Casterton Sandford could not compete with smooth operator South Gambier in a one-sided Western Border football contest at Island Park on Saturday.

The Demons had to overcome wind, rain and a hungry Cats team and did it all with ease, cruising to a comfortable 52-point victory.

The foundations for the big win were laid in the opening term when South came out at full steam.

Demons’ coach Brayden Kain led from the front kicking the first major, but the hosts showed some fight being able to bounce back instantly.

A strong tackle from Billy Galpin setup the chance for Dylan Ryan to open Casterton Sandford’s account.

However, South showed its strength for the remainder of the quarter with Colby Munro generating pace off the wing to create ample opportunities for Kain and Brodie Foster and by the time quarter time arrived, the visitors were flying 27 points up.

“The first quarter set the tone for us,” Kain said.

“It was our best first quarter of the year and I did not know what to expect after a short turnaround from a couple of hard games.

“Casterton had a few good wins so we thought they were going to come out pretty confident.

“Last year I think they were in front against us in both games being physical and vocal putting us on the back foot.

“So I encouraged the boys to roll the dice and throw everything at them, which we did with a really positive energy.”

With six goals already on the board there was little stopping South, although the home side managed to stop some of the bleeding as the game went on.

The Demons were never able to score with as much freedom, but kept ensuring Casterton Sandford was not in contention.

The battle for possession tightened in the second term with Cats’ youngster Jack Thompson not afraid to knock Kain off his feet with a fierce bump.

But the red and white kept creating chances and Taylor Saffin wowed with a classy left-foot finish on the boundary from the clubroom’s pocket.

Another Foster goal pushed South’s lead beyond 50 points, which gave the team plenty of freedom into the second half when the rain arrived.

This meant the final two quarters were more even and scrappy affairs with the Cats kicking more goals, but the Demons collecting more points to seal the win.

Despite contending with two defenders at times, Foster ran riot booting five big ones with Kain in strong support kicking four.

But the coach paid credit to the younger legs up the ground, who cut the Cats apart in space to build the win.

“The longer you let Casterton stick around the harder it becomes to break away from them, so getting a little breathing room on the scoreboard allowed our younger fellas to play their natural games,” Kain said.

“Brock Keding has shown some responsibility and become incredibly consistent, so has Colby Munro.

“We never allowed Casterton to get on a run to kick multiple goals and wrestle some momentum back.”