Southern Saints jump into top 4
25/04/2022
The Southern Saints get a convincing win over Darebin and leapfrog them on the ladder
The Southern Saints were back in Sandringham for their second home game of the year, coming off a tough loss to Box Hill and looking to bounce back against Darebin and jump up the ladder into the top 4.
The weather was fine, 16 degrees with a cool, gentle breeze and a wet playing surface, but reasonable conditions overall.
As the game started, we were the first to enter their forward 50 through Hannah Stuart. When Darebin repelled this entry they could only go as far as Winnie Laing who intercepted about 60m out from goal. She copped a very late push from her Darebin opponent which handed her a 50m penalty and the first goal of the match.
The next five minutes of play was scrappy with both teams wanting to get off to a good start and not giving an inch. It was finally Darebin who were able to score courtesy of a free kick 35m out from goal at the 8 minute mark of the first quarter.
We worked hard and eventually found the goals again through Chanelle Slater. She lead up hard to give an option and was found by a good kick from Burke, converting from about 25m out.
Not even a minute later Capsalis kicked a very high ball inside 50 that hung in the air for a long time and when it bounced up, Kearns chose not to grab it but instead tapped it cleverly down to Lucy Burke who ran onto it and kicked a nice goal. This gave us a 2 goal buffer heading into the first break.
The 2nd quarter saw Laing once again kick the first goal of the quarter, this time at the 8 minute mark. She had the ball on the wing, gave it off but kept running hard forwards, she streamed inside 50, got a handball from Alexandra Hynes, stepped around an opponent, and went bang from 30m out to get us up and about.
Darebin had a decent run of play throughout the 2nd quarter but couldn’t manage to score with the likes of McLean, Buchan, Gentile and Jolliffe patrolling our defensive 50.
With Darebin losing their 2nd player to a game-ending injury and trailing by 18 points at half time it was going to be a long road back.
The start of the 3rd quarter saw the sun start to light up the beachside Sandringham oval. 4 minutes into the quarter we saw Woodward quickly kick it out of the pack and find Ripari who came forward and took a good mark. She went back and found Lucy Burke inside 50 who took a quality contested mark. She went back and fluently eased it through from 35m out on a 45 degree angle.
This was to be the only goal for either side for the 3rd quarter, a quarter which saw Darebin playing some decent footy with some inside 50’s but none too threatening as the Southern Saints' defence was all over it.
Darebin appeared to have snuck a goal through until Buchan came from nowhere leaping to spoil the ball through.
Alice Burke kept racking up the ball, she was good off half back all day intercepting and providing some run out of the defensive 50, on her way to an equal game high 24 disposals.
As the siren sounded to start the last quarter, it was the Southern Saints leading by 23 points.
Olivia Flanagan walked her first goal in from the goal line after receiving a 50m penalty within 70 seconds of the final quarter.
This was quickly followed by a well-deserved goal from Ripari who had been good across half forward all game providing the link between back 50 and forward 50. This put the lead out to an unassailable 35 points.
With 7 minutes to go in the game, Hannah Stuart decided to put some icing on the cake, initially bumped out of the contest, she spun, picked up the ball, spun again and kicked a banana goal that put a smile on every Southern Sainter face.
With the game all but over, Kearns hit a contest and was taken high, she put the kick through to put a finishing blow to Darebin and complete the leap on the ladder.
Darebin battled hard in stages but were hit by a couple of injuries, they were outrun and outclassed by the Saints who ran away 49 point winners.
We are back at home next Sunday against Williamstown.
Final Score: Southern Saints 9.4.58 defeated Darebin Falcons 1.3.9
Goals: L. Burke 2, W. Laing 2, T. Kearns, O. Flanagan, C. Slater, K. Ripari, H. Stuart
Best: W. Laing, R. Neaves, N. Cormack, A. Woodward, T. Kearns, L. Burke
Written by Mason Bursill - Sandringham FC Media