Round 17, 2011
Port Melbourne v Sandringham
by Mark Towson
With just 5 games remaining until the 2011 finals series, Port Melbourne hosted a desperate Sandringham outfit that were clinging to 8th spot on the VFL ladder. The Borough was searching for win number 14 and wanted to celebrate Ryan McMahon’s 200th appearance in style.
1st QUARTER
The match couldn’t have started better for Port with 2 goals in the opening 2 minutes of play. Cory McGrath thumped a superb running goal from 55m out followed by Dean Galea who kicked truly from a set shot close to the boundary.
Port looked sharp and the Zebra’s struggled to get their hands on the ball. After 21 minutes the Borough had opened up a 29 point lead which could have been even more after having 9 shots to goal to Sandy’s nil.
Shane Valenti, Cal Sinclair and Myles Pitt all kicked majors to have Port in a terrific position.
It took until the 24th minute mark for Sandy to score and when the first siren sounded it was Port Melbourne with a hard earned 28 point lead.
2nd QUARTER
At quarter time Port’s coach Gary Ayres appeared quite content with his main message being to tidy up their hand balling and also make sure they nail their shots on goal.
The 2nd term started as a real stale mate with Dean Galea breaking the dead lock and kicking truly after 11 minutes. Sandy was able to get one back through Lourey however Port responded after Galea ran into an open goal after receiving a beautiful pass off Lynch.
The Borough seemed to lose a bit of momentum towards the end of the quarter and conceded 2 goals with both going to Matt Boland in the time on period. Amazingly it was the only 2nd quarter Port had lost all season.
At the main break the Borough was leading by 20 points.
3rd QUARTER
Myles Pitt was first to get the Borough on the score board when he broke 2 tackles and kicked a superb running goal after just 30 seconds of play. Cal Sinclair was able to show his marking prowess and followed up by kicking a major to take Port out to a 32 point lead which threatened to take the game away from Sandy.
A huge momentum shift then came over Teac Oval, which stemmed from a goal to Sandy youngster Tom Curren. It was the start of 4 unanswered goals to the Zebra’s which really turned up the heat on the Port Melbourne side.
The Borough did have a number of scoring opportunities but were not able to take advantage of them.
Having numbers behind the ball seemed to really frustrate Port. The usual free scoring by the Borough had disappeared and this was playing right into the hands of the Sandy side.
With one term remaining, Port was clinging to a very shaky 8 point lead.
4th QUARTER
Michaelides got Sandy off to a great start when he snapped a goal to bring the Zebra’s within one major of the lead. Port couldn’t shake the Zebra’s and at the 7 minute mark Matt Boland kicked a long goal to give Sandy the lead for the first time all day.
The Borough needed to dig deep and fight like they have not needed to all season.
Dean Galea helped his side respond by holding his nerve and nailing a goal from 40m out. It was the goal that lifted Port as the home team started to slowly get on top.
A crucial tackle by Malcolm Lynch in the middle of the ground eventually lead to a Chris Cain goal.
Port finally got some reward for all its hard work and possession after missing a number of shots on goal.
When Sam Dwyer marked and goaled from 45 out there was no way back for Sandy as Port peppered the goals and surged home. Dwyer took Port’s lead out to 24 points after taking a very courageous mark just before the siren.
Although not the Borough’s best performance of the year, it was able to respond when it mattered by having 10 scoring shots in the last quarter and running out the match strongly.
Port’s next game is away against Frankston on Sunday August the 8th. Be there to see if Port can claim its 15th win and lock in the minor premiership.
Go The Mighty Borough!
Port Melbourne 5.5 7.6 9.10 13.16 (94)
Sandringham 1.1 4.4 8.8 10.10 (70)
GOALS:
Port Melbourne: Galea 4 Pitt 2 Dwyer 2 Sinclair 2 Cain Valenti McGrath
Sandringham: Boland 5 Michaliades 2 Curren Lourey Archer
BEST:
Port Melbourne: McGrath Dwyer Valenti McMahon Galea Cain
Sandringham: McQualter Boland Blake Marigliani Baker Gardiner
Last Modified on 02/08/2011 06:08