The Courier |
AN AUTHORITATIVE first-half display by Springbank earnt the four points with a 12-goal victory over Dunnstown on Saturday.
SPRINGBANK 16.14 (110)
DUNNSTOWN 6.2 (38)
It was a fiery game opening, with the Towners trying to get under the skin of their opponents, but to no avail.
The Tigers responded to this by hitting the scoreboard, kicking 11 of the first 12 goals and putting the result beyond doubt by half time.
The assignment was made tougher for Dunnstown when it went a man down, with Evan Mason red-carded for head-butting in the opening 10 minutes of the match.
After half time it was a much more even contest, with Dunnstown outscoring the Tigers in the last term.
Dunnstown defenders Lachlan O'Connell and Sean Gleeson battled hard all day, but were no match for the Tigers, while Brett Coutts managed two last-quarter goals for the Towners when the game was all over.
Springbank forward Tom Eltringham was best on ground with numerous marks, and if it wasn't for some inaccurate shots at goal, he would have kicked more than the four majors he registered.
Tiger Stuart Taylor equalled Eltringham's tally with four of his own, while Joel Dodd kicked the first three goals for the visitors.
Simon Quinlan was impressive across the half-back line and through the middle for the Tigers, intercepting many Dunnstown forward thrusts, and tall defender Matt Kane was terrific when thrown into the centre circle contests when number one ruckman Hayden Graham went off injured.
Springbank coach Sam Giblett said he is impressed with the depth of the squad.
"Our youngsters played really well today, our depth at the club is good and we're happy with that," Giblett said.
"We're 4-1 (win-loss), and realistically that's where we thought we would be at this point," he said.
Springbank takes on Hepburn this weekend, while Dunnstown will be looking for its second win of the season when it travels to Skipton.
