Sandringham remains unbeaten with an exceptional 35-point away win against the North Ballarat Roosters at Eureka Stadium.
An eight goal to one second quarter set up the victory to give the Zebras their second win of the season, as Nick Ciantar reports.
The Zebras trailed by four points at the first break and senior coach Simon McPhee told his charges to attack and be effective with the football. That’s what they immediately did in the second term when Arryn Siposs snapped a goal within the first minute to give the Zebras back the lead.
“We didn’t come out of the blocks very well and there was a little bit said at the quarter time break,” said Sandringham Assistant Coach Brendan Allen. “It put the boys in line a little bit and it was shown in the second quarter.”
Forward pressure, tackling and attacking the ball harder were the key factors of the second term that saw Sandringham kick six straight goals. Maverick Weller (33 disposals, 7 marks, 3 goals) continued his impressive start to the season in his new colours by winning his defensive midfield job on Roosters ball-winner Liam Anthony. Weller was the best on ground and had 14 disposals in the Zebras’ impressive second quarter.
“Mav Weller was doing the job on Anthony and he has managed to tag Anthony out of the game. That was a fantastic effort,” said Allen.
Weller was well supported by Adam Cockie (24 disposals) and Shane Savage (27 disposals). Both players asserted their dominance on the game by attacking the ball head-on.
“Adam [Cockie] was sat on by Matt Austin but he managed to … break through it,” said Allen.
Yllber Zijai (18 disposals, 6 tackles, 2 goals) and James Munro (18 disposals, 5 tackles) both had an impact on the wings but the game was influenced by Sandringham forward and ruckman, Billy Longer.
Longer (15 disposals) out-rucked young American Eric Wallace (9 disposals), which enabled Sandringham quick and effective access into the forward line.
“We started to dictate around stoppages and I think we were plus 11 for the [second] quarter. We were getting first hands with Jason Holmes and Billy Longer who were fantastic all day.”
The Zebras were unfazed hitting their forward targets, compared to when North Ballarat went forward, the Zebras defenders zoned well and cut off the ball.
Cameron Shenton (19 disposals, 8 marks), Peter Shakallis (17 disposals, 6 tackles) and Dylan Roberton (19 disposals, 5 marks) used their pace and positioned well.
St Kilda defender Sam Fisher played his first game in over ten months and kept Michael Searl to two goals. His first kick of the game came off the side of the foot, but other than that blemish he did not miss a beat in his usual centre halfback position.
The Roosters fought back in the third term and were 19 points down at the last break. North Ballarat was harder at the ball in the third quarter and midfielder Nick Peters (22 disposals, 2 goals) lifted his charges for a big final term.
But Weller had other thoughts when he kicked a goal for Sandringham in the first 50 seconds of the last quarter. The Zebras again lifted their intensity and Sandringham finished with late goals to win comfortably.
Roosters’ midfielder Nick Rippon (21 disposals, 3 goals) tried hard all afternoon while state player Lachie George (6 disposals) was well held by Shakallis. The Roosters were out-beaten in contested possessions and were not effective when moving the ball into their forward half.
Sandringham travels to Casey Fields Sunday to play the Casey Scorpions at 2pm, while North Ballarat travel down to Simonds Stadium to meet Geelong at 12pm on Sunday.
Photo: Dave Savell
Last Modified on 21/04/2014 18:51