By Ben Pollard
When things are going wrong on the football field, it’s good to know how to fix them.
Sandringham claimed a second straight victory against Eastern Ranges on Sunday, but it wasn’t without a few nervous moments.
After leading by 21 points at half time in slippery conditions at Visy Park, the Dragons let their opponents back in with a poor third quarter.
Call it a drop in work rate, intensity, whatever; the lead was whittled down to three measly points at the last break.
But that’s when Sandringham’s collective maturity kicked in, according to Head Coach Justin Plapp.
“They understood they had dropped their intensity and it was a real credit to them, because they did keep their cool and composure in the last quarter,” he said.
“They were patient and they didn’t panic. From that point of view, I thought it was a pretty mature, grinding sort of win.”
Plapp said the coaching staff had done a lot of work with the playing group on taking responsibility and then taking control when situations become challenging.
After those nervous moments, the education appeared to pay off, with the Dragons seizing back the authority in the last term to run away 21-point winners.
With Josh Kelly, Christian Salem, Elliot Le Grice and Charlie Kelso absent after playing for the AIS-AFL Academy at the MCG on Thursday night, opportunities presented themselves for some bottom-age Dragons.
Plapp said youngsters such as three-goal hero Tom Wilkinson and ruckman Sean McLaren stepped up against the Ranges.
“Tom played as a smaller, lead-up-type forward. He was pretty strong in the air and for a bottom-age kid to come in and do what he did, we were pretty happy with his efforts,” Plapp said.
“Sean rucked really well too, pushed forward and kicked a goal.”
Among the best were Lachie Howes, who effectively negated the Ranges’ key forwards, Zach Merrett in his high half-forward role and Nathan Freeman for his explosive work forward of centre.
“Nathan was again really good through the midfield with his leg speed, his run and his ability to link up through the middle of the ground and give us some real drive – I think he ended up having 12 or 13 inside 50s,” Plapp said.
Sandringham will now be bolstered by the return of the AIS-AFL Academy representatives for their match against the Northern Knights on Sunday.
The Knights lost to the Western Jets on the weekend, but Plapp said the Dragons shouldn’t feel too confident, even though they defeated the Jets in Round 1.
Another factor keeping confidence in check is the generally windy conditions at Craigieburn’s Highgate Reserve, with Plapp forecasting a scrappy affair.
But he also said the trip away from Visy Park had its positives.
“It’s definitely a lot bigger ground than what Visy is. We rely a fair bit on our kicking and using our leg speed, so it should suit the way we want to play footy.”
Sandringham Dragons 2.4 5.5 6.7 10.10 (70)
Eastern Ranges 1.2 2.2 6.4 7.7 (49)
Goalkickers: T.Wilkinson 3, N.Freeman 2, S.McLaren, A.Spencer, C.Cathcart, M.Neiwand, T.Langdon
Best: L.Howes, T.Wilkinson, N.Freeman, K.Amon, M.Hooy, M.Neiwand
Last Modified on 03/04/2013 10:16