Sandringham Reserves travelled to Williamstown on Saturday for what is always a difficult game and this was no exception as the two teams from different ends of the bay did battle.
Those chilly winds that always seem to blow off Hobson's Bay across Point Gellibrand were ever present and for most of the game the Seagulls showed the benefit of local knowledge in the difficult conditions. In the end however, it was the visitors who prevailed after hectic final ten minutes saw them home with the breeze as they turned a three goal deficit to lead by as much as 15 points and ultimately win by nine.
Williamstown got the jump in the opening term when the wind was at its strongest, blowing straight down the ground to the northern end. The Zebra defence was under pressure as the Seagulls moved the ball swiftly into attack and, but for some inaccuracy in front of goal and some solid defensive work by Ryan Ferguson and Andy Biddlecombe, the deficit would have been even greater at the first break. As it was, Sandringham struggled kicking into the teeth of the strong breeze and failed to trouble the scorer.
Williamstown flooded its defence in the second quarter and made scoring a difficult task until the Zebras notched their first for the day, five minutes into the term. However, it was now Sandringham's turn to find kicking goals difficult until Brock McLean stepped in with a long kick that never veered from the centre of the goals. At half time Willy held the ascendency by 13 points.
As it turned out, Sandringham probably won the game in the third term when it outscored the home side kicking into a slightly moderating wind. With Steven Ott rucking strongly and taking some telling marks, the Sandy midfield got on top gaining a lot of drive through Robbie Ferraro, Toby Conroy and McLean. The breakthrough came with full forward Dale Carson with a kick off the ground for the first goal of the day at the grandstand end. Two quick Williamstown goals steadied their ship but they remained under pressure and their sure ball handling of earlier in the game deserted them. Sandringham's small brigade led by Ari Lewski and Jason Ritterman were proving dangerous up forward but their kicking for goal deserted them. An angle shot from Lewski hit the post and then a mark and goal to Matt Warnock gave the Zebras heart as they went into the three quarter time huddle with plenty of reason to be confident.
Acting under instructions to kick long with the wind, Sandy went into action in the final quarter but couldn't convert. The home side kicked their first goal against the wind and it was suddenly goal for goal with the Zebras unable to put a dent into the Williamstown lead. After the home team kicked its third for the quarter at the 17-minute mark and near miss after a long run a minute later could have put them almost four goals ahead. Sandringham was running out of time.
Colin Sylvia who was being tightly checked took a strong mark and goaled, followed by another to Andy Treloar after a long kick cleared the pack. Suddenly, it was just 5 points the difference and the Zebras were attacking strongly. A free for deliberate out of bounds saw Dale Carson kick a great goal from deep in the pocket and the Zebras were in front. Biddlecombe drifted forward for another and Sylvia put the icing on the cake with his second goal.
Sandringham 0.0.0 2.7.19 4.11.35 11.15.81
Williamstown 4.6.30 4.8.32 6.10.46 10.12.72
Goals: Carson Johnson Treloar Sylvia 2 Biddlecombe McLean Warnock
Best McLean Biddlecombe Molan Ritterman Ferraro Ott Conroy Ferguson
Last Modified on 18/02/2008 10:05