Henry Childs

SOUTH GAMBIER V EAST GAMBIER

Given teams have barely played over the past month, a rusty opening quarter was to be expected and both South Gambier, at home, and East Gambier, spent the opening minutes of the match dusng off the cobwebs but in the end it was all about supply and East Gambier created enough turnover ball to ensure they were in control at quarter me with a seven goal buffer.

The strong driving of Emily Hunter and connecon between Tenille Gray and Amryn Bosko was more impressive as the quarter wore on and improved even more in the second as the Bulldogs took a 14 goal lead into the main break. Hunter, Tyne Bosko, Lisa Fyfe and Bo Creek made life tough for the South frontline, not just with clean intercepts but also by pressuring every pass and denying access to the circle’s edge.

The ability of Lara Munro to convert her opportunies and her willingness to do the work required to shake off Fyfe was pivotal in keeping the Demons in touch, as was the defensive efforts of Brandi Bouchier and Ellie Bouchier, who were constantly faced with the ball at speed but sll managed to be disrupve at mes. It was the third quarter where the scoreboard damage was done as East took that 15 minutes with a 24-9 scoreline, with Gray shoong 17 straight and Amryn Bosko converng seven from eight.

Again the defensive efforts of the Bulldogs created those opportunies and in the final quarter, which finished at 10all saw the intensity disappear from the contest with the final scoreline 66-37.

For South the Bouchier defensive combinaon connues to shoulder a heavy workload and rises to the occasion, while Renee Pluckhahn in centre is a hard worker who has an impact at both ends of the court. The bale between Tyne Bosko and Alyssa Duncan was one of the nest on the day as two of the rising stars of the compeon both had their moments, while Munro would haver to be high in the club’s best and fairest counng in her debut A Grade season.

For the Bulldogs, there is no weakness – at the moment it is about consistency of performance and just trying to regain the momentum of the early rounds, given the disrupon to the season, and while Kate Dempsey easily holds her own in the top grade, East is also close to welcoming back Tarsh McCallum from injury.

NORTH GAMBIER V MILLICENT

In the final wash up, the clash between North Gambier and Millicent is a tough analysis. A compeve opening half saw Millicent with a 10 goal half me lead and for the most part looked in control. In the third quarter they blew the game apart and given the Saints scraped to a two goal victory the last me the two met in 2021, at three quarter me the scoreline was reminiscent of scorelines of seasons’ past with a 16 goal buffer and no reason to assume it was set to be another 20-plus goal loss. But the Tiger had other ideas and a 20-9 final quarter onslaught saw the final margin at six goals. The queson now is, who are the real Saints and who are the real Tigers?

What we do know is both sides have game plans that revolve around geng the ball in the hands of their tall shooters and both delivered at the weekend. Millicent’s Tabatha Sanderson need 50 from 55 and Caroline Davey converted 46 from 48 and the final quarter in some ways shows how important both are – Sanders suffered f r o m l a c k o f supply, neng seven from nine, while Davey had her best supply of the game and shot 18 straight.

One thing North might want to take note of, is the selecon of Teneille Barry by the opposion as one of the two best players on the court, despite only joining the contest at half me. Inially on the defensive wing, where she is a ght checking harassing player, and then on the aacking wing in the last where she found great connecon with Davey. In fact, in the end, it was the mid court bales where the game was essenally won and lost with Lucy Denton and centre for Millicent and Lisa Duldig, on her preferred defensive wing, named Millicent’s best. That duo made feeding into the North shoong circle and as a consequence Porta McRae and Hannah Nitschke’s jobs were made a lile easier in terms of denying scoring opportunies for the Tigers. It is also safe to say the intensity North brought to the last quarter needs to be a four quarter mission and the defensive pressure they applied across the court will need to become part of their DNA for the full 60 minutes if they want to challenge in the finals, because the final 15 minutes of the weekend showed just what they are capable of when at their best.

Casterton Sandford v West Gambier – pending given current ever changing COVID 19 restricons