stunningopeningwheretheaackwentlongand direct and finished accurately and the defensive line-up refused to allow Casterton Sandford any easypossession.

The Cats’ cause was not helped by missing three of their usual starng seven – one player from each area of the court – but the Roos were in no moodtoshowanymercy

Sarah Rier was unstoppable as she need 18 from 21 in that frenec opening quarter, as she nailed shots from under the post and long range, the delivery from Lisa McGregor and Tara Bryant onpointeveryme.

Thestartofthesecondquarterwasagoalforgoal contest as the cats seled into their work with Chelsey Galpin and Indi Longhurst doing a power of work in the mid court, Madalene Cleary working overme to set up scoring opportunies and Meg Smith and Ebany Jarrad also starng to findtheirfeettoplacemorepressureontheRoos shoongcombinaon.

But again, as the quarter wore on, Amy Cram and Jade Rier were able to secure some good turnover opportunies and once again, in the blink of an eye, the ball was back in Rier’s hands as she converted 15 from 16 to see the lead blow outto26bythehalf.

TheCatstweakedtheirline-upforthesecondhalf withtheLonghurstandGalpinchangingrolesand SmithandJarradalsoswappingbibsandagainthe startofthequarterwasmorepromisingbutWest again were too slick with ball in hand and Rier againneed18goalsastheleadextendedto34. It was West who made the change in the last with McGregor moving back under the post and Rier venturing out to goal aack but the scoreboard didnotreallychanceonlyitwasMcGregorgeng the lion’s share of the scoring opportunies, converng 14 from 18 as West moved out to a 49 finalwhistlemargin.

ForCastertonSandford,Clearywasaclearbeston court doing a mountain of work and finishing the rare scoring opportunies with which she was presented, while Longhurst impressed with her hard running and Libby Altorfer created some significant turnover ball and played a key role in transion.

Sarah Rier, McGregor and Bryant dominated for theRoos,withCramandJadeRiershowingtheir defensive chemistry has only improved but in reality there was no weakness in the West GambiergameplanwithMikaelaHorriganhaving a big influence in feeding in the second half and Zoe Malseed as ght checking as ever and geng her hands to a number of balls on the outside of thecircle.

Eastgambiervmillicent

The reigning premiers started with an impressive victory and so did the 2022 runners up as Millicent blew out the cobwebs with a solid oungagainstEastGambier,workingtheirwayto a25goalvictory

It was the young guns leading the way for the Saints with both Lillie Paul and Daisy Tunkin dominang the mid court and feeding with precision into Tabatha Sanderson, who was again thefocalpointoftheshoongcircle,neng43of Millicent’s55goalsforthematch.

Demi Verbena also playing her role with her strongfrontcutsopeningupthespaceattheback for Sanderson and Verbena’s delivery is always pinpointtohertallershoongpartner

Attheotherendofthecourt,theSaintsdefensive line-upwithLisaDuldigonthedefensivewingand Kimmi Tincknell and Pora McRae in the defensive circle, made every possession difficult for the new look East frontline and scoring opportunies for the Bulldogs were at a premium.

And the match was a story of opportunies –Millicent generang 79 scoring chances and East restrictedto43–itwasthegamerightthere.

Lauren Van Eeden entered the game at goal defence in the second half and there was no disrupon to the defensive pressure applied by the Saints and given Van Eeden and McRae teameduplastseasonin17&Undercompeon, theirunderstandinginthecirclewasimpeccable.

Co-coaches Tarsh McCallum and Bo Creek led the way for the Bulldogs, while Indi Dwyer showed enough in her first oung in A Grade to show she willbeaplayerofthefuture.

Millicent was best served by the two young midcourters, Paul and Tunkin but there was no apparent weak link in the Saints line-up as they looktogoonebeerin2023.

South Gambier V Northgambier

North Gambier has returned to the ANZAC Day winners’ list with a clinicalperformancefromtheirnewlookline-up. Led by a familiar face, Mel Renko, who claimed another Shirley Underwood Medal for best on court, the Tigers had control of the contest from the first quarter and put the result beyond doubt in a dominant final quarter which saw the final marginblowoutto23goals.

Renko started on the defensive wing, moving from her 2022 role in the defensive circle back to where she has done so much damage over the years, earning many Western Border Team of the Yearaccolades.

Her pressure on the outside of the circle and abilitytobeakeylinkplayerintransionwithher driving through the mid court, saw Renko lead from the front and her pressure on the feeders, combined with the work rate of Brianna Walters ensured new defensive combinaon – Noni McConnell and Mikaila Pi – were able to sele into their work with every ball being delivered underpressure.

The issue for the Demons was supply with North generang82scoringopportuniestoSouth’s48. But in defence of the home side, the Demons were also dealing with a new look line-up, and a line-up with limited height, with the excepon of 2022ShirleyUnderwoodMedallistEllieBouchier, who was again her side’s best as she created turnover ball and also worked hard with ball in hand.

It was a bapsm of fire for A Grade debutante Gracie Dalton in goal shooter for South and the youngster showed she will only improve and get beer as she adjusts to like in the rough and tumbleofAGradenetball.

Her combinaon with Alyssa Duncan, who was also a key player for South on the day, will also onlyimproveastheydevelopsomechemistryasa combinaon.

Grace Pos, was a dominant force for the Tigers againstherformerclub,neng44from60asher height caused the South defensive line issues, although Sophie Wight, who was significantly outsized by Pos, showed the impact this athlecsdefendercanhavegoingforward.

North will now face a more serious challenge when they host the reigning premiers, while South head to Millicent for another tough challenge.