Kingston seeking out its destiny

Both A grade teams had some key players missing, but the players that did play put on a great contest for the fans to watch and everyone was on the edge of their seats right to the finish.

Keith got the start they wanted as Billy Wade got the first goal in the contest to get the Crows going early. Campbell watts then got the reply for the Saints quickly after as the game started to settle.

Kingston then went in to a great defensive mode for ten minutes and really pressured the Crows hard and it started to open things up for the Saints to get some scoreboard pressure on the Crows.

Classy left footer Ethan Murdock was able to pounce on a Crows defensive mistake and dribble a left foot checkside goal on an angle to give the Saints a lead of six points.

Ethan Murdock was again in the next play as he kicked a long pass inside 50 and found Jack Harding who marked and was able to kick the goal as the Saints started to take hold on the contest.

Ethan again was in the next play as he got free to kick another goal for the Saints as the Crows had to find a way to stop his influence on the contest.

Henry Lawrie, Ben Warner and Tom Rogers were others who had good starts around the contests for the Saints.

Keith fought back late as Johnny Wilson was able to kick a goal for the Crows.

Daniel Bibby, George Ryan and Jonathon Wilson were starting to get a bit more of the ball going the Crows way before the end of the quarter.

Kingston went in to quarter time 12-points ahead.

Keith continued their momentum at the start of the second quarter as they had the game tied up in the opening seven minutes of the contest as Lewis Hender and Daniel Bibby were able to kick goals for the Crows and the visitors were right in the contest.

Both backlines were mostly on top in the contest as goals became hard to get. Harrison Martin, Ben Rogers, Jake Fisher, Jack Tapfield and Brett Simpson were solid for the Saints down back.

Edward Dunstan, Seb Schreiber and Ryan Bartlett were standing firm down back for the Crows. Kingston pushed the ball down forward where Tom Rogers converted a goal as they had taken back the lead and now were up by seven points.

Keith fought back to cut the margin to one point after William McMurray slotted a goal.

The Crows kept attacking hard towards the end of the quarter, but could only register four behinds in a row.

This was still enough to get them a slim lead going in to half time as they led by two points at the long break.

The Saints came out pumped up in the third quarter as Henry Lawrie, Ben Warner, Campbell Watts, Cody Benson and Tom Rogers were really getting their hands on the ball at the stoppages around the ground.

Cody Benson was a tackling machine as he put pressure on any Crows player who was close enough to grab.

Kingston got the first goal of the third quarter through Ethan Murdock as the Saints took back the lead.

Lewis Hender got free for a rare touch as he kicked a goal to get the Crows back in front.

Hender was finding it hard to get free as Ben Rogers, Harrison Martin and Jake Fisher clogged up space with their defensive positioning.

Guys like Brett Simpson, Jake Wehl and Jack Tapfield could then mop up the spoils and send the ball the other way. Jack especially was good despite his small frame; he took some courageous marks at key moments.

Kingston responded as Ethan Murdock grabbed the ball and he found Tyler Baker who found Travis Burns free for a goal and the Saints were back in front again.

Keith then worked the ball forward then and only got a behind, before Kingston worked the ball back up the other end and comeback man Tyler Baker slotted a goal on the three-quarter time siren as he was mobbed by his team mates as it was a huge moment and boost for him and the Saints.

The Saints went in to three quarter time 11-points ahead.

Keith came out fired up in the early stages of the fourth and started to attack hard.

Daniel Bibby, Jonathon Wilson and George Ryan were working the ball forward when they got it.

The Saint's defence was working hard in overdrive to stop any Crows from getting free looks at a mark inside the 50.

Whenever Kingston tried to go forward, Seb Schreiber and Ryan Bartlett found ways to be in the road and send the ball back.

Billy Wade got free and got the first goal of the fourth quarter as the Crows cut the margin to three points and the visitors were pumped up.

The Crows went forward and had a chance to take the lead, but a behind was scored. Kingston worked the ball back up the other end of the ground from the kick back in to play and Todd Lockwood was able to get a hold of it and slot a goal to give Kingston some breathing space.

Once again Keith worked the ball forward after Daniel Bibby, Jonathon Wilson and George Ryan worked hard to get it forward.

The Crows could only record another behind. Kingston again took the ball down the other end as Jack Harding got free to kick the Saints to some breathing space after a Todd Lockwood handpass over the top found Jack and he was able to slot through a goal.

Henry Lawrie kept working hard as he got the ball out of the packs for the Saints.

Ben Warner, Campbell Watts and Tom Rogers were helping Lawrie clear the ball often. Brett Simpson provided the icing on a great performance by the Saints when he snapped a goal on an angle and it sent Kingston towards victory and helped them get to the final margin of 21-points.

RESERVES

A second half fade out cost the Kingston reserves a chance to stay in touch with the top five on the ladder.

The reserves started the game slowly in the first quarter as Keith took control of the game early.

The Crows kicked 3-4 to 1-0 in the first quarter and it looked like they might be too strong over the ground for the Saints.

Josh Troeth, Declan Martin and Thomas Crane were doing some great defensive work to limit the Crows to only three goals in the first quarter.

Max Bawden was able to be the Saints only goal kicker for the quarter.

Kingston fought back in the second quarter as Ryan Clarke, Gabriel Cox, Jason Milligan and Ben Rickaby started to win the ball in the middle and around the ground.

Tyson Mills looked dangerous in the forward lines and he kicked two goals in a row. Ryan Clarke kicked another goal and the scores were level.

The Saints held the Crows to just one goal in the second quarter as both teams went in to half time level.

Keith in the third quarter really took advantage of the breeze to open up a winning break.

The Crows piled on five goals to none and took hold of the contest. Jordan Robertson and Dylan Qualmann looked dangerous in front of the goals.

The Crows went in to three quarter time 32-points ahead of the Saints and in control.

The Crows went on with it in the fourth quarter as they added a further two goals and the Saints couldn't find a way to trouble the scorers much.

Ryan Clarke kept battling hard and running the game out. Thomas Crane was a rock in defence. Gabriel Cox provided run through the middle.

Ben Rickaby took some good marks and was a good link up man.

Declan Martin put in some great spoils when needed. Josh Troeth keeps getting better in his backline role he has changed to.

The Saints now look towards a game against Bordertown to bounce back in.