Rick Drewer
IN wet, windy, muddy conditions, the Angaston Panthers hosted the Gawler Central Tigers at Angaston Oval, looking more like a motocross paddock than a football venue.
In the game of the round between the top-two sides, it proved to be somewhat of a fizzer, with Gawler Central winning 10.8 (68) to 2.11 (23).
This reinforced the belief held by many pundits that the gap between the Tigers and the rest of the competition is as wide as the distance between Gawler and Angaston.
In reality, slippery, wet and windy conditions inevitably evens-up a footy contest between two sides – making the 45-point margin to the Tigers even more impressive.
Despite winning the toss and heading towards the 'town-end', Central took half of the first-term to get mobile and dirty.
With ball-ups and scrimmages being the main feature early, Tom Phelps took a strong mark mid-way through the quarter and kicked accurately to register the first major for the Tigers.
While Angaston's Marc Borholm and Steve Summerton got early touches, they were well and truly being nullified by the Tigers on-ballers, led by the mercurial Charlie Molyneux. Shane Moss and Sean Brading both added goals later in the term to open up a three-goal margin at the first change.
The Tigers’ defence led by the likes of Andrew Wright, Dylan Bell, Robert Long, Jake Asher, Jamie Wegener and Cam Reynolds reduced genuine scoring opportunities for the Panthers to a minimum, and but for a ruck contest free-kick to Borholm, bringing him within range, they would have held Ango goalless in the first half as Centrals took a 22-point lead into the long break.
Gawler Central’s gun-forward Brad Mercer ran into an open goal mouth, converting, to get the Tigers under-way early in the third term, and with further majors to Molyneux, Kyle Wurst and Sean Brading, the lead was doubled to a 41 at the last beak as the fat lady started singing.
Tom Ryan, Jay Shannon, Jack Miles and Jayden Antonie were all excellent contributors for the Panthers, but the overall depth, strength and skills on display from the Tigers basically made it mission impossible for the hosts.
The last quarter was about as ordinary as it gets with a combined total of one goal and two behinds from the two teams saying it all.
Early in the term, a lovely pass from Tiger Nic Hooker, who was outstanding all game, found Sean Brading who kicked accurately to bring up his hat-trick, which was the only highlight – other than the sun coming out and making its first appearance for the afternoon.
The sun shone upon the Gawler Central side as it marched onwards in a season that must feel like grand-final or bust from here.