It was a case of the one that got away for the Northern Knights against the Sandringham Dragons. After a good first half the Knights conceded eight goals in the third quarter and only added three of their own as the Dragons walked away with a 20 point win.
With the aid of the breeze Northern kicked four goals in the first term to jump out to a 19 point lead. Unfortunately key forward Tom Hill received a head injury and looked to be out for the day.
The salivating match-up of Knights’ Michael Hurley playing on Dragons’ Jack Watts lasted only until quarter time, with Watts
being moved up the ground in the second term. Brent Wallace extended the Knights lead early in the quarter, however that was the only Knights goal. Significantly the Dragons only added two more so there were plenty of positives, including a 12 point lead to be taken out of the first half.
David Zaharakis was enhancing his reputation winning possessions both inside and outside, while Hurley and Josh Griffiths were also impressing.
The third quarter saw Sandringham
take full control of the game by scoring eight goals. They opened with the first three before the Knights looked to have steadied the ship with a goal to Michael Still and then a pair to Pece Micevski.
Micevski was making his inspirational comeback after spending more than 12 months on the sidelines due to a knee reconstruction. His goals appeared to lift the team at the time, however Sandringham
responded very well by scoring five in a row.
The Dragons continued this momentum into the final quarter by adding the first two goals, but the Knights weren’t done with yet. Michael Still provided a huge spark up forward and kicked two quick goals shortly after Matthew Dornauf and Lucas Hobbs had scored for the Knights. Remarkably Hill came back on in the last quarter and had a positive impact up forward too.
Still had an opportunity to kick a third consecutive goal to bring the margin back to three points, but his set shot pushed wide. A piece of individual brilliance from Sandrigham’s Matthew Suckling gave them a bit of a buffer before Tom Lynch sealed the deal with a late goal.
Sandringham Dragons 15.8.98 def. Northern Knights 12.6.78
Goals: Still 3, Dornauf 2, Micevski 2, Grgic, Walsh, Wallace, Zaharakis, Hobbs
Best: Zaharakis, Still, Hurley, Griffiths, Hobbs, Boyden
Last Modified on 18/08/2008 17:25