A near full strength Northern Knights recorded an impressive 104 point win over the Dandenong at Shepley Oval, Dandenong on Saturday. This was the Knights second 100 point win of the season, with the other coming against the same opposition in Round 1.
The pace was set early by the Knights with a blistering nine goal first quarter, including four from full forward Tim Bongetti. There was plenty of run through the midfield for the Knights with David Zaharakis, Trent Cotchin and Patrick Veszpremi all moving dynamically. Zaharakis was running particularly hard and led the team in handball receives in the first term.
The onslaught continued in the second quarter with the Knights piling on another eight goals to hold a massive 76 point lead at the main break. Highly touted ruckman Matt Kreuzer was playing up forward quite a lot and had kicked four goals by half time. Despite Bongetti and Kreuzer combining for eight goals, the Knights still had nine different goal kickers in the first half. Jake Spiteri was putting his incredible endurance on display by leading up the ground where he'd taken nine marks, while creating space in the forward line for other options.
Kreuzer and Bongetti continued to add to their tally in the third quarter, but unselfish play by Bongetti saw him creating many goals for team mates rather than looking to score himself. Veszpremi chipped in for two goals to take his tally to four for the day, but the highlight of the quarter was a fantastic goal from the pocket by Michael Brunelli after combining with Brett Meredith. The Stingrays showed more resistance in the third by kicking five straight, but the Knights still won the quarter by two goals.
With the game well and truly out of reach, the only question was whether or not the Knights could break the 100 point margin barrier, which they did despite an inaccurate final quarter. Cotchin moved forward and continued to give the Stingrays headaches by kicking three for the term and almost hanging onto a classic 'speccie' from a pack situation.
The class of the Knights was well and truly on display in this game with a wealth of contributors across the ground. Michael Hurley was outstanding in the back line and is continuing his All-Australian form from the U/18 National Championships. On a number of occasions he would take a strong pack mark or get an authoritative fist on the ball to make the spoil. Coach Paul Satterley was glowing in his endorsement of Hurley's game, "Hurley was a rock in defence for us today. His attack on the footy was magnificent."
Spiteri and Bongetti worked hard all day and often sacrificed their own game for the betterment of the team. "Their hard work allowed others to play their role. What they were doing by moving up the ground was opening up the space for our other forward line targets, so it was a sacrifice they made.
Then there was Zaharakis who probably played his best game for the club. He had a high amount of handball receives, which shows that he's willing to run. His use of the ball was much better today so hopefully that will give him a confidence boost."
Satterley was quick to play down the Round 1 game between the same two teams, which saw the Knights also win by over 100 points. "Round 1 we forget about coming into a game like this. We rated them coming into this game. They've given some top teams a real shake this season and we came switched on.
Our percentage needed a boost, but we certainly didn't anticipate this coming into the game. We're happy with the contributions from everyone across the ground.
"Lately we've had five or six changes week in, week out but we're now able to settle on our side coming into the finals (with private school commitments finished for the year)."
Northern Knights 28.21.189 def. Dandenong Stingrays 13.7.85
Goals: Kreuzer 6, Bongetti 5, Veszpremi 4, Cotchin 4, Totino 2, N.Kelly 2, Power, Hurley, Merkel, Brunelli, Stanton
Best: Kreuzer, Cotchin, Hurley, Zaharakis, Spiteri, Meredith
Last Modified on 30/03/2008 18:16