AARON DEGREEF
WILLASTON dismantled Barossa District
on Saturday with a 97-point home
win in Barossa, Light & Gawler Football
Association A-grade action.
Willaston got off to a great start despite
kicking into a stiff breeze, with the bank first
opened by Michael Howson, who managed
to snap the footy through accurately. Another
deposit was made by Isaac Poulton, who
performed a snap of his own for the first goal
to his name – the first of many.
Poulton went on to snag another early
goal by tapping the footy past a defender
to run into the open goals, however, Barossa
got the quarter’s last laugh when Angus
Shapley skidded the footy through an undefended
goal square.
In the second quarter, Willaston continued
to gain significant ground on the scoreboard,
with the scoring kicked off by Oliver Petrohilos,
who soccered through his first major.
He quickly added another with a 40-metre
set-shot that sailed between the big sticks.
Hayden Moss joined the party with a big
booming kick from long-range and this was
followed by another snap by Howson immediately
after the centre bounce as things
started to get ugly.
Barossa was putting up a good fight with
its workrate, but the pressure by Willaston
along with the wind advantage was punching
numerous holes in the Barossa backline.
After the main break, Barossa finally
seemed to have gained some composure
and had chains of flawless ball movement
from one end of the ground to another. On a
couple occasions, this led to major scoring
opportunities, such as when Lucas Watson
scooped up the football and converted his
snap, and when Michael Baraglia bombed
through a lengthy set-shot.
However, Barossa did not gain any
ground since each of their goals was
matched by Poulton, who managed to snap
his third while under intense pressure, and
bounce through his fourth while Nathan
Casboult was hot on his tail.
In the final stanza, both teams continued
to trade blows, but the early efforts by Willaston
meant that victory was all but certain.
Petrohilos continued to maintain the lead
by marking a wobbly ball and running off
the mark whilst the defender wasn’t looking
to snap his fourth on his way to five for the
game, while Poulton also finished with five,
and Howson snagged four as the game ended
in a 19.18 (132) to 5.5 (35) Donnybrook win.