STRATHFIELDSAYE was able to consistently answer the challenge from Sandhurst on Saturday to remain one game clear at the top of the BFNL ladder.
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The Storm extended its winning streak to eight in a row with a 15-point victory at the Queen Elizabeth Oval, winning 11.11 (77) to 9.8 (62) as it defeated the reigning premiers for the second time this season to improve to 9-1.
The Storm kept its nose in front from the second quarter onwards and always had the response to the Dragons, who have now dropped six points outside the top three.
Two late goals in the final three minutes of the second quarter to Harry Conway and Lachlan Sharp gave the Storm a 15-point buffer at half-time after the Dragons had worked to cut an 11-point deficit back to three against the tide of the momentum
And again in the third term the Storm were able to kick the steadying goal when necessary after the Dragons had done the bulk of the attacking with the first five scoring shots of the quarter, kicking 1.4 to close within five points.
Yet having been held scoreless for the first 18 minutes of the quarter, the Storm responded with two goals in two minutes to skip back out to a 17-point advantage.
The second of those crucial majors came when Lachlan Ratcliffe on debut had a moment to savour with his first senior goal when he pounced on the ball, snapped and got a lucky bounce for a goal.
But Sandhurst wouldn’t lie down and came again, this time with a pair of goals in quick succession to forwards Matt Gray and Matt Thornton that brought the surging Dragons back within a kick.
The game was up for grabs at three quarter-time with the Storm ahead by six points, 9.7 to 8.7, before the ladder-leaders kicked the first two goals of the final term through Shannon Geary and Jake Heavyside – who roved a defensive punch from the Dragons’ Codie Price – to again assume control.
It was a game played with plenty of feeling that you’d expect of two combatants that have met in two of the past three grand finals.
After the game had simmered with several spotfires during the second term, it boiled over at the 16-minute mark of the quarter when the Storm’s Jake Heavyside was yellow-carded after late contact on Alex Wharton.
Wharton had earlier in the quarter earned the ire of Storm players after flattening Sharp.
Strathfieldsaye named emerging ruckman Alex Powell its best player. Powell made an early impact, kicking the Storm’s first two goals, and could have added a third but missed after the three quarter-time siren.
Young gun midfielder Jake Moorhead and the polished Jamieson Sheahan were others to impress.
On-baller Lee Coghlan was best for the Dragons, kicking three of their nine goals, while tenacious defender Josh Hann did a fine job in restricting the league’s leading goalkicker Sharp to two goals.
