Cairns Saints have retained third spot on the AFL Cairns ladder after winning a spiteful encounter against the Manunda Hawks by 34 points at Cazalys last night.
The umpires went for their cards twice during the game, first giving Saints’ half-forward Mark Kennedy a yellow in the second quarter before showing Hawks’ forward Jamie Scrymgour a red in the last term for striking.
While the points were shared in the push-and-shove stakes, when it came down to the business of football it was Saints controlling three-quarters of the match to win 17.17 (119) to 13.7 (85).
The reigning premiers started brilliantly, shooting to a 22-point lead at the first change.
Rain began falling in the second quarter but Hawks played better as the weather grew worse.
The likes of Lukas Ehlich and Willie Alick started to gather possessions and Hawks reaped the benefits on the scoreboard, outscoring Saints eight goals to two in the second quarter.
But that was about as good as it got for Hawks, who were thoroughly outclassed when play restarted.
When he returned to the field 10 minutes into the third term, Kennedy made up for his absence by kicking two goals in quick succession to swing momentum permanently back in Saints’ favour.
Last Modified on 01/11/2010 11:27