Jets dismantle Dragons

The Western Jets have delivered the Sandringham Dragons their second loss of the 2018 TAC Cup season, winning 12.17 (89) to 9.3 (57) on Saturday at the Trevor Barker Beach Oval.

Despite kicking the first three goals of the match and taking a seven-point lead into quarter time, the Dragons were outplayed for the rest of the game as the Jets controlled the ball in their forward half.

Wasteful efforts in front of goal for the Jets kept Sandringham in the game early, before a blistering four-goal start to the final quarter sealed the win for the away side.

“There’s glimpses of our game plan that when our players execute it to the standard we require it’s a real advantage for us over other sides, but we’re just inconsistent with it,” Dragons coach Jeremy Barnard said.

“There’s stuff there that we have to work on and we’ll continue to do that and there’s a lot of stuff that we really like, we’ve just got to get better at what we’re good at.”

Captain Bailey Smith was named best-afield for Sandringham after starring in the midfield and up forward in his first TAC Cup game since round 1.

“Bailey’s work rate is exceptional, his leadership is great and that’s why he’s captain of the team,” Dragons assistant coach Fraser Cameron said.

The coaches’ award was given to key-defender Corey Watts after intercepting a number of Jets’ attacks. Tom Deane-Johns debuted and became the Dragons’ first father-son player, with his dad Gabe having represented the club in the 1990s.

The result leaves both clubs with a record of 3-2 after five rounds.

Sandringham’s next game is against Gippsland Power on Sunday, May 13 at Morwell Football Ground.

Sam Bunn

Story originally appeared in the Bayside Leader