Brendan Lines
BL&GFA Football
SATURDAY’S round-11 clash between Willaston and Angaston yielded the third draw for the 2015 Barossa, Light & Gawler Football Association season.
It was a sombre result for both sides, whose efforts went unrewarded in a well-contested game.
The Panthers were ready to pounce on a top -four position and needed the victory to break the mid-table deadlock.
Before the game, coach Matt Herrmann said his team needed “to control what we can, every game is crucial from here on in”.
Emotions were running high for the Donnys, as it was ruckman Jimmy Jones’ final appearance in the red and blue, but Willaston coach Steve O’Connor focused his squad on the job at hand.
“Take on the game, be brave and leave the emotion out of it,” he said.
The Donnys were the early aggressors as they pushed forward to find Michael Hollis, who drew first blood on the scoreboard.
But Angaston’s midfield, led by John Roesler, responded by finding space and drive forward, resulting in a string of goals to Jack Miles, Josh Young and Daniel Williamson.
Donnybrook David Allocca was courageous across half-forward, his second efforts delivering the ball inside the forward 50.
Accurate around the goal front, Hollis scored a late major to keep the Donnys’ deficit to 11 points at quarter-time.
The second term saw Willaston’s young squad turn on a burst of its developing running game to score through Scott White.
However, Angaston on-baller Steve Rusca delivered the Panthers’ response, kicking two of his three goals for the match during the quarter.
A late goal on the siren by Mark Curtis kept the Donnys ahead by two points at the main break.
Both teams were equally determined to find an edge for victory, with O’Connor asking for accountability during the premiership quarter, while Herrmann again looked for his midfield to deliver long.
With a one-point difference at three-quarter-time, an early goal to Angaston was answered immediately by White for the Donnys.
Willaston, again, congested defensively, and rushed behinds, adding to the Panthers’ score, before a desperate drive forward from Donnybrook Jason Collins levelled the scores just before the siren.
The draw came at a cost for Willaston, with Keiran Sankey suffering a dislocated shoulder.
White was a key up forward for Willaston, finishing with six majors, while Hollis’ four goals were equally as important.
Rusca led the Panthers’ charge, finishing with three majors from the midfield, and was aided by impressive on-ball duo Williamson and Greg Bain.
Willaston travels to Eldred Riggs’ Reserve after the bye to take on South Gawler, while Angaston hosts Nuriootpa.
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