A committed Sandy side came out full of running and it gained the early initiative through Shane Valenti and Peter Summers in the middle while, up forward, Michael Newton was in good touch early with a couple of goals to herald an exciting performance from the 20 year old forward. David Gallagher was in everything and the defence stood solid with its usual firmness. The home side led by 25 points at the first break.
The Scorpions worked hard in the second quarter and thanks to some early successful forays forward they managed to stay in touch with their hosts. Sandy was inaccurate in front of goal and this allowed the visitors to narrow the deficit down to just 19 points at the main break.
Zebra skipper Chad Liddell was booked during the second term for allegedly tripping Shane Birss but from my vantage point, it appeared to be more a well-timed smother than anything else. The report put a temporary dampener on things but Sandy continued to display its dominance in the second half with a multifaceted attack that simply blew Casey off the park.
Sandringham finished the game with almost twice the number of entries inside the fifty metre arc as its opponent with Newton booting six majors, Ezra Poyas (making a welcome return to form after injury) ending with five and leading goalkicker Nick Sautner finishing on four. Danny Hughes would have joined them but for the fact that he sprayed the ball everywhere and finished with 1 goal 4 behinds.
Of course, the massive input of the goalkicking forwards would have been impossible without the magnificent contribution of Gallagher and Valenti, both of whom are having stellar seasons. Valenti simply grows in stature every week and if he continues in this vein, higher honours await him.
In the ruck duels, the young pair of Shane Neaves and Stefan Martin shaded their more experienced VFL opponents and gave their on ballers first use of the football.
Sandringham's defence has been a strong point right throughout the Mark Williams coaching era and this week was no exception. Ryan Ferguson in particular was in rare form taking two screamers and covering a lot of ground at half back. He had plenty of assistance from the likes of Chris Lamb, Matthew Warnock and Andy Biddlecombe who were impressive as always while Simon Buckley continues to show improved skills, dash and greater maturity.
Coach Mark Williams would have been very pleased with the way in which his team responded to his three quarter time request to "try to break the game open and work hard." They certainly did that and more finishing the game full off running with nine goals to one in the final term. The team responded to the call so well that the coach was afforded the luxury of taking off two key forwards in Newton and Sautner during the final term and the goals still kept on coming.
The Zebras performance came despite a string of injuries to its AFL aligned partner in Melbourne and augers well for the team's quest for four flags in a row. For the time being however, that thought is being kept out of the players' minds as they face a tough challenge next Sunday against beachside neighbour Frankston at the Frankston City Oval. The Dolphins are improving by the week and will be out to repeat their 2006 performance when they gave the Zebras a drubbing at the same venue just two weeks out from the finals.
ODDSPOT: Although Sandringham leads the competition, it is not the only undefeated team. Williamstown, which had the bye this weekend, has won only once, but drew its two other matches, meaning that the Seagulls also remain undefeated in 2007.
Sandringham:6.3.39 - 8.10.58 - 12.14.86 - 21.18.144
Casey Scorpions:2.2.14 - 6.3.39 - 9.5.59 - 10.5.65
Goals
Sandringham: Newton 6 Poyas 5 Sautner 4 Ferguson 2 Buckley Crowe Liddell Valenti
Casey Scorpions: Sweeney 3 Rix Silvagni 2 Birss Harrison Jones
Best
Sandringham: Gallagher Valenti Newton Warnock Ferguson Poyas
Casey Scorpions: Rix O'Bryan Gwilt Taylor Eddy Harrison
Report:
Chad Liddell (Sandringham) for tripping Shane Birss (Casey Scorpions) in the second quarter.
SEEING DOUBLE
The final result of the Sandringham Reserves game against Casey Scorpions was almost identical to that of the seniors as the young Zebras found touch and ran away in the final term to score an imposing 82-point victory.
Former Sandringham Dragons player Rennie Gilchrist continued his impressive early form and along with Daniel Gribbin, was a standout. Tom Paterakis was his usual steady self and Tom Paule also stood out with his terrier like play.
The win sees the Zebra reserves holing on to fifth spot on the ladder with two wins and two defeats at this early stage of the season.
Sandringham: 4.5.29 - 10.8.68 - 15.11.101 - 21.19.145
Casey Scorpions: 2.6.18 - 6.7.43 - 8.11.59 - 8.15.63
Goals
Sandringham: Collyer Gileno Mentiplay Gilchrist 3 Curcio Martyn Monaghan 2 Dean Paterakis Paule
Casey Scorpions: Brown 4 Wood Waite Geary Lees
Goals
Sandringham: Gilchrist Gribbin Paterakis Paule Collyer Neville
Casey: Scorpions Lentini Geary Brown McGrath Scalzo Howard
