In bleak conditions at Burbank Oval the undefeated Williamstown and Sandringham met in Round 3 VFL Action. Williamstown made 5 changes to the side which defeated the Gold Coast at Broadbeach the previous week. Youngsters Jordan Roughead and Jarrad Grant were promoted to the Western Bulldogs, Tim Callan missed through injury and Tom German and Matthew Grossman were omitted. Into the side came Will Minson and Josh Hill, Easton Wood returned from injury and Bulldog Rookie Matthew Panos and Matthew Cravino were promoted from the Reserves.

First Quarter

Sandringham won the toss and kicked with a strong breeze and the Zebras were able to apply early pressure through new recruit Chris Irving who had 3 shots on goal and converted every opportunity. Williamstown experienced early problems with game ending injuries to defenders Cameron Lockwood and Jason Tutt.
Willi defenders Ben Davies, Lukas Markovic, Jarrad Boumann and Easton Wood were prominent but the Zebras established a 33 point lead at the first break

Williamstown        0.2
Sandringham        5.5

Second Quarter

Williamstown now had an opportunity to utilise the breeze but suffered an early setback when goal sneak Andrew Hooper was forced from the ground and was not able to return. Sandringham put Adam Pattison behind the ball and Williamstown was unable to manufacture any consistent flow with their play. Williamstown had a purple patch for 8 minutes when they added 4 goals through Matthew Little, Brennan Stack, Josh Hill and Liam Jones. Sandringham continued to defend grimly and deserved their goal lead at the main break

Williamstown        4.5
Sandringham        5.5

Third Quarter

Williamstown needed to defend strongly and they certainly responded well in the opening 15 minutes of the third quarter. Big ruckman Will Minson lifted his intensity whilst Matthew Cravino, Ben Jolley and Easton Wood won plenty of the ball. A good passage of play ended with Matthew Little marking close to goal, however his kick hit the post and still neither side could kick a goal. In the second half of the quarter Sandringham capitalised on a couple of free kicks with goals through Shane Tregear (2), Chris Irving (1) and Daniel Archer (1) to re establish a 32 point lead at the final break.

Williamstown        4.7
Sandringham        9.9

Fourth Quarter

Williamstown now had the wind but rain began to fall for the first 15 minutes of the quarter. Matthew Panos goaled courtesy of a 50m penalty but the Zebras were defending grimly. Will Minson was now dominating the ruck and goals to Matthew Panos and Easton Wood further reduced the margin. With time running out Matthew Little snapped a great goal and then Liam Jones kicked a fine running goal to reduce the lead to 1 point. With the crowd in full voice the Seagulls had a few opportunities to win the game but the siren sounded with Sandy the only undefeated side in the VFL.

Williamstown        0.2        4.5        4.7        9.9 (63)
Sandringham        5.5        5.5        9.9        9.10 (64)

Goals: Little 2, Jones 2, Panos 2, Stack 1, Hill 1, Wood 1

Best: Davies, Wood, Cravino, Minson, Jolley, Markovic

Reserves Wrap

Williamstown maintained their undefeated start to the season by defeating Sandringham by 36 points in a scrappy game. Tom German responded very well from his demotion to be best player and Nick DiMartino, Jack Purton-Smith, Jeremy Mugavin and Stephen Tiller continued their fine form.

Williamstown        3.2        7.3        11.6        14.5 (89)
Sandringham        1.1        4.2        5.5        7.11 (53)   

Goals: Young 3, DiMartino 3, German 2, Florance 2, Purton-Smith 1, Fogarty 1, McCallum 1, Lawson 1

Best: German, DiMartino, Tiller, Purton-Smith, Mugavin, Tanner

What’s on next week...?

Next Saturday 1st May Williamstown plays traditional rivals Port Melbourne at Burbank Oval.