It's Port and Sandy

by AJ BRADY

IN the second preliminary final for the VFL competition for season 2004, Sandringham has defeated Tasmania by 38 points in a sometimes spiteful contest at TEAC Oval, Port Melbourne, on Sunday.

The day was a bitterly cold and overcast one, with some light showers making the already slippery quagmire surface even more difficult for the players to negotiate. A strong wind worth around two-to-three goals favoured city end of the ground.

Coming into the game, Sandringham were clear favorites, having had a week's rest after finishing the season second, where they'd spent most of it, and duly disposing of Werribee by 31 points in the second qualifying final.

Tasmania, on the other hand, had to get through the hard way, finishing the regular season in fifth position, and having had to win their past two finals, both in Tasmania, to stay alive in the premiership hunt.

Sandringham's consistent form all season clearly shone through over the hit-and-miss Tasmanians, however in their only meeting for the season, in round two, Tasmania actually won the match, in Tasmania, by 40 points.

It was always going to be interesting to see the effect of losing a few AFL players from their line-up would impact a team like Sandringham, and how it would help a stand-alone club like Tasmania.

Tasmanian captain Ben Beams won the toss, and elected to kick with the wind in the first quarter, and despite the trying ground surface, the Devils appeared to make the most of it, playing much more direct and efficient football through the corridor, whereas Sandringham persisted in going short and to the flanks and they fell down around half-forward. The Devils were getting a great run through the middle from their main playmakers in the Geappen brothers and Ben Atkin, who were providing bullocking forward Trent Bartlett with a wealth of opportunities in front of goal. At this stage, the only win for Sandringham was in the rucks, thanks to the strong work from Mark Jamar, but it wasn't enough to stop Tasmania going into the quarter-time break with an 18 point lead.

In the second quarter, Sandringham came out a completely different unit, they began playing much more direct, winning the stoppages and the one-on-one contests, and forcing Tasmania to carry the ball forward rather than flow forward with penetrating kicks as they'd done in the first quarter. Sandringham's David Gallagher showed great dash through the middle, pumping the ball forward on many occasions, and chiming in with a few goals himself thanks to making great position. Nathan Carroll and Sandy captain Chad Liddell were working well in-tandem in the centre square, and competition leading goal kicker Nick Sautner was providing a strong target up forward, breaking the shackles that Matthew Jovanovic had on him during the first quarter. It was only thanks to some strong body-on-body work deep in defence by Cameron Blight and Ben Careless that kept Tasmania in the game, going in at half-time two goals in arrears.

The wind died down somewhat during the half-time break, and the expected showers hadn't arrived, so the signs were looking grim for a Tasmanian comeback.

During the third quarter, the muddy surface began to take its toll on the players, as tiredness set in and both teams played almost circle work, with one team kicking it to their half-forward line, only to be repelled, and then the same thing happen to the opposition. Both defences were working overtime to stop everything coming in, and the 31 stoppages was a record for a quarter this season in the VFL competition. Still, it was Jamar's dominance in the ruck, with help from Aaron Bishop, that was providing a telling sign, and with Sautner and Adam Fisher providing imposing targets up forward, it was Sandringham who managed to break the lines for the quarter and increase their lead to 20 points at the final change. Justin Plapp was the only Tasmanian forward to manage to break through for the quarter and provide any hope for the Devils.

The final quarter saw Tasmania finally give way completely, as Sandringham's midfield running machines of Liddell, Gallagher and Peter Walsh ran out the game much stronger and continued to provide clean and accurate passing into the forward line. The defenders in Chris Lamb and Ryan Ferguson also managed to provide strong contests at the opposite end of the ground, keeping Tasmania goalless for the quarter, while Sandy piled on another three goals to finish off Tasmania completely, and book a berth in next Sunday's grand final against old rivals Port Melbourne.

The better players for the Zebras included David Gallagher, who's streaming runs down the wings were a feature, his terrific positioning and penetrating kicks were again present, as they have been all season for this dashing midfielder; Ryan Ferguson, who worked hard deep in defence, always providing a contest and linking well off half-back; captain Chad Liddell, who worked hard at the contests, winning many hardball gets and always forging the ball forward for his team; Nathan Carroll, who also worked well down in defence, and his penetrating kicks off half-back launched many meaningful Sandringham attacks, Tasmania's six-goal tally for the day being testament to his great work; Mark Jamar, who won the bulk of the team's massive 71 hit-out count, always providing his team with first usage of the ball, and showing great agility around the ground for such a big unit; Chris Lamb, who worked well a kick behind play, nullifying the effect of dangerous Tasmanian forward Trent Bartlett, and going in very hard to provide a contest at every opportunity; Peter Walsh, who showed there's still life in the old dog yet, working hard in the centre square, winning many contested balls and always being efficient with his passing; and, young star Colin Sylvia, who was exceptional on-the-ball, working hard and showing his incredible strength for an 18 year-old, winning many contests against much more experienced Tasmanian players.

For the Tasmanian side, beaten but far from disgraced, they had solid contributions from a number of players, including Matt Geappen, who showed great speed with his runs through the centre and his kicks were always penetrating and accurate; Cameron Blight, who worked hard down in defence, always providing strong body-on-body contests, particularly when the ball was coming back again and again down his end, and his continued good form vindicates the Tasmanian coaching staff's decision to pick him out of the local Tasmanian league this season; Ben Careless, who showed great leadership around the ground, winning many contested balls and doing a few 'one-percenters' which really lifted the team at various stages; Matthew Jovanovic, who showed the move this year to Tasmania has done his football career no harm at all, linking well off half-back with the midfield, and reading the play terrifically well, him holding Sautner to just three goals is testament to how well he played; Justin Plapp, who despite not kicking many goals, was the only real winning forward for Tasmania the whole day, always providing good leads and strong contests, working hard to win the contested balls and always presenting well; and, Shane Wager who worked hard as a utility all around the ground, winning a lot of contested possessions, and always using the ball wisely.

The stats showed Sandringham's eventual dominance of the game reflecting through: in the hit-out count, Sandringham thrashed Tasmania 71-32; in the clearances Sandringham were ahead 38-31; inside 50s were surprisingly close, with Sandringham just ahead there 54-47; and shots-on-goal were easily led by Sandringham again, 24 to 15.

For Tasmania, it's curtains on another season of improvement, they'll be going into season 2005 expected nothing less than a Grand Final appearance.

For Sandringham, it's into yet another Grand Final, their last being just four years ago. This time, they'll be facing this year's top team, Port Melbourne, in a replay of the 1977 VFA Grand Final.

Well, after 20 rounds and three weeks of finals, we have got the top two teams playing off for the VFL premiership for 2004. Sandringham defeated Port Melbourne twice this year, but Port have probably been slightly more consisted throughout the season. It should be a great grand final, and my tip is Port Melbourne in a close one, they're just a little more accomplished and harder in the midfield, and that's where the game will be won and lost. For all the action, tune into 97.7FM 3SER from 1.45pm next Sunday to hear the call of the big game, brought to you proudly by Tatts. You'll be joined by myself, Brad Beitzel, Anthony Donaldson, Simon Petch, Kain Pollard and Jeremy Orr, all ensuring that every angle of the game is covered.

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