AARON DEGREEF
BAROSSA District’s slide down the ladder continued on Saturday as it was thrashed by Angaston by 87 points in Barossa, Light & Gawler A-grade football.
The Panthers immediately displayed their dominance, as Ryder Eberhard opened the scoring with a quick snap.
He was then aided by Ross Kuhn who not only kicked one of his own, but also set-up Eberhard to kick his second.
Despite the tough defensive pressure from Barossa, this trend continued with Jay Shannon, Andrew Pech and Benjamin Antonie kicking a flurry of snags that gave their side a solid lead, all the while keeping the Dogs to only three points.
The Panthers led by 40 points at the first break, and unfortunately for Barossa they continued their spree well into the second stanza.
Their relentless on-ball pressure was supplying goal opportunities to Angus Adams and Pech who lit up the scoreboard.
However, after intense pressure from the Dogs’ midfield, particularly from Ethan Gant and Ben Cummings, Angaston’s ironclad defence finally cracked as Riley Allington kicked two goals for Barossa.
The Panthers led by 53 points at half-time, but it appeared they had taken the foot off the gas early in the third.
Barossa began to win the clearances and kept it within its half for most of the time.
Although, the Dogs were still kept goalless by Angaston’s backline – which was holding up very nicely.
After a brief wrestle across the midfield, Steve Summerton swallowed another mark, which he then converted.
Jake Hood put the afterburners on a short time later to increase his team’s lead to 66 points.
Although the game was already over, Barossa continued to push forward with Daniel Kickel slotting the Dogs’ third goal from 40 metres out.
This was accompanied by great defensive pressure from Nathan Casboult, Jarrod Traynor and Brae McConnell whose efforts stalled the Angaston onslaught for a large proportion of the quarter.
However, undeterred, the Panthers eventually overcame the challenge with Eberhard snapping his fourth, and Steve Rusca and James Paprotny putting the icing on the victory.
Speaking after the game, player-coach Jay Shannon was chuffed with the win.
“We didn’t have any passengers and everyone just played their role,” he said.
“Steven Summerton and Tom Ryan really set the tone for the game by taking control and cutting off Barossa when they rebounded.”
