AARON DEGREEF
A TOWERING goal from Lee Sutton after the siren gave Willaston a stunning three-point win over Barossa District in Barossa, Light & Gawler A-grade football on Saturday.
Although both sides started the game looking switched on, the Donnybrooks seemed to initially capitalise on their early opportunities with Jamie Williams immediately playing on to open the coring
with an accurate snap.
Michael Howson added Willaston’s second after a 25-metre penalty put him dead in front, before Michael Baraglia marked and converted for Barossa’s first.
To end the quarter, Zach Hentschke got a free kick from a chase down tackle, and then immediately ran off the mark to kick another for the Donnybrooks, giving them a 10-point lead at the first break.
Willaston continued its solid run early in the second term, with Williams and Josh Waldhuter slotting a goal apiece in quick succession.
After a lengthy wrestle in the midfield, the Dogs fought it out of there multiple times with a trio of passes being fed to Jaydn Goodfellow, who converted from every opportunity.
Luckily for Willaston, Howson marked on the siren and put the Donnys in front by 15 points.
With the game still very much up for grabs, both teams appeared rejuvenated after the main break.
Barossa landed the first punch, with the footy launching from the midfield and into the hands of Goodfellow, who snapped his fourth.
With the intensity lifting, Barossa’s Jarrod Traynor and Ethan Gant both kicked impressive goals from the boundary line to finally put their team in front.
Although the Willaston backline initially resisted the intense Bulldogs offensive, Gant lost his man and continued the scoring streak with a snap.
Goodfellow was also looking very dangerous with multiple marks, but the strong wind saw him miss a couple of chances.
The Dogs led by eight points at threequarter-time, but they struggled early in the last term to maintain that lead.
Andrew Casboult kicked an early goal, but the Donnybrooks hit back through Waldhuter with two more goals, as well as Howson.
Barossa then returned the favour via Daniel Kickel, who tumbled the footy through, but not before Howson kicked yet another major.
With mere minutes left, both sides continued battling until Williston’s Lee Sutton marked the ball on the siren, and put it through from 50 metres out with a massive kick to seal the deal.
After the game, Willaston coach Shaun Baker was excited to notch his side’s third victory of the year and commended the performance of Chad Norsworthy.
“We just had a bit of a lapse in the third quarter where (Barossa) scored three to four goals,” he said.
“We just need to get that out of our game.
“Chad had a great game, with around 50 touches…they didn’t go near him to be honest, they didn’t man him up and he was just our go-to player.”
