Demons Demolish Hawks

Liam Nye, captured by Four Quarter Photography

Langhorne Creek won the toss and kicked with a slight breeze on a picture-perfect Willunga afternoon. The visitors dominated the first ten minute of the game and could easily have hammered home 4 goals. Their inaccuracy allowed Willunga to gain their composure free of scoreboard pressure.

Langhorne’s Lachlan Bates was injured at the opening bounce and assisted off the field. When the game resumed Langhorne played inspired footy and had the ball in their forward lines until the 10-minute mark when Willunga finally found space and hit targets with hand and foot. Nobes marked and goaled in the Demons’ first foray into the 50-metre zone. Derham and Clifford were finding a lot of the ball but it was the Hawk’s skipper, Dominish, who kicked their opening goal. A Dan Lee pinpoint pass to Nobes allowed hm to kick his second then Draper, ran out of a pack, turned onto his right and kicked the Demons’ third. Late in the quarter Lee won a free and goaled then Saunders found space, marked and kicked a major to give Willunga a handy lead at quarter time.

The second quarter was a repeat of the first: Willunga extended their lead to 7 goals. The home side kicked their first within a minute after Dumesne ran from the backlines, hit up Hutchens who moved the ball to McDonald and on to Lee who kicked truly. Dalitz almost got it back for the Creek but his shot hit the post. His teammate Howell did not miss when the opportunity presented. Draper kicked his second at the other end. Langhorne created an excellent opportunity to goal with their run and carry through the central corridor but Miegel got a defensive boot to a bobbling ball and ensured a minor score. Willunga’s midfielders were unstoppable – Stark, Sam Renney and Nye won many hard balls and used their kicks effectively.  Nobes won a free and goaled. The next two minutes were the Sam Renney show. He read a centre-square tap from Shirvington, raced to space and bounced the ball through the big sticks from 60-metres. He repeated the effort from the next bounce but his long shot was touched by Derham on the goal line. A minute later again he ran around three opponents and slammed another goal though the big sticks. Langhorne streamed the ball forward from the next centre-square bounce only to be rebuffed by a bull-like charge from the veteran Haskett. He dashed from full back, belted the ball forward, chased it down, gave an opponent the ‘don’t argue’ and cleared the footy deep into his team’s forward lines as the halftime siren sounded.

The premiership quarter was all Willunga – they kicked 6 goals to nil. Nobes, Lee and Stark split the big sticks in the first 5-minutes then Nobes kicked another followed by Sam Renney’s fourth after a kick to space by Miegel. Draper kicked another before Langhorne hit the scoreboard. Dominish, Howell, Bruce and Derham were busy and set up opportunities but Clifford and Cleggett’s shots both missed.

The last quarter was a repeat of the third until the visitors kicked two late goals. Willunga’s big men, Bass and Shirvington were instrumental in creating opportunities for their runners. Draper soccered home his fifth goal before Sam Renney kicked his fourth and Beath his first. Kropp and Towk kicked goals for the visitors to add some respectability to their team’s tally. Just before the final siren sounded, Stark cleared the ball from centre, Saunders swooped on it forward of the wing, streaked towards goals and boomed home a 55-metre major to make the winning margin 108 points.

By Alan Tucker