The Zebs hang on in a thriller!
06/05/2024
The Zebs took on North Melbourne on Sunday 5th May at Wilson Storage Trevor Barker Beach Oval in ideal conditions.
Photography by Olivia Blamires
1st Quarter
The game started quickly with the ball finding its way into North Melbourne’s forward line almost instantly. After conceding two goals, we responded by kicking the next four.
Tom Campbell was impressive early, winning the ball in the ruck and consistently hitting it out to advantage. We were able to lock North into defensive 50 and gain territory for majority of the second half when playing on quickly from turnovers, startling the young Roos outfit.
We proved to be efficient inside 50 with ten scoring shots from 16 entries, finishing the quarter with seven individual goal scorers in Sharman, Collard, Hall-Kahan, Clark, Caminiti, Zagari and Dow.
Sandringham Zebras 7.3 (45)
North Melbourne 3.2 (20)
2nd Quarter
The second quarter consisted of higher pressure and more contested possessions with both teams finding themselves stuck inside 50 and unable to transition at times.
We found it harder to convert on the scoreboard with just two goals for the quarter coming from Vincent Zagari and Lance Collard, both of them kicking their second of the day.
Skipper Anthony Seaton and Tom Blamires worked well together down back, with multiple second efforts, intercept marks and defensive pressure.
Conceding four goals in the second term, three of which happened within six minutes, we went into half time with a 13 point lead over North Melbourne.
Sandringham 9.8 (62)
North Melbourne 7.7 (49)
3rd Quarter
The third term started with a goal from Blake Watson in the first minute, coming straight from the centre clearance.
Zak Jones looked powerful in the midfield, finishing with 26 disposals and five marks alongside teammate Cooper Sharman who was great in defence, having accumulated 17 disposals, eight marks and a goal.
The last part of the quarter saw complete dominance from the Zebs, moving the ball around the ground despite congestion and keeping it inside 50 for a chance at goal.
Collard once again found his hands on the ball, snapping his third of the day and extending our lead to 17 points heading into the final term.
Sandringham 11.12 (78)
North Melbourne 9.7 (61)
4th Quarter
North Melbourne kicked three goals to start the fourth, taking the lead for the first time since they kicked the first two of the game.
Youngster Will Brown kicked our first and took back the lead before the scores were level at the halfway mark. An impressive intercept and second effort from Mitch Ryan resulted in a free kick where he was able to kick his first goal of the season.
One of our BOG performers, Watson kicked his second goal from stoppage and extended our lead back to 17 points at the 25 minute mark.
In a final attempt from North Melbourne, they responded and kicked two goals but we were able to hang on and defeat the Roos by three points, making it our first back-to-back wins of the season and taking us to 9th on the ladder.
Sandringham 14.15 (99)
North Melbourne 14.12 (96)
Join us next week in Wonthaggi as the Zebras take on the Box Hill Hawks at 2:05pm on Mother’s Day in another double header!
Written by Emily Spong - Sandringham FC Media