WBFL - Seniors
THE well-oiled Casterton Sandford machine of round one appeared to skip quite a few cogs at the weekend, but coach Kane Forbes is confident his Cats have the goods to match the competition, this season.
Taking on 2021 premier, Millicent, was always going to be a tough ask but after a solid win over the West Gambier Roos last week – their first victory in more than two years - the Cats entered the contest on a positive note.
Billy Galpin opened the Cats’ account early, a handy snap at goal putting the home side first on the scoreboard, but a succession of successful Millicent runs forward had the Saints well on top at the first break and the Cats unable to recover.
The final, 78-point deficit at the final siren was only tempered by the Cats’ extensive pressure on the last line of defence and poor kicking by the Saints, which saw them convert just 15 of their 40 attempts at goal, while the Cats managed seven goals from their 12.
“It could have been worse, we’re not really happy with how the process went from our point of view, but we knew they were going to be a well-drilled side and be a really big challenge for us,” Forbes said, post-match.
“There’s a few things we can fix that we know we didn’t get right and we’ll look at that over the East break.
“We had a little bit of uncertainty about the side moving into this week, our preparation wasn’t ideal and that’s potentially played a factor as well; when two of three of your starting midfielders don’t play, that doesn’t help.
“Hopefully you’ll all be fit and firing after the easter break.”
He said recruiting, preparation and planning had all contributed to the performance played out in last week’s win against West and was confident that standard would be replicated, in future matches.
“There’s a few contributing factors to our better look this year,” Forbes said.
“We were able to start pre-season in November, compared to February the year before and we’ve got a few new faces in the side.
“You look at the game plan, how we want to move the footy and defence as well, I think now we’ve got a game style and a side that can stack up against the best and hopefully we can win enough games to make finals.
“We’ve got a really good belief that we’re on the right path for success, this year.”
The Cats will take on light training runs over the Easter break, before heading to McDonald Park to take on East Gambier, on 23 April.
Junior Cats reaping rewards of dedication
WBFL - Juniors
THE young Cats’ perseverance with their game despite a couple of rough seasons is paying off, with the Under 14s sitting solidly on top of the Western Border ladder.
Their first win came against West by 15 points and then in round two at the weekend, the Cats took out a convincing win over a Covid-depleted Millicent team, thumping them by 84 points.
On a perfect morning for footy, the boys came out of the rooms pumped and feeling confident after their first-round win and kicked four goals and four points in the first quarter, while the opposition could hardly manage to get the ball in their forward 50.
Sam Patton was dominating the ruck and the Cats’ midfielders moved the ball into attack with ease.
At the quarter-time huddle, fill-in coach Billy Galpin encouraged the boys to keep the pressure up and continue the intensity shown so far by all players.
By half time the scoreline was 6.5.41 to Millicent 0.1.1.
This was the only point Millicent scored for the day.
The second half followed much the same storyline, with Casterton/Sandford dominating absolutely every area of the field.
The Cats managed to pile on another seven goals in the second half, to make the final score Cats 13.7.85 Millicent 0.1.1.
Voucher winners: Entwined - Jett Lykke, Tim Gibbs Fencing - Reghan Parsons, Main on Henty - Alex Hill, Herberts Bakery - Jack Rhook, Coaches Award - Rupert Dorahy.
Well done to all players on a great team effort where everyone contributed on the day - enjoy the Easter break!
The Under 16 side was given an additional week off, with Millicent unable to field a side, due to Covid-19 cases.
