Match Report: Round 1 vs Geelong

24/03/2025

The Zebras' opened their season against the Cats at home

Photography by Anthony Vella

The Sandringham Zebras 2025 campaign kicked off on a sunny Sunday afternoon at Trevor Baker oval when they faced off against the Geelong Cats.

The Cats started out on top as they had repeated entries into the forward 50, however great spoils by Arie Schoenmaker and Angus Mclennan made sure the damage on the scoreboard was limited.

Eventually the Cats were able to break through for the first goal of the game.

Liam Henry tried his best to get the side going by using his running through the midfield, while Angus Hastie followed suit, carrying the ball out of the defensive 50 and landing a precession kick in the middle of the ground.

On the defensive end however, a great tackle by Schoenmaker deep in the Cats forward half and a goal saving spoil from Billy Richardson, ensured the Zebras stayed in touch on the scoreboard.

After 20 minutes, Sandringham had now settled into the game and were starting to get cleaner ball use, with Geelong going into the first break with a 15-point advantage.

Sandringham's energy had picked up to begin the second quarter and the ball was now living in the Zebras forward half and with repeated entries, they were able to get their first goal of the game, after a brilliant crumb by Misilifi Faimalo, was passed off to Henry, who snapped truly.

When the ball was able to get in the forward 50, the pressure applied ensured the Cats had a hard time clearing the danger, but when they did, they made the most of their opportunities, making it a frustrating quarter for the Zebras, as their momentum wasn’t being shown on the scoreboard.

Harry Boyd then took a great contested mark, which lifted the spirits of the team. A few minutes later, the Zebras would take advantage of a free kick on the halfback line, leading to a fast break on transition where Max Heath marked the ball in the pocket and kicked a goal on the halftime siren.

At the main break the Cats were leading by 26 points.

With the backline under siege early in the third, James Barrat made a great spoil deep in the pocket to deny the Cats a mark and easy set shot on goal.

Heath was now starting to get on top in the ruck contest, giving the midfielders first use of the ball and better opportunities for forward 50 entries. 

The best play of the game for the Zebs came midway through the quarter where Liam Purcell cut off a handball in the defensive 50, which led to a chain through the middle of the ground, followed by a long bomb, finding captain Blake Watson, who ran into an open goal.

Geelong was able to launch another attack, but Purcell made yet another great defensive play to spoil the ball away from a Cats forward directly in front of goal.

Late in the quarter, Geelong again went into the possession game, but once Sandringham got the ball back, Patrick Said was able to capitalise with his first goal of the game.

After forcing a free kick deep in defence, the Zebs caught Geelong on the back foot and with some quick transition, Said found the ball in the pocket where his banana kick sailed through the middle for his second goal in rapid succession.

Geelong launched a final attack for the period and looked to have scored a goal, but a Lachlan Voss spoil on the goal line, followed by a quick kick in from the behind, had the Zebs out on the rebound where Josh Hutchings got on the end of the chain to kick a goal.

In the final quarter play opened up as fatigue became a factor, and the ball was going from end to end, with Geelong unable to capitalise on their chances as they went on to kick seven behinds in the fourth.

On the other end, Sandringham was doing its best to get back into the game, with players applying as much pressure on the ball as possible.

One of the best moments of the day saw vice-captain Faimalo, sprint at full speed to lay a bone crunching bear tackle in the forward 50 to force a holding the ball free.

A few minutes later, Faimalo was still giving his all as he managed to swoop up the ground ball, and instead of taking a contested snap at goal, he calmly found Jonah Campigli for an uncontested mark, where he slotted through the set shot.

With the clock ticking down, Watson was able to nail a pinpoint kick to find Travaglia, who went on to kick the last goal of the day from a set shot on a tight angle.

Against a well drilled Cats team, the Zebras fought hard, but in the end fell short by 31 points.

Sandringham Zebras: 0.4      2.6       6.9       8.12     (60)

Geelong Cats:               3.1      6.8      12.12   12.19    (91)   

The Zebras will look to bounce back next week at RESA Park against Richmond on Saturday 29 March at 12:05pm

Written by Thomas Dev Sandringham FC Media