By Jack Heverin
Frankston were unable to come away with the victory in front of their vocal home crowd, going down by 30 points to Sandringham in a tight and physical contest.
Despite the celebrations around Frankston Oval on 'I love Frankston' day, the Dolphins were unable to stop the Zebras momentum after half time, the 13.6 (84) to 8.6 (54) scoreline reflective of how scrappy the game was.
Sandringham spearhead Nick Saunter, well held for the majority of the contest by Dolphins skipper Shaun Pollard, broke loose after half time to finish with six goals and help the Zebras kick a winning score.
The Dolphins got the jump early, with their small forward line looking dangerous when the ball hit the ground. However Sandringham still managed to find an avenue to goal against the flow of the game.
In what was a fast and frenetic first half, both sides broke down across half forward and struggled to find an avenue to goal, with four points separating the sides at the main break.
After half time both sides looked as though they had used most of their petrol tickets, with skills errors becoming far too frequent. The Dolphins began to look sideways in a bid to find an open player, however they were unable to pinpoint their kicks and turned the ball over often.
In his three quarter time address, Dolphins coach Shannon Grant implored his charges to take the game on, and look to be more direct in the final quarter.
However the Zebras came out in the last quarter and played a better brand of football, denying the Dolphins any free space. The Dolphins run was stifled and the game was played in close quarters as the Zebras stuck to their game plan well.
Saunter caught fire and took the game apart in the final term, while the Dolphins could only muster two points.
Sandringham was well served by Tom Lynch, who worked extremely hard across half forward, while Captain Peter Summers and Craig Biddlecombe found plenty of the footy.
Rover David Gallagher ran the lines all day and won his own ball at the stoppages.
For the Dolphins, Pollard was superb down back, despite Sauntner's last quarter heroics. He outpointed Sauntner for most of the contest, while also being effective as the third man up in most marking contests.
Big Peder Whelan worked very hard in the ruck all day, and was involved in a terrific ruck duel against Ben Mc Evoy. Brett Dore also provided great support for Whelan, giving his all when doing the ruck work.
Chrsitian Ongarello was important down back and received praise from Grant, while James Magner did a superb job of tagging Zebras ball winner David Armitage out of the match.
Frankston should take many positives away from the contest, though their skill errors may need addressing before their next game against Casey.
Frankston 4.3 6.3 8.4 8.6 (54)
| Sandringham 3.2 5.4 9.5 13.6 (84)
GOALS:Frankston: Dickson 2 Lourey 2 Corp Proctor Baguley Murray
Sandringham: Sautner 6 Crowe Lynch Summers Miles Gallagher Tregear Gilchrist
BEST:Frankston: Keely Berry Baguley Pollard Dickson Shinners
Sandringham: McEvoy Gallagher Paterakis Maguire Howard Biddlecombe
REPORTED PLAYERS:Frankston: Nil
Sandringham: Crowe (Sandringham) for charging Barry (Frankston).
Last Modified on 20/04/2009 13:02