RICK DREWER
WILLASTON has sent Kapunda to the bottom of the Barossa, Light & Gawler A-grade football table after it won a 40-goal shootout by 22 points on Saturday.
The game was played in perfect conditions without even a zephyr of a breeze, and it was great, entertaining footy from the very start.
Donnybrooks skipper Tyson Irlam, having instructed his side as they ran onto the ground “no pretty stuff, play hard, tough football”, nailed Willaston’s second goal after Matt Stewart slotted their first, inside the opening six minutes.
Then, it was the Bombers’ turn.
Goals to Justin Zanandrea, Brad Valentine, Joel Foster and two to Joey Brown, who looked like he had the ball on a string, saw Kapunda move to a three-goal lead.
That was cancelled out by Alex Barclay and Josh Waldhuter, who kicked two late goals for Willaston to snatch a one-point lead at the first change.
After Brodhi Carracher scored an early major for the Bombers at the start of the second term, the Donnys got the next six – Waldhuter having four by half-time – before Kapunda bagged two late goals to reduce their deficit to 18 points at the long break.
With Irlam popping up all over the place, and Waldhuter and Michael Howson providing focal points upfront, Willaston appeared to be doing it just that little bit better.
The third term was a mirror image of the first two, with Waldhuter (two) and Howson (one) getting the first three majors within the first six minutes, followed by the Bombers collecting the next five goals.
However, the Donnys scored three late goals to increase their lead to 23 points at the final break.
Hayden Moss and Adam Turrell were having a great battle in ruck, while Brad Prior, Brad Valentine and Jake Haggard for Kapunda, and Zach Hentschke and Brodie Cormach for Willaston, all had their moments.
Willaston coach Shaun Baker gave his players a stern message at three-quarter-time.
“We don’t roll over any more, hit them hard, go for 30 minutes, don’t stop, and you’ll win,” he said.
Just for something different, the final term was, again, a duplicate of the previous one, with both sides trading braces of goals.
Waldhuter collected his seventh snag, before Matt Stent scored the final goal for the Bombers to win the quarter by one point, but not the match.
