Gippsland Times |
FIFTEEN goals from Brendan Fevola inspired Lindenow to an 82-point victory over Wy Yung on Sunday.
Fevola kicked six goals in the opening term to have the Cats well on the way to a 20.8 (128) to 7.4 (46) victory to take out the Peter Alexander Memorial.
Mike Brady performed before the senior game and sang the national anthem, and former AFL players Campbell Brown Liam Pickering were special guests and along with Fevola, attracted a big crowd to Lindenow.
While the Cats were very Fevola "conscious" on the day, the likes of Darren Allen, Will Blackley and David Donchi won it out of the middle with relative ease for the first three terms, making life difficult for the five Tigers who were assigned the former AFL star throughout the course of the day.
Fevola's first goal came from wide in the pocket, his first of six for the term as the Cats opened up a 46-point buffer at quarter-time. He would add another four in the second term to have 10.0 to half time, his strong marking a feature as the Cats went into the main break 76 points clear.
Moved off Fevola for the third term, Sam Denby-Blake provided some rebound from half-back, but the Cats midfield were still able to generate a good amount of supply.
With the Cats in control, Fevola, who also took ruck duties in the forward 50, took a light-hearted approach in the second half, interacting with the crowd and umpires alike, sitting in the crowd as an Allen shot on goal sailed wide and taking a break to check out a young boundary umpires style.
Fevola's ability with the snap was on show, slotting one from on the run at half-forward before dribbling one home from a similar position. Not to be outdone, Allen slotted a clever snap over his head, reaping the rewards for being front-and-centre to a Fevola contest.
Two strong, contested one-handed marks saw another two goals to Fevola to have 14.0 to three-quarter-time with the match well and truly in the Cats' keeping.
Wy Yung senior coach Boo Wheeler admitted his side had been overawed by the occasion at three-quarter-time, but urged his charges to finish strongly.
"We could say we have been overawed by the occasion, go away and let's set up for next week," Wheeler said.
"But let's not go out and let them pile on 10 goals, like we did last week against Straty."
The Tigers lifted in the final term, with the midfield getting on top and limiting the supply to Fevola, booting four goals to one to win the term.
Josh Broome, Darby McCullum, Darcy Murray, Kristian Wain and Michael Young all battled gamely for the Tigers, with Thomas Smith and Mark Sellings each booting two majors.
Despite limited supply, Fevola ensured the entertainment continued to the final siren, snapping the Cats' only goal for the term before missing to the near side deep in the pocket after taking on two opponents on the boundary, taking a drinks break to have a sip of a gentleman's beer following his only blemish on the scoresheet.
A goal snapped on the run at half-forward was disallowed by the field umpire, despite the ball being in mid-air when the final siren sounded.
