Another shot on goal was out on the full, Kingscote cleared and the siren blew to finish a remarkable game.

To quote one beaming supporter, “the best $5 I’ve spent in years.”

Full credit to all players, officials and coaching staff for a magnificent match.

With quality players to return for both sides we look to be in for a terrific season of football, with next weeks matches both shaping up to be ball tearers.

Reigning premiers the Eagles take on the rampant Roosters while the formidable Western Districts host an undefeated Dog squad.

Reserves

Kingscote v Parndana

Although a tad one-sided on the scoreboard, the Reserves match was an entertaining one with some good skills from both sides.

A five-goal to zip at first quarter set up the Dogs, with Sam O’Brien his elusive best and Krissy Lee making good use of space.

A two-goal breeze favouring the southern end helped the score, and in the second quarter Parndana used it back, outscoring the home side by two points.

Simon Dennis scored an easy goal from the square to open their account as the Hounds tended to over-finess, while the Roosters played it straight and positioned well.

Simon Kelly marshalled the troops, and Hahns Sullivan showed the way around the packs.

Third quarter began with Matthew Ward weaving through the pack for a great goal.

Chris Chirgwin slotted a long bomb, and Chris Rogers and Michael Ward took control of the middle.

Roosters captain Rob Kelly was having a real battle in ruck with rookie Alex O’Dolan, the honours even but Kingscote’s on-ballers on top.

Another five goal to zip quarter for the Hounds.

Wombat Stewart terrific in defence and Lee Brown also playing well.

Last quarter opened with another goal to Chirgy, Parndana fought back to score two in a row through Sugars and Kanahs, but the run was swiftly over with a quick goal to the Lone Ranga and a great snap from the boundary by Buddy Chirgwin. Nearly made the goal ump choke on his chewy.

Final scores Kingscote 15.7 to the Roosters 3.4. In Senior Colts, Kingscote were far too strong with the mercy rule being applied at half time.

The resulting mix of players enabling all to enjoy a good run, while in the junior game Parndana defeated Kingscote 8.1 to 4.2

KI boys tough it out

SAPSSASA football for 2008 was played at the Barrett Reserve on Military Road opposite the Adelaide Shores Caravan Park.

Kangaroo Island played in Division D against metropolitan teams Western, South Western 2, Salisbury East, Western Eyre Peninsula, Whyalla, Southern Yorke Peninsula, Onkaparinga South and Anangu Lands.

The KI boys got off to an interesting start with two draws on the first day however struggled from there on in against bigger teams.

Coach Heath Gurney was forced to dig deep as he worked hard all week to inspire his squad.

Port Power player Brendan Lade offered his support and came and watched three games and many of the team took advantage of being in Adelaide and popped into AAMI Stadium to catch the Crows at training.

Best players for the week were Damon Weatherspoon, Josh Thomas, Tim Johnson and Travis Hilder.

All the boys showed true grit in fighting on all week, never giving up despite the odds against them.

The week ended with our game against the Anangu Lands. Anangu Lands Coach Neville Woolcock in the spirit of the AFL indigenous round brought the boys together after the game and spoke of the significance and value of SAPSSASA football for all.

Best of KI will take on Hills-Country team on long weekend

Inter-Association Football returns to the League’s program this year with KI’s best travelling to Meadows to take on Hills-Country.

The June 8 long weekend will see two games on the Sunday with a KI U16s side taking on Hills U15s as a curtain raiser to the main event.

Squads will be finalised after training this week.

Last year’s return match to Penneshaw was cancelled at short notice, leaving the Islanders without a chance to atone for the narrow loss at Macclesfield in 2006.

No doubt the boys will be keen to make amends this year, and go the Roos!

In other news, it seems that in the AFL’s 150th year, KI football also celebrates 100 years in 2008.

Evidence exists that both Kingscote and Dudley United Football Clubs were playing organised matches at least as early as 1908, the same year Don Bradman was born, the model T Ford was introduced and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid met their fate in Bolivia.

Kingscote began wearing Norwood’s blue and red colours while Dudley United began in black and white.

Celebrations to mark the milestone are being planned for next year, perhaps a bit late, but better late than never.

The SA Country Football Championships are being held at Berri/Renmark on July 5 and 6, with a good chance of serious involvement by a host of KI footballers.

From these sides a state side is selected to play Victoria later in the year.

Defensive Panthers gives Saints a run

It was another beautiful day at Wisanger with a slight wind that would foul some kicks throughout the day.

The Colts played well but a more experienced Wisanger team won and a fiercely competitive B grade game had Wonks win by just three goals.

The A grade began with two evenly matched teams, one with more experience, the other with youth. Wisanger defended strongly and defended the ball well, creating some beautiful plays but the Saints pulled forwards.

In the second quarter Yogi proved himself to be one of the better ruckmen on KI and the blue boys pushed harder.

Sam Morris fought well for Wisanger and got the ball more often than not. Nathan Ley was a ball hungry full forward, but sadly did not score.

Norm ran hard and tackled some of the biggest players on the field, then got up again to keep fighting.

The Saints took a long time to score, a credit to Wisanger’s defence. This proved to be a frustrating point, as some players from both sides started to get a bit aggressive.

Steve Roswell found Wisanger balls and started plays that resulted in scoring kicks.

Paul Joraslafsky was unstoppable when he got the ball, using his size to his advantage.

There were quick change overs throughout the quarter resulting in a quickly moving ball.

Wisanger came out fighting in the third quarter latching onto ball early. Both teams created plays worthy of AFL.

Wisanger’s defence came into action again, forcing Wonks back time and again, but eventually they did score.

Anthony and Jake Lee were running machines all game, constantly fighting hard for the ball and in the forward lines there was a clash of the titans between Hoggy and Alex Sullivan.

A constant struggle in the centre meant the ball move slowly around the field. But Wisanger started to catch up to Wonks on the score board.

Tim Buck kept in front of his man and as a result got the ball. Wonks seemed to get frustrated again and got aggressive.

Norm fought hard early in the fourth quarter but Wonks scored early and remained aggressive.

Jason Fryar came through with the speed and fed the ball down the field, with Nathan Ley remaining ball hungry. Tim Pengilly found space and Damon Tyley earned his place in the A grade, feeding Ant Lee the ball to result in a goal.

The score did not reflect the game with Wonks coming out on top by a considerable amount.

Lachlan Jardine

Congratulations to Bernie Puttner, who played his 200th game for Western Districts on Saturday and kicked four goals in the process.

Scoreboaed

A Grade

Kingscote 11.9-75 d Parndana 11.8-74

Goalkickers: Kingscote – S Walden 4, L Ramsey 3, D Curtis 1, Daniel Taylor 1, P Green 1, T Smith 1. Parndana – M Mills 4, D Trethewey 3, T Wurst 2, A Holtham 1, S Matthews 1.

Best Players: Kingscote – Damian Taylor, L Johnson, R Christophers, J Edwards, D Florance. Parndana – N Trethewey, M Gilbert, S Matthews, L Wood, J Lade.

Western Districts 13.14-92 d Wisanger 4.11-35

Goalkickers: Western Districts – S Morgan 3, R Clements 2, A Sullivan 2, J Erfurth 1, D Morris 1, J Graham 1, E Whale 1, D Florance 1, S Correll 1. Wisanger – J Lee 2, N Ley 1, A Turner 1.

Best Players: Western Districts – R Clements, P Joraslafsky, D Morris, J Graham, E Whale. Wisanger – A Lee, C Turner, A Hogg, J Fryar, S Morris.

Reserves

Kingscote 15.7-97 d Parndana 3.4-22

Goalkickers: Kingscote – C Chirgwin 4, S O’Brien 2, P Burgess 2, Mat Ward 2, C Rogers 2, K Lee 1, S Johnston 1, Z Edwards 1. Parndana – S Dennis 1, J Sugars 1, P Kanahs 1.

Best Players: Kingscote – Z Edwards, Michael Ward, C Chirgwin, J Stewart, C Rogers. Parndana – R Kelly, M Cooper, H Sullivan, S Watters, S Kelly.

Western Districts 12.7-79 d Wisanger 9.2-56

Goalkickers: Western Districts – B Puttner 4, C Hammat 2, S Holland 2, T Weatherspoon 1, G Bald 1, D Whale 1, A Eichner 1. Wisanger – C Schutz 2, C Boxer 2, W Ducrou 1, S Shurven 1, B Saunders 1, J Lewis 1, S Lewis 1.

Best Players: Western Districts – C Hammat, A Eichner, A Aitken, G Bald, B Puttner. Wisanger – W Ducrou, S Lewis, C Graham, B Treloar, S Shurven.

Senior Colts

Kingscote 22.26-158 d Parndana 0.0-0 (mercy rule applied)

Goalkickers: Kingscote – R Anson 3, J Hodder 2, D Edwards 1, K Wallace 1, P Smith 1, W Crump 1, Rory Lovering 1.

Best Players: Kingscote – D Edwards, Rhys Lovering, K Wallace, J Hodder, H Zealand. Parndana – H Sullivan, E Cohen, A Kelly, M Kelly, B Heatley.

Wisanger 13.7-85 d Western Districts 6.9-45

Goalkickers: Wisanger – S Lewis 6, P Collins 3, J Kildea 1, B West 1, N Mandel 1, A Berggren 1. Western Districts – A Anderson 4, J Nolan 1, L Hacker 1.

Best Players: Wisanger – S Lewis, D Tyley, P Collins, J Tyley, J Kingi. Western Districts – D Weatherspoon, A Anderson, L Boyle, R Noti, J Kerry.

Junior Colts

Parndana 8.1-49 d Kingscote 4.2-26

Goalkickers: Parndana – D Clifford 3, J McMulkin 2, B Wickham 1, F May 1, R Barter 1. Kingscote – A Ripley-Dennis 3, K Patty 1.

Best Players: Parndana – D Clifford, R Barter, B Wickham, D Hannaford, T McMulkin. Kingscote – H Crump, A Ripley-Dennis, S Kempster, T Lovering, L Faint.

Wisanger 10.2-62 d Western Districts 4.6-30

Goalkickers: Wisanger – D Turner 2, J Collins 2, J Kildea 1, T Griffiths 1, L Sampson 1, J Church 1, E Warner 1, J Munro 1. Western Districts – L Florance 1, H Gloyne 1, A Johnson 1, A Hilder 1.

Best Players: Wisanger – L Sampson, J Kildea, J Munro, D Lockett, C Munro. Western Districts – H Gloyne, C Riggs, J Nott, A Hilder, L Florance.