Sport
6 May, 2026
Blossoming juniors storm home to break the drought
THE drought is broken for the Under 14.5 Cats, their first win on the board for 2026 - their first since 2024.
An up-and-coming, but still winless Under 14.5 side was to come up against a similarly winless West Gambier Blue for the second home game at Island Park in 2026.
The boys had not had any success yet, but were getting closer and closer to the achievement after a 54-point defeat in round one, a 46-point defeat in round two and a mere seven-point defeat to Millicent on Anzac Day, after the same side had beaten them by 30 goals last year and put out a couple of thrashings to start the season.
The young Cats were getting edging nearer to getting it done and were out for blood against another struggling side and with the morning sun beating down, the ball was thrown up and cleared straight away into the Roos’ forward 50, which was the southern side of the ground closest to the pool and was heavily favoured by the gusty northerly winds.
The Cats scrambled the football out, but it was quickly returned and marked by the Kangaroos and booted through for the first goal of the day.
This goal was immediately followed by another West centre clearance, this time however it only resulted in a point.
The Cats were hemmed in early and the defence was working hard to clean up and clear away consistent entries, but West Gambier was persistent and would not let up, scoring a second point from a shallow snap and another from a booming kick on the far side near the intersection of the boundary and the 50 line.
Ominous sides early, but remember, West was kicking to the scoring end.
The Cats’ defence continued to work tirelessly and finally an exit was successful, getting to half forward before West won the ball back, but superb tackling pressure from three or four Cats hanging off one West Gambier man turned it back our way and we got out first inside 50 through Brody Davis, who got it into the hands of Darcy Gorman for the Cats’ first.
West Gambier had been winning the clearances to start the game and that did not change as they won the third centre clearance of the day, but they had that ascendancy and were not capitalising upon it, missing four shots at goal of varying difficulty and hitting the post twice or thrice to take them up to one goal seven behinds.
Casterton Sandford were able to flow forward and once again get the ball to Darcy Gorman, who boldly took on two West defenders and won the battle, beating them for speed and even having a bounce on the way in for a great goal, our second goal of the day and somehow only a one-point deficit.
The rest of the quarter was rather uneventful, the ball spending time in West’s forward line but only for one more behind, the ball yet again slamming into the post for another West Gambier behind.
The Cats got into quarter-time rather unscathed considering the Roos dominance, only behind two points, 1.8 (14) to two straight, 12.
It was now the Cats’ turn to kick with the breeze in the second quarter; despite that, West Gambier got the first clearance, again using their dominance out of the middle and locked the ball in, applying all sorts of pressure to the desperate Cats’ backline, before finally breaking the back and a run of eight behinds to pop through their second goal of the morning.
It was the Cats turn to win it out of the middle this time, George Robbins getting it forward to Riley Gorman, to Zeb Beaton, who snapped on the boundary and barely missed for the Cats’ first behind.
The Cats were to lock the ball in now and every time the Roos exited, the Cats would bring the football straight back in with pin-point passes and steady marking hands.
The Cats were completely dominating this stretch of the game, giving West no avenues whatsoever to escape and slowly but surely suffocating the Roos.
Unfortunately, the Cats were struggling to get it through the big sticks, the only scores in this period of dominance coming from a pair of rushed behinds, West Gambier quite happy to concede to reprieve some of the relentless pressure the Cats were applying.
Finally, West looked to have gained some possession, their captain Kalan Schultze bursting out of the backline and taking a few bounces, before slipping over and being swarmed by a group of hungry Cats.
Holding the ball!
The Cats were able to capitalise from their forward foray this time, the ball finding its way into the hands of out talented vice-captain Zeb Beaton, who spun around and snapped the Cats into the lead on the eve of half time!
When you give a young team belief, they will not stop and will let their momentum grow and this was seen just moments later as the Cats won out of the middle, getting into the forward 50.
Again, Darcy Gorman, Brody Davis and Fraser Richardson all involved as the Cats did anything and everything possible to continue a tsunami towards goal, until the ball got into the hands of Riley Gorman, who was pushed hard against the grandstand boundary and moments before the siren had a ping at the big sticks and scored an unbelievable goal for our fourth and a seven-point half time lead.
The third quarter started with a bang and West Gambier, with their second go at kicking towards the scoring end, almost instantly shot through the first of the second half and got the deficit back to a solitary point.
Once again, the Roos got forward from the centre, but were not able to capitalise, hitting the post for a fifth time and tying the scores.
The next play from the Cats was something seen only by a young team full to the brim with confidence.
The boys managed to traverse the field, from one end to another, with absolute precision, direct chip kicks both in and out of the centre being marked with safe hands.
This play and marking ability was showcased all the way down to the forward line, where West did manage to win the ball back briefly but kicked shockingly across the face of goal, the pass shooting directly over its targets head and into the hands of Fletcher McKinnon, who ran in and slammed the Cats’ fifth major through.
West won the following tap and came directly out the front of the centre circle, captain Kalan Schultze launching a booming ball through the middle to tie the scores again.
The scores were tied only briefly as Fraser Richardson won a free kick and bullet passed it forward to a leading Darcy Gorman at the top of the goal square, who ran in and once again restored the one goal Casterton Sandford lead, while kicking his third in the process.
As had previously occurred however, the lead was only brief, West Gambier scrambling forward and outnumbering the Cats, who, to their credit, did incredibly well to stop a goal, but were eventually worked through for another West goal, the scores being tied for the third time in the quarter, 39-apiece.
This was quickly becoming the game of the year.
The Cats won the next inside 50 entry and were not able to initially go straight for goal as they had previously, but either way got the Sherrin all the way to the goal line, where it was picked up by Zeb Beaton near the behind post and dribbled home for a spectacular goal for the Cats’ seventh and his second and a Cats lead for the umpteenth time.
In doing this, this was the grade’s highest score since round 13, 2024 and it was not even three-quarter-time.
West were able to go forward for a final time in the quarter, but again could not capitalise on the scoreboard, missing not once but twice, one from a set shot, another resulting from something of which I am unsure, as all I had written down was ‘West kick behind’.
The Cats took a four-point lead into three quarter time, but were kicking with the wind in the last and were fuller with confidence than ever before.
The boys got in a tight huddle and encouraged each other on for one last quarter of the scintillating football they had been playing, the belief was there they could take themselves to the first win many of them had experienced.
The final stanza began and West, as they had done in every quarter, went forward first, but ferocious and determined tackling from the Cats saved the goal, and the lead, on multiple occasions.
The Cats got it forward and were applying unbelievable pressure to an under siege backline, the Kangaroos desperately defending against a surging Cats outfit.
They won the backline battle and looked out through the middle of the ground, handballing forward and running and carrying with confidence.
It looked like a certain score.
The goal and the lead beckoned, but astoundingly, a kick from 20 metres out skewed almost out on the full, before the ball was picked up and handballed into the corridor for yet again another almost certain score, but somehow, this kick also shot off the side of the boot and missed the lot.
The Cats took this advantage and transitioned up the field lightning quick, getting the ball to Darcy Gorman, who was in acres of his own space and strolled in for his fourth goal to put the Cats out by 10!
The Cats were so close they could feel it and that feeling was made better when Casterton Sandford again went forth to our top forward Darcy Gorman, who was 40 metres out on a 45-degree angle.
Darcy took all of his allotted time, steadily came in and split the middle perfectly, sending the crowd and his teammates alike into an absolute frenzy and with five minutes left, virtually sealed the first Cats win since round 15 of 2024
The Roos were not going to lie down, but a Cats outfit that was storming away and a clock that had become an enemy was always going to make it difficult.
They did get it forward and quickly pull the goal back, their number 15, Mitchell Bowering, rushing back and putting one through to pull the margin back to 10 with the clock down to three minutes.
The Cats won the clearance and went forward for one behind, but West were still trying and trying to give themselves a shot and got it forward to their big forward Hunter Wyatt, who rushed through his routine with the clock now down to a minute and sent it out on the full.
Casterton Sandford was going to hold on!
The Cats finished with another transition into their forward line, the ball going to ground and being handed to the umpire for a throw up as the siren sounded.
An 11-point win!
The Cats came together, elation and excitement flowing as they celebrated their first win in over a year, a win, which after three great efforts to no avail to start the year, 16 losses last year, nine of which were over 100 points and 21 losses in a row in total, was so, so well-deserved and so, so needed.
This win was to be our young Cats’ momentum-changing and season-defining win and with the belief there, anything is possible.
Credit to the Cats’ coaching staff, headed by Phil Sidoti, for coaching the boys into a winning team and credit to these boys, who have stuck with it in thrashing after thrashing after thrashing, this was reward for all of that pain.
This week the 14.5s head to Blue Lake Sports Park to take on South Gambier White, who started the year with a damaging loss to West Gambier Red and a single point win over East Gambier Red.
It was great to see the boys prevail after so many defeats, and they will fancy themselves to win again in this next game.
Go the Cats!
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