Football: Kangas falter at final hurdles

North Albany’s top two chances now lie firmly in the hands of Denmark-Walpole after the Magpies cruised to a 56-point win over the Kangas at Collingwood Park on Saturday.

Picture by Laurie Benson: North Albany’s Brent Welshman

Needing a win to seal second place, the Kangas once again failed to produce a four-quarter effort as the Magpies moved to third spot with the 18.16 (124) to 10.8 (64) victory.

Magpies star Jonathon D’Sylva finished with 5.5 for the match, including four that hit the post, and took 11 marks in a monstrous display, while teenage livewire Jordan Rolt kicked four goals for the winners.

The Magpies got off to a brilliant start, kicking six majors into a strong breeze while the Kangas could only manage five of their own. From there the Kangas struggled to kick consecutive goals and with D’Sylva running rampant at one end and Alastair Robbins stopping everything at the other, the Magpies took control of the contest.

The Kangas did get a run on early in the final term, kicking three goals but majors to Brody Hickey, James McRae, Kaden King-Davies and D’Sylva in quick succession showed just how damaging the Magpies could be.

Dave MacDonald stepped up in the middle for the Magpies winning a fair amount of possession, while Jack Hickey was a revelation in the ruck and around the ground.

Codie Thiele was a solid contributor for the Kangas in the middle, shutting down Leon Wilson but his fellow tagger Johann Schroeder was the match winner.

Schroeder wore Kangas ball magnet Mitch Tuffley like a glove, clearly winning the battle as Tuffley received little support from his teammates.

A critical moment in the game saw Kangas coach Brad Bootsma hit the post from a metre out after marking uncontested and playing on in the third term.

Magpies player-coach McRae was delighted with his troops, individually assessing their game in the rooms after the match.

“It has been an up and down frustrating season but to get that result and fight to the end is pleasing,” he said. “Our work rate first and foremost was great, we worked for each other, won the contests and created a lot of scoring opportunities.”

McRae said although there was some brilliant individual performances, it was a gutsy team effort.

Kangas player-coach Brad Bootsma said his team’s inability to move the ball quickly was annoying.

“We need to move the ball quick, we are not the type of side that can chip it around,” he said.