James Murphy
MILLICENT 15.16 (106) d SOUTH GAMBIER 7.10 (52)
MILLICENT has undisputedly placed itself as the team to beat in the inaugural Limestone Coast football A Grade competition.
The Saints bested second-placed South Gambier on Saturday with a solid 54-point win, relegating the Demons to third position in the process.
Last time the sides met it was a one-point game in favour of South, but this time Millicent led at every change to take a comfortable victory.
Both teams started evenly and the first quarter had plenty of opportunities at either end.
The Demons had six scoring shots, converting three, while Millicent scored four goals and a behind to be up by four points at the change.
The second term followed a similar script, with the Saints slowly extending the margin.
They added three majors to South’s two and at half time it was a nine point game.
Both teams remained well in the hunt but in the second half Millicent started to edge away to a more comfortable lead.
An inaccurate third quarter prevented the hosts from breaking it open earlier, with three goals from nine scoring shots.
The Demons answered with a goal and three behinds and trailed by 24 at the last change.
Some wayward kicking remained in the final stanza for the Saints, but the weight of supply into the forward line more than made up for it.
They bagged a game-high five goals, along with seven minor scores to run away with the win.
South could only muster a return of 1.1 for the quarter, leaving it to a 54-point loss.
There were no individual standouts in front of goal and despite the total of 22 majors scored the highest yield was two.
The Saints had five players achieve that feat, with Jaxon Cushion, Kobe Gibson, Hamish McRae, Harry Tunkin and Sam Willis all slotted two goals each, while for South it was Nelson Forbes and Brayden Kain who scored multiples.
Austin Fuller was the man of the match for Millicent, with his efforts rewarded with the best-on-ground honours.
Jacob Carger was also solid wherever he was put on the ground, defending well and also popping up with a goal.
Willis, Cushion and Tunkin made the list as well, as did Kalan Shanks for his defensive efforts.
Not for the first time this season, the Demons looked to Emerson Marks.
His performance through the midfield was judged best on ground, while Kain was also prolific and made plenty of impact up forward for South.
Mason Hein stood tall in the ruck and around the contest, with plenty of intercept marks when the ball was in the air.
Rex Jones played a role on Millicent goal magnet Frazer Bradley and held his opponent to a single major, while Forbes and Mitchell Sims also made South’s best.
The Saints now hold a two-win buffer on top of the ladder, with both North Gambier and the Demons level on six wins in second and third respectively.
A further win behind is West Gambier who fills out the top four heading into Round 10 this weekend.
