Kingston got on the winner's list for the first time in 2024 when they faced Padthaway and came away with a 59-point victory at Gall Park on Saturday.
Kingston had quite a few changes from the previous round's team. One of the changes was to bring in Fraser Watts for his A Grade debut. Fraser was named to play in the team that already featured older brothers Campbell and William. Padthaway came into the game full of confidence after their big win in the previous round against Naracoorte.
Padthaway got the start they wanted when Danny Juckers snapped a good goal to get the scoring underway. Kingston worked hard to get on the board with their first goal as Jack Harding kicked the Saints' first goal of the afternoon to give the Saints a one-point lead. Padthaway responded with a goal from Jordan Hooper before Kingston's Brandon Tapfield gave the Saints the lead back. The game was being played at a frenetic pace. The ball would be moved up one side of the ground by one team and the other team would zip it back down the other side when they were able to turn it over. Jordan Bell gave the Lions the lead again, but Kingston was able to quickly respond after Thomas Matsouliadis, Brandon Tapfield and Todd Lockwood combined to get Jack Harding the ball and he converted to get the lead back. Padthaway closed the quarter out by grabbing the lead back after Jordan Hooper kicked a lovely goal to help give Padthaway a 5-point lead going into quarter time. Thomas Matsouliadis, Campbell Watts, Brandon Tapfield and Jack Harding started the game in fine form for the Saints. Jordan Hooper, Cody Marshall, Danny Juckers and Jacob Fiebiger started strongly for the Lions.
Padthaway started the second quarter positively as they kicked an early goal through Jordan Bell to stretch their lead to 11 points. Kingston worked hard and got the lead back after William Watts and Luke Watson added goals to the Saints tally. William Watts, Thomas Matsouliadis and Brad Sibley were doing a lot of great work around the ground for Kingston. Padthaway grabbed the lead back after Danny Juckers kicked a goal and both teams were right on top of their game. Danny Juckers, Willo Brown and Jacob Fiebiger had a good influence on the game for the Lions. Kingston put on the defensive clamps after the Lions hit the lead and players such as Ben Rogers, Mackenzie Slee and Jack Tapfield led from the front defensively for the Saints. Kingston started to get rewarded for effort down the other end of the ground as well and the Saints put through two late goals from Brandon Tapfield and Todd Lockwood to help the home team head into half-time 11 points in front.
Kingston got right on top in the third quarter as they became tough to score against and were also starting to get their running game going to set up shots on goal. Todd Lockwood kicked a goal for the Saints and Chris Draper added two goals in the quarter as the Saints were able to stretch the margin out to 31 points by three-quarter time. Thomas Matsouliadis was in everything for the Saints. His attack on the ball and hard running was hard for the Lions to stop. Kingston's Mackenzie Slee also took some great defensive marks when the ball went his way. Jack Tapfield, Orestis Gambranis and Ben Rogers were other defenders helping Slee cover the defence. Bradley Sibley looked calm and collected whenever the ball came into his area as well. Padthaway tried hard to kick some majors and players like Cody Marshall, Jacob Fiebiger, Danny Juckers and Jordan Hooper were running hard but finding it hard to have a consistent link-up play that set up good shots on goal.
Kingston continued their strong play in the fourth quarter as they added goals from William Watts, Todd Lockwood and two from Thomas Matsouliadis to blow the margin out to 58 points. Kingston had a much-needed rebound result to get their first win on the board for 2024. Kingston coach Sean Jackson would be happy with the win. Padthaway showed what they could do with their first-half performance. If they can get keep that going over four quarters they will trouble some of the better teams this year.
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