THE Casterton Sandford Reserves were up against the odds meeting West Gambier at West Gambier in the First Semi Final, but Coach Joe McArlein and his men were not looking for excuses - they travelled to Malseed Park with the intent to win.

The Cats were on the attack early, Pat Milich leaping high in the ruck giving his mids first use of the ball, Jesse Walker Gould, Casey Jones and Ranea King used their pace to keep the ball going forward and Michael Jarrad and Jarrad Smith were presenting to every contest across the half forward line.

West Gambier’s defence though was holding strong and the Cats were finding it difficult to get through.

The quarter was over halfway gone and the Cats’ Cale Zippel was the only one to have registered a score - a behind - but the Cats were persistent.

King saw Kane Forbes had a few metres on his opponent and put a handball out in front of Forbes who gathered the ball - one-handed from off the ground - and with his free hand pushed an opponent away from himself.

Once clear of the fallen Roo, Forbes was able to punt the ball-lace out to Matthew Kurzman who marked and goaled.

The flood gates then looked to open for the Cats as they took the ball from the next centre ball up and got it to Jarrad Smith, who kicked to the leading Zippel who almost took the mark but for his West opponent to rip his head off.

The ball was rewarded to Cale for too high and with a shake of his head, Zippel kicked the Cats’ second in less than a minute.

The Cats continued to push hard to every contest, Cory Wombwell and the Carlin brothers, Dillan and Hamish, making every loose ball their own.

Casterton-Sandford’s third goal again saw Smith and Zippel combine with Cale taking a clean mark and kicking truly.

The quarter was coming to a close when a reversed free kick and subsequent 50-metre penalty was awarded to the Roos and West were gifted their first goal of the game, Casterton Sandford going into the first break with a two-goal lead.

Quarter-time: West Gambier 1.1.7 to Casterton Sandford 3.1.19.

The second quarter saw a real tug of war occur as neither team was willing to give an inch.

Rhys Jolly, Jason Scott and Jackson Fitzgerald were giving their all to break the West Gambier lines and move the ball forward, the Cats were able to capitalise on these efforts when Jarrad Smith, in heavy traffic, was able to snap the Cats’ fourth goal.

The Cats had a few highlights but Milich’s high marking was a stand out in this quarter.

Casterton Sandford continued to move the ball well from the backline, Bevan Wombwell and Fletcher Bright showing silky smooth skills to negotiate the Sherrin passed the Roos, but the Cats were seeing more of the ball come back at them.

West peppered the high uprights and after many attempts, was able to score a goal.

The West Gambier scoreboard attendent was doing his best to deflate the confidence of the Cats, putting a few extra scores on the board in the lead up to half-time to show the Roos in front, but the goal umps were having none of that and had the scores corrected to show the Cats up by nine points.

Half-time:  West Gambier 2.5.17 to Casterton Sandford 4.2.26.

West Gambier was the stronger out of the gates after the long break, Hamish Carlin took a strong, contested mark against three opponents on the goal line but his good work to clear the ball was rudely undone a minute later when West kicked its third goal.

Dillan Carlin, Jackson Fitzgerald and Coach McArlein were wearing the leather off the top of their boots getting kicks going forward and their efforts were rewarded when Walker-Gould snapped through the Cats’ fifth goal.

The ball continued to be shared evenly by the combatants across the middle of the ground, the Cats gaining some advantage in the air as Milich, Scott and Thomas Searle took telling marks and thumped the ball forward.

Matthew Kurzman was the next Cat to goal; Kurzman has been a focal point up forward this year after his return from North and his work this year with the Under 14s has been greatly appreciated.

The Roos continued to keep themselves in the game by taking advantage of the Cats having a quick rest, scoring their fourth goal with two minutes left on the clock.

The Cats then returned the favour by pouncing quickly on West’s celebrations by clearing the ball down to one of the best small forwards in the game - Pete Hutchins - who loves a goal and slotted through the Cats’ seventh goal, giving Casterton Sandford a 13-point lead going into the last quarter.

Three-quarter time:  West Gambier 4.7.31 to Casterton-Sandford 7.3.44.

Coach McArlein implored his team to keep up the commitment for the ball and to show the willingness that had got them into the finals.

A home preliminary final awaited the Cats’ Reserves - the crowd at West was awash in the Casterton Sandford colours, imagine what it would be like to play in front of an Island Park crowd in such a big final, the hairs would be standing up and you'd be another foot taller.

Unfortunately, the Cats may have been thinking too far ahead as West swooped in the last quarter and the Cats made numerous mistakes and fell less than a goal short of progressing to the next stage.

A disappointing end for the Reserves but they have come a long way since last season and Coach McArlein and his team should still be very proud of their efforts.

Final scores:  West Gambier 7.8.50 to Casterton Sandford 7.3.45.

Better players: Dillan Carlin, Michael Jarrad, Hamish Carlin, Jesse Walker-Gould, Bevan Wombwell and Jason Scott.

Thank you to all the Cats fans for supporting the club this season.

Thank-you also to Kristy McDonald, the Casterton News and the Hamilton Spectator for giving our club the chance to get a report out to the Cat Fans; not every club has the ability to get their story out every week and we appreciate the Spectator Group for allowing us this opportunity.

Big things are coming for next season so get practising for 2023 and give our opponents a show of support like they've never heard before, as a thousand Cat Fans descend upon them and yell CARN CATS!

Under 16

COMING off a solid win over East in the final round of the home-and-away season and finishing level with Millicent on the WBFL ladder, the Under 16 Cats should have been confident of putting up a good fight against the Saints in Saturday’s first semi-final.

Unfortunately, the odds don’t always match the outcome and the Saints came out all-guns blazing, keeping the Cats scoreless in the first and third quarters and limiting opportunities in the rest of the game, while hitting their forward line, time and again.

To the Cats’ credit, they fought tirelessly for the four quarters, a mix of heavy pressure from the backline and poor kicking by the Saints seeing Millicent capitalising on only half of their scoring opportunities.