WBFL - Seniors

A LARGE crowd of supporters from both clubs were able to enjoy the Autumn sunshine in Millicent, on what had been billed as a lop-sided contest in the favour of the Saints, Millicent having delivered a 68-point shellacking of Casterton Sandford Seniors in the round two match.

Coach Forbes and his team had learned much from that game and were ready to reverse the result, Sully Gibbs was in for his first senior game and was joined by his Under 16 team-mate Sam Craig, giving the team some youthful enthusiasm and extra speed to counter the Saints.

Within the first minute of the game the die was cast as Matt Killey was taken in the back – ball-up, Zac Nash was taken high – ball-up and then Billy Galpin tackles a Millicent player and it’s a free kick to Millicent.

The Cats fought hard against the odds, Gibbs getting a few kicks early, Diarmid Cleary, Dylan Ayton and Hamish McCrae also racking up the possessions and Justin Carlin and Billy Galpin making every contest.

Unfortunately the goals weren't coming, Galpin and Ed Pritchard put behinds on the board, kicking from long range, as the Millicent defenders tied up the Cats’ forwards.

Millicent was the first to get a major score through Jacob Carger; 11 minutes had elapsed.

The Cats surged forward from the next bounce, Jack Thompson taking the ruck duties and the ball was sent to the leading McCrae, who was pushed in the back by his opponent.

Millicent was paid the mark and quickly sent it out of the Cats’ forward 50.

Thomas Foster had been solid in defence, punching and running the ball away and again he cleared the ball out with help from Ayton and Thompson.

The Cats had the majority of the ball but couldn't get close enough to kick goals.

Millicent, on the other hand, made the most of their limited opportunities, kicking their second goal after a free and 50-metre penalty was paid at the 18-minute mark.

The Cats went forward from the next ball-up, a behind to Carlin the result, but the Cats kept attacking and Carlin was again involved, sending the ball in Chas Jarrad’s direction.

Jarrad’s opponent took possession of the ball, but Chas took hold of the Saints player and the tackle was rewarded.

Jarrad went back and calmly kicked the Cats’ first goal for the day from 30 metres.

Millicent was able to get another goal with a minute left in the quarter, Carger setting up his team-mate in Reilly who gave the Saints a 10-point lead at quarter-time.

Quarter-time: Millicent 3.1.19, Casterton-Sandford 1.3.9.

The second quarter saw the Cats falling foul of the umps and the Saints were able to move forward from the first ball up.

The Cats were able to hold the advance up and clear the ball through good work by Fletcher Bright and Adam McKinnon up the change room wing.

Ayton, Foster, Carlin and Pritchard continued to block any Saints advances but the Cats, missing Dylan Ryan and Rick Killey, couldn't find a way home.

Millicent was able to find some space as the quarter went on; Carger was able to kick his second and third goals and Millicent as a team kicked away as the Cats’ frustrations got the better of them after many interesting decisions.

Millicent went into the rooms at half-time with a 31-point lead.

Half-time: Millicent 6.6.42, Casterton-Sandford 1.5.11.

The third quarter was a very tight tussle, Jason Scott and Nick Schembri pushed hard against the Millicent forwards, clearing the ball to the Cats’ advantage, while Damian Wombwell, Gabe Parsons and Sam Craig ran the ball up the line with pace.

The to-ing and fro-ing of the ball made me understand the Sydney term for our game - aerial ping pong - but after 18 minutes it was the Cats who broke through when McKinnon passed to McCrae on the lead and the big Cat kicked truly.

Casterton Sandford continued to keep the ball in their half for the majority of the quarter, barring a couple of Millicent forays thanks to some free kicks.

Hamish McCrae continued to be dominant around the middle and late in the quarter he burst through the pack of Saints to deliver the Sherrin, lace-out, to Thompson who, in turn, passed perfectly to the leading Matt Killey - mark and goal.

The Cats trailed the Saints by 22 points at three-quarter-time and were looking to get on a roll.

Three-quarter-time: Millicent 7.6.48, Casterton-Sandford 3.8.26.

The last quarter saw Casterton Sandford defending early and successfully as Cleary, Nash and McKinnon cleared and followed up, getting the ball to the likes of Pritchard, Galpin and Carlin to push hard through the middle.

The Cats were rewarded for their hard work when Galpin passed to Carlin, who marked and goaled five minutes into the quarter.

Jack Thompson had worked tirelessly all game but had to head to the bench half-way through the quarter and took no further part in the game.

The Saints got forward a few times but could only get the one minor score, as the Cats’ backline held strong, clearing the ball time and again.

One of these times saw Jason Scott go on an extended run and send the ball long to the lead of Billy Galpin who marked and goaled; the Cats were now within two goals of the Saints with maybe six or seven minutes of play left.

Schembri and Pritchard combined to get the ball into the Cats’ forward line where Matt Killey took the mark.

Killey was almost 50 metres out when he went back for his kick but a breeze came up and pushed the ball to the right; a behind was registered.

The Cats kept the Sherrin in their half, Carlin, Wombwell and Cleary beating their opponents to contests.

President Ayton was in and under every pack and he was able to dish the ball out to Galpin, who was unceremoniously taken high and rewarded a free kick.

Billy loves a goal and he went bang - the Cats had their sixth goal and were now only three points behind.

Millicent went forward from the next ball up, they got a behind and slowed the play up; the Cats however didn't help matters as they also decided to slow things up with short chip passes and going sideways and the scoreboard was not troubled in the remaining three minutes - Millicent victors by four points.

Casterton-Sandford put up a valiant effort against the equal-top team in the competition and with a few more tweaks will be able to beat the Saints and any other team they come up against.

I pity East Gambier this week, as the Cats are roaring and looking for a win at home. Kane Forbes and his men are proud, so get to Island Park and cheer on your Cats.

WBFL - Reserves

BELIEVE it or not, as some of you may be aware I have a few famous contacts and on Saturday I got a phone call from John Farnham.

Now Johnny is one of Australia’s greatest ever singers but is also a big Cats fan and he heard that Darren Murrell was making another comeback.

I let him know that the rumour was true - Johnny was incredulous, he couldn't believe that the big fella was out of retirement again but was happy that people might leave him alone now for all the comeback tours he had done.

Reserves coach, Joey McArlein, was also able to add former Cat, Matt Thurkle, to the team along with talented pair Kaden Talay and Jimmy Boulton; all would be needed for the Cats to beat top-of-the-table Millicent.

The first quarter saw the Cats’ backline working overtime, led by their General, Bevan Wombwell.

Bevan did not give his opponent an inch, Jarvis Parsons made sure his team-mates all knew what was going on with good use of the voice.

Thomas Searle and Sid Herbert moved the ball well out of defence and Connor Hill and Ben Holmes were solid, hitting the packs hard.

Millicent was able to get a goal on the board, but it was soon nullified when Talay sent the ball forward to Dillan Carlin, who kicked truly.

The Cats were also finding it difficult to score despite the best efforts of Ranea King, Hayden Smith and Jimmy Boulton; a two-point lead to the saints at quarter time.

Quarter time: Millicent 1.2.8, Casterton Sandford 1.0.6.

Millicent had not won a ruck tap as Nathan Faroe and Murrell dominated in the air, but the Saints’ mids countered their lack of a good ruckman by reading the Cats’ rucks a little better at the first bounce of the quarter and quickly moved the ball forward for a goal.

The Strathdownie Flash, Chris McKinnon, fresh from winning a swag of medals at the Masters games in Perth, was showing a little too much athleticism for a less-fit Saint opponent, who decided to take Chris' head off.

Chris was rewarded the free, shook his head and smiled and started a good forward offence from the half back line that went almost all the way to the goal line, but with no luck.

The Cats kept pushing though and were rewarded when some good work up the ground by Jackson Fitzgerald, Boulton and Hayden Smith saw the ball get to Corey Wombwell who kicked straight through the big sticks.

The latter part of the quarter was dominated by the Saints, despite the best efforts of Thurkle, Searle and Rhys Jolly.

Half-time:  Millicent 6.4.40, Casterton-Sandford 2.1.13.

The Cats continued to apply the pressure around the ground, denying Millicent clean use of the ball.

A slick pick-up by Darren Murrell off the back flank saw the Cats move the ball up the wing and end with the running Jimmy Boulton, who goaled.

Thomas Searle continued to find space and give himself time to clear the ball, Chris McKinnon was tackling like a rabid wolverine and Cale Zippel was busting packs and forcing the loose ball, all Cats were doing their best for their mates and holding the Saints to just the one goal for the quarter.

Three-quarter time: Millicent 7.6.48, Casterton-Sandford 3.3.21.

The Reserves continued to hold the Saints at bay as best they could, Jarrad Smith moved the ball with precision, but the Cats couldn't get the Sherrin over the goal line.

Millicent showed why they were on top of the ladder and made good use of the limited opportunities they fought so hard for, running out winners by 53 points in the end.

Final scores: Millicent 11.8.74 defeated Casterton-Sandford 3.3.21.

This Saturday night after presentations and meals the social committee have planned a game show night based on Family Feud, so hang around and enjoy the show, it sounds like it will be a ripper.

WBFL – Under 14

MILLICENT Under 14s was in red hot form after knocking-off ladder leaders, South Gambier, last week and maybe it was the long trip over, but our kids looked half asleep heading out with a few stragglers turning up late and the day just didn’t start well for the Cats.

In round two we convincingly defeated a Covid-depleted Millicent, but as I said at the end of last week’s write-up, it was going to be a different story this time around and it’s always tough to win over there.

During the first quarter our team seemed a little timid with their first efforts at ground level and really didn’t get in and get their heads over the ball and control the footy in the way that we supporters have become accustomed to expecting from this group.

We failed to score at all in the first quarter while Millicent got 2.1.13.

The second quarter started well with Archie Lane tackling hard in the first centre bounce and being rewarded with a free-kick for opposition holding the ball.

Our intensity seemed to lift in this quarter, but still really struggled to get the ball down into our attacking 50 metres.

Nate Longhurst won the ball in an impressive four-v-one contest on the wing.

The tackles from our boys were coming hard and fast, but when we gained possession the pressure was great from Millicent and we just couldn’t seem to produce clear passages of play.

Finally, the ball made it down to our full forward target, Jaggar Geary and with a long kick we scored our first point with a couple minutes to play in the first half.

We did manage to hold up Millicent’s scoring this quarter though, with our half back line led by Rehgan Parsons, Blake Kurzman at centre half back doing a great job on Millicent’s key forward and Billy Rhook getting his hands on absolutely everything.

In a terribly low scoring quarter of scrappy footy, each team only managed a point.

Halftime score: Millicent 2.2.14, Casterton 0.1.1.

Coach Kurzman was happy at half time with our lifted intensity, but pleaded with the boys to hit up a team mate with the footy instead of just slamming it on the boot. 

The third quarter started well.

Rupert Dorahy put pressure on a Millicent opponent and forced a turnover, Alex Hill gathered and kicked the ball down to a contest where the little bulldozer Billy came flying through to win the ball, bust out of the pack and hit up his brother, Jedd, leading out towards the 50-metre line,

Jedd, just out of his kicking range, chipped a nice pass over to Connor Stephens who was in space closer to goal.

The Cats’ fans held their breath and though surely this is our first goal!

But no, unfortunately this kick went to the behind side of the big post.

We managed to keep the ball in our forward line for the first five minutes of this third quarter, but to Millicent’s defence’s credit, they continued to stop all our attempts.

Finally, half-way through this quarter in a fast break kind of situation a long kick to the goal square seen a hard-running, lightning-fast Archie ran into an open goal and score our one and only goal for the match.

Jack Rhook moved into the ruck to give Alex Hill a breather in the second half and he rarely missed a tap out and did a really good job in an unfamiliar situation for himself.

Our team badly missed Sam Patton who was sick this week and couldn’t play, not only for his ruck work but his big, tall frame linking up play and bringing the ball to ground in contests.

Our backline was under the pump all day and Kirby Vise, Kelem Blenkiron, Takudswe Makore, the last line of our defence worked overtime.

Kystal Collier was also missed in the backline after an ankle injury.

Riley Hutchins on the wing continually got to contests and Lachie Auld, Brody Pratt and Jett Lykke battled hard on the forward flanks, trying to make something happen for our team.

A highlight of the last quarter was when Rehgan ran down a Millicent kid in the centre of the ground about to deliver to a big leading forward.

It was typical of the gutsy efforts we see from Roo every week.

In the last quarter we did not manage to score at all and Millicent added another one goal, one point.

Making the score on the final siren Millicent 4.3.27 Cats 1.2.8.

As Coach Kurzman said after the game to the boys, we only probably played at 65 per cent of our capacity today and still only lost by 19 points, it was just one of those days where things didn’t go our way. 

We as a group love a challenge and Matt asked the kids to think about what they think they can improve personally before next week’s big game versus West Gambier, who we drew with when we last met.

It’s a very important game in the scheme of our season and at our home of Island Park it should be a fantastic contest so everyone get down there early and support the boys, hopefully the home crowd can help get the boys up and about and hit the ground running.