After 570 long days without a win, a huge roar could be heard from both sides of the border on Saturday evening when Casterton Sandford made an emotional return to the Western Border A Grade winner’s circle.
Having not sung the team song since September 2019, the Cats performed the ritual with plenty of gusto after knocking off West Gambier on its home turf at Malseed Park.
Not only had Casterton Sandford gone so long without a victory, it has been a club dragged through the mud by the lingering effects of COVID-19 during that time and all these factors meant Kane Forbes’ boys released many emotions after the final siren.
“Those at the ground saw what it meant to so many people because the last couple years have been pretty tough,” he said.
“A lot of work has been done behind the scenes to put us in this position and to the boys’ credit they played a four-quarter performance to get the chocolates.
“It would not have been the end of the world if we lost, but the belief it brings to the group is massive.
“I am really happy for everyone.”
After winning a favourable toss, the Cats went with the wind and made the most of it.
The new-look Roos outfit led by Daron McElroy were caught in the headlights as the Victorians unleashed an attack rarely seen from the blue and white hoops in recent years.
The likes of Diarmid Cleary, Dylan Ayton and Ed Pritchard smashed their opponents in the clearances and gave the forwards plenty of chances which were converted regularly.
By quarter time Casterton enjoyed a 20-point lead, but knew it had to switch into defensive mode as West received the advantage after the break.
Although the home side missing Lawry Bradley-Brown wrestled back some possession thanks to the gutsy efforts of returning stars McElroy and Lewis Lean, amazingly it could not make an inroad into the deficit.
Despite being bombarded by the hosts the Cats’ defence led by Jack Thompson managed to only concede two behinds by putting immense pressure on the ball carrier.
Forbes said the slow-moving quarter where only three behinds troubled the scorers was critical to the result.
“We were under enormous pressure from West with less than 10% of the ball played in our forward half,” he said.
“But we were able to absorb it and keep putting the pressure on laying lots of tackles to stop those outside runners and that set us up for the rest of the game.”
Hamish McCrae fought hard against McElroy in the ruck and made impacts on the scoreboard to assist the main targets Adam Mckinnon and Ricky Killey, who were both productive scoring a combined tally of five goals.
Early in the last quarter Nathan Taylor threatened to keep West’s faint hopes alive by kicking the last of his three majors, but Casterton Sandford never relented.
The Victorians were cleaner with the ball and were always ready to hit the Roos’ bodies hard in the contests to manufacture a win which released two and a half years of bottled emotions.
