West welcomed the ladder leading Saints to Malseed Park for their round 8 clash in what promised to be a highly entertaining contest. Both clubs have had a terrific start to the season after a number of years where they have had to sit and watch the September action.
The game started in cool conditions with a slight wind favouring the city end to which the West Gambier side were kicking. And it waqs West who hit the scoreboard first, driving the ball in deep the ball spilled to ground where quick hands from young Tim O'Brien allowed Brad Wilson to slam the ball through. Millicent hit back with the next two goals, but then West hit a purple patch to slam on the next 3 goals. Millicent again kicked a goal late to finish the quarter one straight kick behind.
Millicent then failed to use the breeze effectively with 8 shots on goal only resulting in 2 majors. West were applying immense tackling pressure on the ball carrier forcing hurried disposal. Justin Rehn was in everthing for the Saints setting up play and delivering well into Chris Murray, however the Roos were transferring the ball with speed from the backline through to the forwards, and they made the most of their opportunities kicking 3 goals to head into the major break with a 6 point advantage. Tommy Holmes and Kayne O'Brien were racking up possessions on their wings, Luke Davey, Brad Wilson and Ollie O'Donovan in the midfield were again playing well. Darren McElroy in his first game for the club was competing strongly against one of the best ruckmen in the league.
The third quarter was set to decide who would win the game, West had the advantage of the breeze, however they were unable to increase their lead substantially. Again West kicked 3 goals to Millicent's two to set up the final quarter with a 9 point advantage. The wind had dropped during the third quarter and remained still at the start of the last stanza.
West started the quarter full of running and peppered the goals but now it was West's turn to rack up the minor scores. However, they did manage to kick the first 3 goals of the quarter, Joe Ferguson-Lane scoring his second goal, 16yo Tim O'Brien took a strong mark close to the goal line and kicked his second goal with his second checkside of the match, and "Turbo" Timmy Byrne hit the scoreboard to push the margin out to nearly 5 goals. West were looking to have the match in their keeping but the breeze re-appeared and with Millicent running out of time, started to kick the ball long, turning the West defence around. The Millicent talls also started to become more prominent as the pace of the game started to tell. Three late goals to Millicent and the scoreboard having credited them with four had the crowd on the edge of their seat, but the siren rang out with West emerging as 11 point winners.
West's better players were the midfielders Tom Holmes, Luke Davey, Darren McElroy and Brad Wilson, defenders Adam Schulz and Mark Bouchier, and a return to form of Kayne O'Brien on a wing. Eight separate goal kickers for West showed their versatility in recording their sixth win from eight outings.
Next week also sees West take on the ladder leaders, this time it's South Gambier at Malseed Park.
Last Modified on 07/06/2010 10:15