Panton Hill powered into the 2013 Division 3 Grand Final with a convincing win over Watsonia in the second semi final at Shelley Reserve on Saturday.
Despite wasting many chances throughout the day, the Redbacks had a more even spread of contributors in the 13.21 (99) to 8.7 (55) victory.
Early in the second quarter, the Redbacks were up five goals to nil, but the Saints hit back hard to score three in a row.
Goals to Brody Ricardi, then Brendan and Matthew Cottier reduced the margin to 11 points at the main break.
However, the Redbacks put a space between themselves and the Saints early in the second half, with three goals in as many minutes.
Brendan O’Connor swooped on a loose ball after two Watsonia defenders crashed into each other for an easy goal – one of his five majors for the day. He excelled in Ben Finnin’s absence and also worked hard on the defensive side of his game.
Soon after, a left foot snap from 40m out by Anthony Bryce just cleared the line. Then Callum Still goaled to put his team 29 points up.
Shortly after, and in the absence of high flying full forwards for each team, Still became the unlikely mark of the day winner when he took a screamer coming from three deep. Regrettably, he missed his shot from an angle.
Bryce also had a purple patch in the third stanza. One of his two goals came as he intercepted a Saint handpass to run into an open goal. He also stuck a couple of big tackles and dished out an effective handball to a player in space.
‘Joffa’ Byron played loose in defence for much of the day. His accurate kicking set up multiple forward thrusts.
Ben Strongman just barely passed a fitness test before being cleared to play, but was also one of the best for Panton Hill. Late in the game, he won a contest against three opponents in midfield and managed to feed a handball to a teammate in the clear.
Abe Williams also finished strongly with three goals after half time, while Nathan Hendry was prolific before injuring an ankle late in the contest.
Speaking after the win, Panton Hill playing coach Dean Haydock commended a solid performance by his team.
“Today was a good four-quarter effort,” he said.
“Watsonia applied a lot of pressure, but we were able to absorb that pressure and continue to put the score on the board."
Haydock has now had a couple of games back from injury and is beginning to run into form. His class and poise proved telling in a number of moments early in proceedings.
Watsonia had trouble finding forward targets without leading goal scorer Jeremy Bennett. Brody Ricardi was well held by Jason Evans and went off late with a minor injury.
The Saints’ best forward options were Thomas Walliss and Andrew Kidd, who were both floating around half forward. Kidd finished with three second half goals.
Down back, Stephen Rose and Graeme Hines battled hard, with the ball often in Panton Hill’s forward half – as evidenced by the Redbacks recording 34 scoring shots to Watsonia’s 15.
Playing coach Lochie Dornauf was among Watsonia’s best. He was mostly in the midfield or defence, but drifted forward for a short time in the second term. Panton Hill ran a variety of players on him, including Jarrod McGough and Kane Gilmore.
Post-match Dornauf lamented that playing less than four good quarters against a good team like Panton Hill was never going to be enough.
He will now be looking for his team to lift their drive and intensity in the preliminary final, where they will play the winner of Sunday’s clash between Thomastown and Reservoir.
Final score: Panton Hill 13.21 (99) def Watsonia 8.7 (55)
