Sport
6 May, 2026
Cats salute Currie century
MILESTONE games can often lift a team, added to the form shown in the previous two weeks and it was an upbeat Casterton Sandford crowd that gathered at Island Park to cheer on their Cats and in particular, Cal Currie.
West Gambier, though, had brought along their best team and were also up and about after a good win over Penola the week before; a proper game of footy was assured on a temperate yet overcast day.
West got the ball rolling their way early but the Cats’ defenders, led by Sam Tooley, were able to get in front of their opponents and clear the ball out of danger.
After a few minutes the Cats were able to get the ball into their attacking 50 where Archie Lane laid a tackle, forcing the ball loose and gathering the Sherrin, he quickly fired out a handball to Sean Willmott who, in turn, handballed to Currie who pushed forward to Colby Munro who snapped the Cats’ first goal.
Casterton Sandford got the next centre clearance through Currie and Willmott but West were able to stop the attack deep in the Cats’ forward line.
Casterton Sandford kept the footy in their half but the Roos were able to apply enough pressure to force the Cats into wayward kicks for goals and a few behinds were scored.
West eventually made an inside 50 of their own and kicked their first goal after almost 10 minutes of play through Connor Gentile.
Casterton Sandford again got the centre clearance with Alastair McCrae tapping to the returning Jedd Rhook, who booted the ball long into the Cats’ forward arc.
Unfortunately, the Cats continued to be inaccurate in front of goals and another couple of behinds were added to the score.
The Cats kept the ball in their half though and a strong tackle close to goals by Ed Pritchard resulted in the ball spilling to the mercurial Munro, who kicked his and the Cats’ second goal.
The ball-up in the middle again saw the Cats going forward and West again holding their positions well until Diarmid Cleary intercepted the ball at centre half forward and passed to Sam Craig, who had got himself a couple of metres on his opponent; Craig marked and from the angle, goaled.
Casterton Sandford continued to win the ball out of the middle but a sixth behind was scored, followed soon after by a seventh.
West pushed hard to get into their half but were continually stopped by Adam McKinnon, Gabe Parsons and Tooley, until Brody Virgo was able to take a contested mark and goal from 40 metres out, West were keeping themselves in the game with accurate kicking.
Al McCrae roved off his opponent at the next ball-up and passed to Willmott, who then passed long to Hamish McCrae who marked and kicked the Cats’ fourth goal.
The Cats went forward again but West were able to hold them out until the siren sounded to end the quarter - Casterton Sandford up by 19 points.
Cats 4.7 (31) to West 2.0 (12).
The Cats began the second quarter as they had played the first, winning the ball out of the middle.
West’s backs held off the initial onslaught, but Cleary was able to find a way to get the ball to Craig who kicked the Cats’ fifth goal.
Casterton Sandford continued to go forward at the next ball up, Craig and Cleary again teaming up, this time to get the ball to the square where Munro gathered and goaled, with a timely shepherd by Michael Krieger allowing him clear passage.
West were able to go forward from the next ball-up but Josh Jones and Oliver Foster were able to hold off the attack, the ball went from end to end for the next several minutes.
Dylan Ayton was making his presence felt, Matt Mutch laid several tackles and Harold Pritchard showed his opponent a clean set of heels, but it was West who broke the deadlock with a soccer goal.
Another centre clearance by the Cats and the ball found its way to Ayton on the behind post; Dylan, always the team player, spotted Willmott directly in front and passed the ball to Sean, who marked and goaled the Cats’ seventh.
Both sides continued to fight grimly for the ball, but clean possession was proving hard to come by; Sully Gibbs was punching the ball clear of West’s attempts at marking, Adam McKinnon was a tackling machine, while Nick Schembri and Connor Kelly were a brick wall.
West, however, were able to get a late goal but it was the Cats that went in with the lead at half-time by 22 points.
Cats 7.7 (49) to West 4.3 (27).
The third quarter opened with the Cats quickly moving the ball out of the middle with Al McCrae tapping the ball to 100-gamer Currie, who kicked long to Hamish McCrae who marked and goaled.
West pegged that goal back a couple of minutes later when Andrew Stone passed to the leading Michael Minuzzo, who put through the Roos’ fifth goal.
It looked like this quarter was going to be a real shoot-out between the two sides.
The Cats went forward from the next ball-up but it was stopped by Stone from the Roos at the Cats’ half-forward line, he then sent the Sherrin in West’s direction, but the Cats were able to force the Roos wide and a behind was the result.
West kept the ball in their half though and after a few minutes, Brodie Szopory was rewarded a free kick close to goal and he made full use of it.
The promised shoot-out ended there as only one more behind was scored for the quarter and there was still half the quarter to be played.
Credit to both teams as they were both hard at the ball making for many skill errors and keeping the crowd on the edge of their seats or the tips of their toes, the Cats though were able to go into the three-quarter time huddle with a lead of 14 points.
Cats 8.7 (55) to West 6.5 (41).
The final quarter saw West get the first break away from the middle, the Cats held tight in defence and sent the ball back towards the middle, the contests continued to be hard but it was the Roos who, after several minutes, got a goal on the board and were now less than two goals behind the Cats.
Casterton Sandford went forward from the next ball-up, Al McCrae tapping the ball forward and gathering it himself to pass to Schembri who kicked to Ayton on the lead.
Ayton handballed to Willmott, but his kick went slightly left for a behind, but this set up a seven-point play as Oliver Foster intercepted the kick-out from full back and Hamish McCrae kicked the Cats’ ninth goal.
Scoring again dried up but the play continued to excite the crowds from both sides as big tackles and bumps were laid and clean possession came at a premium.
Diarmid Cleary was the cool head under pressure, dumped unceremoniously, he received his free kick and passed to Michael Krieger who kicked to the leading Hamish McCrae, whose safe hands accepted the mark; he went back and gave the Cats their 10th goal.
West were far from done though and a second goal to Lawrence Bradley-Brown a couple of minutes later kept them within three goals of the Cats with eight or nine minutes left to play.
It was not to be for the Roo Boys though, as the Cats held firm; Sam Tooley drifted forward, calling to his team mates to slow things down, West paid him no attention as they manned up the forwards, then he was in the clear 35 metres out and he motioned to Hamish McCrae to pass and Hamish hit Tooley on the chest.
Sam Tooley measured his kick and calmly slotted through, I believe, his first goal for the Cats.
At the end of the quarter the Casterton Sandford Cats had won by 21 points against a very determined West Gambier.
Cats 11.10 (76) defeated West 8.7 (55).
This weekend we travel to Blue Lake Sports Park to play South Gambier; the Demons are always a hard team to beat on their home turf, so we will need to get as many Cat Fans as possible over the border to cheer on our team.
Carn Cats!
Read More: Casterton