The Grafton Tigers AFL side have reaffirmed their position as the North Coast AFL’s top dogs following a gripping 15 point victory over the Sawtell Saints at Ellem Oval on Saturday.
In a game that lived up to its billing as a heavyweight title fight, the Tigers needed to dig deep in the final minutes to hold off a late charging Saints.
The match was billed by some as the Grand Final preview and it can only be hoped that the season decider on the first Saturday in September will be anywhere as good as this one.
The Tigers turned a six-point first quarter deficit into a 32-point lead at half-time before the Saints were able to regroup in the second-half to set the scene for a titanic final quarter.
Sawtell made their intentions clear from the first bounce and caught the Tigers napping early, dominating the possession to streak out to a 19 point lead midway through the first term.
Quick goals to Patrick Gillingham, Ray McGrath and Les Cohen and Sawtell had the reigning premiers on the back foot before the Tigers were able to settle and kick two goals off the boots of their dynamic forward duo of Lee Anderson and captain Dan Zacek to trail the Saints by 6 at the end of the first term.
After a stern dressing down from Coach Adi Campbell during the break, the Tigers started the second quarter with all guns blazing, Grafton quickly closed the gap and went on to dominate Sawtell in a 7 goal to 1 second quarter that was to be the telling factor in the match.
Three goals to flying winger Chris Holder, two goals for Zacek and a goal each to Lee Anderson and Sam Morrison saw the home side take charge of the term, while at the other end of the ground, the defence of Will and Justin Darby, Kelly Thompson and Ryan Sheather shut down any chance of Sawtell retaliating, only a lone goal to Gillingham got through the rock solid defenders.
At half time the scoreboard showed the Tigers leading the Saints 62 to 30.
Not fazed by the second quarter Tiger blitz, Sawtell were able to regroup in the third quarter and what followed was an epic battle between two very determined sides, at times the game threatened to boil over with plenty of hard tackles and strongly contested football, both the Tigers and the Saints traded blows as Sawtell desperately clawed their way back into the match.
Grafton struggled to contain the talented Patrick Gillingham who managed to find plenty of space and added another 3 goals to his tally and with a goal to Jake Saunders, Sawtell managed to close the gap while the Tigers, with goals to Morrison and Shawn Purton were able to keep the advantage heading into the final term.
With a quarter remaining, the gap had closed to 22 with Grafton leading Sawtell 79 to 57.
The final quarter saw the Tigers again start strongly, the midfielders of Ronald Davis, Scott Onus and Evan Duryea dug deep and continually gave Grafton first use of the ball, but the Saints sensing the game was still there for the taking, applied plenty of pressure to the Tigers forward lines, although Grafton dominated the possession early in the term, inaccuracy in front of goals saw the Tigers kick 5 behinds to give the Saints some hope.
While Grafton were missing opportunities to streak away, Sawtell made the most of their chances at the other end of the ground, goals to Gillingham, McGrath and Rick Zuppula saw the Saints close to within 6 points with 10 minutes still left on the clock and the game hanging on a knife edge.
Battered and bruised from the gruelling tussle, the Tigers midfield stood up in a last ditch effort to shut down a desperate Sawtell, bodies were put on the line and leg cramping was ignored in an effort to keep the ball out of the Saints hands.
While Grafton maintained possession, the behinds continued but with 3 minutes remaining, a quick snap from the ruck by Ronald Davis found the waiting hands of Lee Anderson in front of the uprights who slammed home the final goal of the game and break the spirit of the Saints to the raptures of the crowd.
Although the Saints made one final effort to snatch victory, the Tigers were able to shut down Sawtell in the dying seconds and hand the Saints their first defeat since round 4.
Final Scores:
Grafton Tigers – 12.22 (94)
Sawtell Saints – 11.13 (79)
Goal Kickers: Grafton (L Anderson 3, D Zacek 3, C Holder 3, S Morrison 2, S Purton)
Sawtell (P Gillingham 5, R Zapulla 2, R McGrath 2, L Cohen, J Saunders)
The win has Grafton clear on top of the North Coast AFL ladder with only 5 rounds remaining before the finals, with Sawtell now relegated to third behind Port Macquarie.
In the reserve grade, not even a 9 goal haul to Tigers veteran Mark Blundell was enough to close a 34 point half time deficit to the reserve grade reining premiers Sawtell.
In a high scoring and entertaining match, the Tigers finished strongly but were narrowly defeated by 3 points at the final siren to see them drop to third on the ladder behind the Saints.
Final Scores:
Grafton Tigers: 14.9 (93)
Sawtell Saints: 15.6 (96)
Goal Kickers: Grafton - M. Blundell 9, K. Shannon , J. Carnley , R. WOOLLEY , T. Predo , V. Carnley
Sawtell/Toormina - E. Schmitt 7, P. Churchill 3, R. Zeggers 2, A. Baloh , D. Thompson , E. Linares
Next week the Tigers travel to Macksville to take on the Port Macquarie Magpies.
Last Modified on 01/07/2012 15:37