The Courier |
THE SCENE was set and the Saints didn't disappoint.
Carngham-Linton's fighting 19-point win over Gordon capped a huge day of celebrations for the Central Highlands Football League club, which was hosting its first fixture at traditional home Snake Valley in nine years.
And while the hosts deserved their victory a fifth this season a wasteful Gordon outfit played its part in the result.
The Eagles will agonise over an abundance of missed opportunities in front of goal, particularly in the first term when it kicked a horror 4.9 to hold a 26-point lead at the first change.
That opening term would haunt Gordon for the rest of the day, with the Saints hitting back to snatch the lead in the second term before extending it to as much as 25 points early in the third. It was then the Eagles' turn to reel in the margin, and they hit the front on the three-quarter time siren.
But six goals to two in favour of the home side eventually snuffed out the disappointing Eagles and secured the Saints a deserved win.
"From last week, we delivered the ball a lot better into our forward line.
"Our pressure was a lot better ... after quarter time. I got stuck into our onballers they were being a little bit lazy and they really turned it around in that second quarter and really put us back into the seat," Carngham-Linton coach Jamie Briody said.
"It's showing that character and that culture that we have tried to change and they are starting to adopt it now, the boys.
"At the start, there was a few people with culture shock and were just not ready to go the way we needed to go, but these boys stuck to their game plan, the structures and it was really good."
Nathan Pring's outstanding season continued on Saturday, with the Saints' onballer/forward as creative as ever in finishing with a five-goal haul.
Jake Pring also offered spark for the home side and booted three goals, while Jack Savige and Mitch Giddings were great in defence.
There were plenty of those who tried hard for the beaten brigade, particularly tough onballer Josh Lee, but wasted opportunities in attack was a hurdle that eventually brought down the Eagles.
Daniel King was one of the more accurate, booting four goals for the visitors.
Gordon coach Corey Grills, who missed the match with hamstring tightness, summed up the disappointment.
"We could have put a stamp on the game in the first quarter. We had our opportunities to win the game, no doubt about it, and (Carngham-Linton) stepped up. Credit to those boys, they ran hard and both ways really well," Grills said.
"It's really disappointing and the boys know it.
"We had every opportunity to win the game and we lost it through errors we know we can work on."
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