Brendan Lines
BL&GFA Football
WET conditions did not stop Gawler Central taking out a commanding 94-point victory over Angaston in Saturday’s top-four Barossa, Light & Gawler Football Association clash at Gawler Oval.
The victory re-establishes the Tigers as one of the competition’s leading challengers for the 2015 premiership.
The Tigers’ season hit trouble in round 13 with an uncharacteristic loss to Barossa District.
However, returning from the bye, coach Damien Herzick demanded a response from his team, saying, “I’ll know if you are serious in the first five minutes”.
Central raced out of the blocks to dominate most of the play from the first bounce, applying pressure on the Panthers’ defence, but the slippery conditions saw many turnovers and both teams could not capitalise.
A goal to Brad Mercer at the 12-minute mark saw the Tigers cling to a seven-point lead at quarter-time.
Panthers’ coach Matt Herrmann was happy with the effort of his team at the one-on-one contests, saying, “we don’t give up on the contests and that is the key”.
The Tigers kept their feet in bog-like conditions and the familiar attack of Paul Bova, Mercer and Tom Dunne began to harass the goal front in the second term, piling on four unanswered goals soon after the break.
Showing more desperation at the contest, it was efforts by Ben Walter and consistent big man Chris Jamar that helped Central to dominate proceedings, and the Tigers continued to score through Sean Brading and Matt Phillips.
Panthers’ forwards Andrew Pech and Tyson Gordon finally responded on the scoreboard, but the Tigers had established a 36-point lead at the main break and gathered all the momentum.
Pleased with his team’s efforts, Herzick asked that his players not get comfortable and continue to respond, saying, “this next five minutes is just as crucial as the first five minutes”.
Respond was exactly what the Tigers did, blowing the game wide open, with early goals to Phillips and Mercer, and stretching the margin to 84 points at three-quarter-time.
With the Panthers only able to try and salvage some pride in the last quarter, the Tigers’ almost ‘Holy Trinity’ of Bova, Mercer and Dunne continued to impart their influence up forward, piling on the goals to seal the Panthers’ fate.
Mercer finished with six goals for the afternoon, with Dunne and Bova slotting four and three, respectively, while Angaston had all single goal-kickers.
The Tigers will now look to carry their momentum into Saturday’s crucial local derby against South Gawler, while Angaston has the week off with the bye.
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