RICK DREWER
THE South Gawler Lions travelled
across town to the Gawler
Oval to play reigning premier
Gawler Central in the traditional
derby and a rematch of last
year’s grand final, and blew out
the Tigers to win 24.13 (157) to
11.2 (68) to send a message to the
competition.
It was a 147-point turnaround
from Central’s 58-point grand final
win, and while it’s just one minor
round win, it shows how far this
South Gawler team has come.
The Tigers won the toss and in
good conditions, courtesy of Charlie
Molyneux, opened the scoring
seven minutes in after a tight and
tough opening.
Jaden Gurney and Dan Goulding
responded with majors for the Lions,
while Jordan Serle, aided by
Molyneux, potted one for the Tigers
to remain in touch, trailing by seven
at the first break despite controlling
the first 10 minutes.
Tom Phelps marked strongly and
slotted a major to open the second
stanza for the Tigers before Dean
Cutting, Brodie Hudson and Steve
Burton decided to ignite the Lions
into action, resulting in a completely
dominant quarter of play as
South put seven goals on the board,
doubling the Tigers score taking a
33-point lead into the long interval.
For the opening 10 minutes of
the third term, the Tigers looked
like they were clawing their way
back with three six-pointers from
Alex Robertson, Kyle Wurst and
Molyneux – before the floodgates
opened.
The Lions responding with the
next seven goals to extend their
lead to 63 points at the last changeover.
While Pat White controlled the
defence, Cutting, Burton, Bailey
Fielke and Kane Officer bobbed up
everywhere in a true team performance.
South simply took control – the
Lions won the clearances and
stoppages, demonstrated far more
method in going forward, and made
the most of a a well-disciplined and
open forward zone with cool heads
delivering the ball forward regardless
of pressure.
Despite the conditions getting
darker and the temperature dropping
for the final stanza, the Tigers
put up a brave effort for the first 10
minutes, led by Molyneux, Kyle
Wurst, Tyson Duffield and Brad
Pilkington, before they ran out of
gas.
For the third consecutive quarter,
South Gawler kicked seven goals
to extend the winning margin to 89
points at the final siren, putting the
Tigers out of their misery.
A staggering 37-13 scoring shots
reflect, accurately, the dominance
of the visitors, and raise serious
concern about the Tigers.
There is no doubt Gawler Central
has its players in good condition,
but it is clear the Tigers were actually
very competitive for the opening
10 minutes of each quarter before
crumbling each time.
The Lions look the goods and
next week’s home clash with the
high-flying Kapunda Bombers
promises to be a beauty.