South Morang overcame a determined St Mary’s outfit in a fiercely contested match at Mill Park Lakes Reserve in Round 5 action of Division 3.
The game was won with the Lions scoring eight unanswered goals in the second term. When they also managed the first goal against the wind after the main break, the game was in their control.
“We’re really happy – coming off the bye – that our endeavour and effort is heading in the right direction,” South Morang coach Craig Lambert said.
The win gets the Lions back on track after their sub-standard effort prior to the bye at Epping.
To get an appreciation for the effect of the wind, each team booted only 0.2 against the wind in the first half.
St Mary’s had first use of the strong breeze. It applied great pressure to its opponent, tackled well and had multiple forward options when attacking.
South Morang had a spare man or two in defence during this term. Nonetheless, the St Mary’s midfielders managed to find their way through – scoring 4.5 for the quarter.
Early in the second stanza, the Burra seemed to be in control and the Lions hadn’t managed a goal after their first six minutes with the breeze. But an eight-goal blitz for the remainder of the term set up the victory for the home team.
The Lions had the best two big men on the ground in Harry Whybrow – who did plenty of good work around the ground – and Paul Harrison. Harrison finished with four goals for the day – including 2.2 in the second term – and had his chances to boot a few more.
He was ably assisted in this quarter by Luke Shelton (three goals) and Wayne Pavitt (two goals).
Daniel Delromano also had a great day. His best effort of the day was when he appeared to be caught in traffic inside forward 50. He managed to hold the ball high and get a handball out to put Shelton in the clear for an easy passage to goal.
The Lions stepped up the pressure during this phase of the game and St Mary’s was not able to match the intensity of its opponents.
The Burra had a 23-point deficit to overcome as they began the third term with the wind. To be a serious chance, they needed to claw back the lead by three quarter time.
Although they managed the necessary four third-term goals, South Morang scored two goals into the wind to hold a 12-point break at the last break.
Craig Lambert was pleased with his charges at the huddle at the end of the third quarter. He asked his players to be smart with the ball in the final term and to not just blaze away with the breeze.
At the other huddle, Con Borg urged his players to push for an unlikely win and go to the bye with three wins.
The game fizzled out a bit in the final term and the Lions sealed the win by scoring the first major of the term through Harrison.
St Mary’s looked liked falling away at stages but, to its credit, fought the game out very well. The visitor had plenty of forays forward in the final term, but the Lions defence was resolute.
“We went away from the game plan for 20 minutes and it cost us the game,” Burra coach Con Borg lamented.
However, we would have been pleased with the form of youngster Jake Dambrauskas. Dambrauskas used his pace to get to the drop of the ball for an easy goal in the first term. He also booted the only goal for his team at the northern end of the ground in the final term.
Brandon Jones did some good work through the midfield, while Matthew Patti was solid in defence with several intercept marks.
St Mary’s is fourth on the ladder despite the loss and has a bye before hosting Heidelberg West at Whatmough Park.
South Morang is now a mere two percentage points behind Epping in second spot. This week the Lions travel to A.K. Lines Reserve to face top of the table and unbeaten Watsonia.
Final scores: South Morang 13.14 (92) def St Mary’s 9.11 (65)
