VFL Match Report: Round 19 vs North Melbourne

4/08/2025

We had one of our best outings this season as we led siren to siren when we took on the Kangaroos.

Photography by Ollie Tory

On a sunny Sunday afternoon, we took on North Melbourne and it didn’t take us long to get on top.

It all started with Darcy Wilson in the centre square as he set off racing away with the first clearance of the game.

Moments later, Wilson grabbed the ball out of congestion and pulled off a perfect snap for the first goal of the day.

The Kangaroos finally had some of the ball, but our defenders were ready and in the blink of an eye, we’d sent the ball in the other direction where Ned Maginness launched a kick into the forward 50 only for Lachlan Voss to get taken front on and win the free.

From 40 metres out, Voss had no problem as he slotted through the set shot.

North Melbourne had settled in and took control of the ball, but James Barrat heroically saved the day as he made a massive spoil in a one-on-one contest to save a certain goal.

A handball chain from halfback soon led to Wilson running away where he found Liam Henry for a mark 40 metres out from home.

North had fallen asleep as Jonah Campigli strolled through the forward 50 and was all by himself in the goal square, Henry was quick to notice and without hesitation he found Campigli who walked into the open goal.

Again, the Roos won the ball in the middle, but once more, our defence held strong and this time bravely sent the counter attack straight through the middle of the ground and before North even realised, Campigli was out the back for another goal.

Our dominance had started to frustrate North, and it showed when Ethan Williams won a free in the middle of the ground and in no time, he found Maginness inside the forward 50, where he kicked a pure set shot through the middle.

The goals had been pouring in, but Angus McLennan on halfback had arguably been the most important player for us in the first quarter as he raked in multiple intercept marks and even managed to pin his man for holding the ball.

One last attack for the period saw Henry lower his eye to find Lance Collard for an easy uncontested mark and a set shot goal.

At the end of the first we were up by 23 points.

Alex Dodson was having a day out in the ruck as time after time he put the ball on a platter for the midfielders, something Wilson was taking full advantage of.

Once more this led to the footy getting out the back where it looked like it would go through for a rushed behind, but Collard’s outstretched foot saw him get a boot to it for yet another Zebs goal.

Just like the first quarter, we were on top to start the second and the North defenders couldn’t handle the heat when a long bomb was sent in, and while no one marked it, Mattaes Phillipou read the crumbs like a book and ran through into an open goal.

Moments later, the same thing occurred when Paddy Dow broke through multiple tackles in the centre square and sent the ball forward, this time Jez Rigoni would pick up the crumbs and snap through a goal.

After Campigli put through a regulation set shot, the ball was again in our forward pocket for a throw in where Dodson tapped the ball perfectly to Henry who, in one motion, broke away from the congestion and snapped a goal on his left.

Collard then found himself on the boundary line on the 50-metre arc and instead of panicking, he calmly lasered in a kick to Charlie Rozenes where he kicked a set shot goal.

Unfortunately, the Kangaroos stole some momentum and ended the half on a run, but we took a 19-point lead into the break.

McLennan took yet another intercept mark to start the second half, while Barrat managed to get a fingertip to the ball on the goal line to rush through a behind.

We had now stolen back momentum, and Wilson was still playing with swagger as he danced around his man on the boundary, eventually leading to the ball finding Rigoni for a mark in the pocket, where he snapped it through.

Wilson and Rigoni proved to be a handy duo as the pair linked up again, as a centre clearance deflected off a pack, where Rigoni grabbed the footy and his quick around the corner snap bounced in for another goal.

Another quick transition off halfback sent Wilson on a run through the middle of the ground where he found Rozenes out the back for his second major.

Dodson then read the play perfectly from a throw in as the ball bounced right back to him and in one single movement, he pulled the footy in and put it on his boot for a goal.

The strong third quarter meant we had a 31-point advantage with one term to go.

After what had been a high scoring game, both teams’ defences had tightened up, so goals were hard to come by, but a high free kick to Rigoni saw him kick his fourth of the day.

It was followed up again by Rigoni who got the ball deep inside forward 50 where he handballed into open space towards goal and Ben Seers then swooped in to soccer the ball over the line.

The final play of the day saw Henry take a nice mark going back with the flight in the pocket about 50 metres out. Knowing the distance would be hard to cover, he found Arie Schoenmaker who kicked a bomb from 50 metres for one final goal.

In the end we won by 23 points.

Darcy Wilson was a standout putting up 37 disposals, five tackles, one goal and 14 clearances, while Jez Rigoni and Jonah Campigli had no trouble finding the goals as they had four and three majors, respectively.

Sandringham Zebras:               6.6      12.8      16.12    19.15     (120)

North Melbourne:                     3.1      10.1       12.5     16.10     (106)        

Goals: Jez Rigoni 4, Jonah Campigli 3, Charlie Rozenes 2, Lance Collard 2, Darcy Wilson, Lachlan Voss, Benjamin Seers, Arie Schoenmaker, Mattaes Phillipou, Ned Maginness, Liam Henry, Alex Dodson

Disposals: Darcy Wilson 37, Paddy Dow 28, Angus McLennan 25, Mattaes Phillipou 23, Arie Schoenmaker 22

Visit the VFL website for full stats. 

Next week we take on Richmond in prime time at 7:10pm, Saturday 9th August at Kinetic Stadium in Frankston. 

Written by Thomas Dev - Sandringham FC Media