Sport
6 May, 2024
Maryborough’s toughest day, losing by 333 points to Sandhurst
In terms of Maryborough’s rich football history, perhaps there aren’t going to be days tougher than this one. An extremely powerful Sandhurst team rolled into Barker Oval Princes Park, while a Magpies team riddled with injury, little depth and...
In terms of Maryborough’s rich football history, perhaps there aren’t going to be days tougher than this one.
An extremely powerful Sandhurst team rolled into Barker Oval Princes Park, while a Magpies team riddled with injury, little depth and overall player unavailability gave what they could, but could not counter anything the Bendigo Football Netball League (BFNL) premiership favourites brought to the table.
It’s obvious the Magpies are battling at the moment — there was no reserves for a second week in succession thanks to another forfeit, and there’s also no doubting the 333-point defeat will be much-talked about on media channels, not just in the district, but across the state this week.
Here are the facts from those in the know — the Magpies continued to fight the game out and chose to continue playing their way instead of taking the easy way out and throwing numbers behind the ball to restrict Sandhurst’s ball movement up forward, but, respectfully, this was not a game between two teams anywhere near the same weight division.
Sandhurst burst out of the blocks as the Dragons kicked 11 goals in the first term, compared with Maryborough’s solitary effort through Fraser Russell, to lead by 66 points at the first change.
The Dragons continued to show they are a force to be reckoned with, kicking 17 goals in the second term, while the Magpies added a second goal through Russell, with the margin sitting at 166 points by half time.
By the third quarter, it was all the Dragons as they dictated the play and did what they pleased as they moved the ball with genuine ferocity, poise and class. By no means did the Magpies give up, but the reality is that a team without the likes of regulars Joel Swatton, Alex Brown, Ty Stewart and Seb Collins just weren’t going to prove competitive, and the margin sat at 250 points at the last change, with Sandhurst adding 13 goals to no score.
The last quarter saw the Magpies add a behind to their score, their first since the second quarter and Russell’s goal, but Sandhurst continued to put their foot on the throat, kicking another 13 goals to make it a 333-point win, 54.23 (347) to 2.2 (14).
Sadly for the Magpies, it was a day of unwanted records. The Sandhurst score was the highest score the BFNL has ever seen, as well as the biggest winning margin.
The club’s player crisis has coupled in to playing two teams expected to compete for this year’s BFNL premiership, having lost by a combined 591 points across the last two weeks.
However, it appears relief will be forthcoming, with two byes in three weeks, and a number of players set to come in after this patch. Coby Perry, Kya Lanfranchi, Tom Myers, Aidan Medlyn, Josh Britten and Russell were the best players for the Magpies.
Meantime, the under 18s team had a tough assignment against the Dragons, eventually losing by 93 points.
The club will now have a bye before reconvening in two weeks against South Bendigo.