STRATHFIELDSAYE put in the perfect preparation for September’s second semi-final with a 58-point drubbing of South Bendigo on Saturday night.
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Playing under the QEO lights, just as the big final will be on September 8, the Storm made light of the rain showers and the icy conditions to win comfortably.
The Bloods had few targets in attack with Kaiden Antonowicz held goalless by Shaun Dwyer and had to rely on opportunist Brock Harvey (three goals) for the bulk of their scoring.
At the other end Strathfieldsaye’s key forwards Bryce Curnow and Lachlan Sharp combined for a haul of nine majors between them as the Storm rolled home 13.19 (97) to 5.9 (39).
With ruckman Callum Crisp on top, South was reasonably competitive for the first quarter-and-a-half as Harvey slotted two goals and busy Zac Hare nailed another 12 minutes into the second term.
But the Storm had seven majors on the scoreboard by the time Hare drove home his goal with Sharp (2), Sam Heavyside, Fergus Payne (2) and Curnow (2) all on line with their shots.
Curnow’s set shot at the Barnard Street end was a ripper. He let fly at the left hand goalpost and watched as the breeze gradually bent the ball back to split the posts.
Storm’s Lachlan Wallace took the mark-of-the-night at the city end as he soared above the pack, but his shot-on-goal hit the post.
Showers drenched the QEO surface during the half-time break before South’s Harvey opened the scoring in the slippery conditions.
He marked a sloppy Storm clearing kick and nursed home his third major.
Curnow added two more majors for the Storm, the second after he stepped around the man-on-the-mark and screwed home his fourth.
The earlier intensity of play had dropped by the midway point of the third term and steady rain 25 minutes in impacted on the quality of the game.
Sharp’s third major, though, was a beauty. The ball was pounded into an unmanned forward line, Sharp was foiled momentarily by a bad bounce but he ran back onto the ball and snapped a great goal.
Kallen Geary took over in the final term. Just as he’d done in last year’s grand final the Strathfieldsaye skipper continually banged the ball deep into the front half from his half-back flank.
Sharp was the recipient of one Geary thrust and nailed his fourth goal from Geary’s long clearing kick.
Hugh Robertson, who had been a busy forward all evening, ran onto a loose ball and scored a goal with a low, flat shot.
Storm coach Troy Coates who sat out the last quarter as a precaution with ice strapped to his left knee said full-back Shaun Dwyer had come from a rugby background.
“He hates being beaten so with his competitiveness keeping Kaiden (Antonowicz) to no goals was a great effort.
“He hands the opposition’s small forwards complete frustration --- he never gives them an inch.”
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