Recap

The second of the double headers at Ikon Park on Saturday saw the Sandringham Dragons meet the Northern Knights. Both sides missed out on finals in 2015 and Saturday turned out to be a one sided affair with the Dragons finishing 90 points ahead at the final siren. The match was far from enjoyable, with plenty of skill errors and appeared like a traning session at times. A few forwards emerged for the Dragons from the match however, with bottom-agers Hayden McLean (five goals) and Isaac Morrisby (two goals) looking the goods. It is hard to see the Knights challenging this year based on that performance, while the Dragons will be challenged once APS footy starts back.

Earlier, the Dragons kicked the first four goals and got off to a flyer helping them lead by 29 points at quarter time, with only Lachlan Wilson providing some resistance with two goals for the Knights. A sluggish second term saw the Knights reduce the margin back to 18 points, but the Dragons powered forward kicking 15 of the next 18 goals to see them claim top spot after the opening round of the 2016 TAC Cup.

Lachie Filipovic dominated in the ruck with 28 hitouts, tripling his opponents numbers. Tall midfielder and GWS academy member Will Setterfield (22 disposals) performed well in the middle as did Tim Taranto who kicked a bag of three goals to go with his 21 disposals. Brighton Grammar small forward Anthony Zimmerman kicked three goals and was too quick for the Knights defence.

Knights midfielders Lachlan Murphy (26 disposals), Luke Bunker (25 disposals) and Patrick Naish (20 disposals) tried hard all day, but they were unable to stem the flow of play with Filipovic dominating in the ruck.

Sandringham Dragons Best: Filipovic, Setterfield, Taranto, Lok, McLean, Florent

Northern Knights Best: Murphy, Bunker, Naish, Cottfield, Bradley, Wilson