Saint-illating St Mary’s
GFL Peak form by Saints in big win
ST MARY’S co-coach Glenn Keast has seen his side play some scintillating footy this season — but this was something else.
“I thought our second quarter of football was as good as we’ve played in a long time,” Keast said after his side’s imposing qualifying final win on Saturday.
“Against good quality opposition, we kept the foot on the throat and kept pushing away from them, which was good.”
In an ominous warning, the Saints repeated history by crushing St Joseph’s on GMHBA Stadium, this time with a 51-point hiding on the back of a stunning seven-goal second quarter.
In last year’s semi-final between the two sides, St Mary’s won by 40 points, yet if anything, Saturday’s victory came in even more impressive fashion, given the Saints won so convincingly despite the late withdrawals of stars Aiden Grace (VFL) and Josh Cowan (soreness).
They now face minor premier Leopold in next Saturday’s second semi-final, with the winner to progress straight through to the grand final.
St Mary’s claimed a fast start on Saturday, thanks to Tom Gillies booting two goals inside the opening four minutes before St Mary’s kicked seven unanswered goals in the second term to blow St Joseph’s away.
Gun forward Sam Dobson kicked three goals in that period and finished the game with a bag of six.
St Joseph’s did not kick a goal for just over 40 minutes of play between the second and third quarters, as the Saints’ run-and-carry game, led by Jarryd Garner and Paddy Dowling, caused havoc on the open expanses of GMHBA Stadium.
“We certainly had a pretty strong theme on how we wanted to play, and I thought we executed that pretty well,” Keast said.
“I think we had 18 tackles in the first quarter and that really set the scene for the day.
“We know we run really well and get on the outside, but we knew we had to match them on the inside and I thought we did that really well.”
Bookends Gillies (three goals) and Ryley Hall were also impressive in the victory, however VFL-listed young