Centrals Trinity know what they are up against if they want to make a dent in the AFL Cairns finals after Saints turned up the heat in a 36-point drubbing on Saturday. The Bulldogs were blown away in an eight goals to one opening term as the defending champions heaped the pressure on the Dogs’ midfield and executed clinically.
Alex Macqueen led the goal-scoring charge in the absence of the injured Matt Walsh, kicking majors off either foot from all corners of the ground. First he skewed one through from an awkward angle late in the first quarter to give his side a 40 point lead in the opening term. Then Macqueen instigated the action in the second half, snapping off his left boot from the far right pocket of Griffiths Park to send the Saints on their way.
The Dogs initially struggled to keep their heads up as Saints dominated in every facet, but they did gradually turn the tide and even forced the home team into silly errors when they got them on the back foot.
Recruited full forward Phil Dudley was a pest up front with three majors, while Jesse Dixon enjoyed his time in the forwards for Saints, using his strength and size to boot four of his own.
Centrals midfielder Baden Crathern was another bright spark in a losing team. But he was more concerned with the task ahead of his Centrals unit than his form.
"I reckon they’re the team (to beat), they always come good about now," Crathern said.
Baden is the grandson of AFL Cairns legend Kevin Crathern, the man after whom the league’s best and fairest award is named. While he is yet to reach those heights, the young talent showed glimpses of the old Crathern magic on Saturday.
He twisted and turned his way out of trouble on more than one occasion and even jagged a long-range goal as he continued his rise to form in the latter half of the season. While content to be playing a bigger role in the side, Crathern was frustrated that he and his troops could not match the level set by Saints in the first quarter.
"That was the difference, because we were able to match it in the last three, but the game was gone by then," he said.
There was no shortage of argy bargy from both sides, particularly in the second quarter. It took the sin-binning of Bulldog Nathan McAdam to cool things down.
"It was a difficult game, there was a lot of pressure on the midfield and lots of hard contested ball," Crathern said.
Read more at http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2011/08/15/178361_local-sport-news.html
Courtesy of The Cairns Post.
Last Modified on 15/08/2011 09:14