Sandringham has dipped out on back-to-back wins in its first interstate outing since Round 1, going down to GWS by 27 points at GIANTS Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Both sides were evenly matched for majority of proceedings, however more gas in the Giants’ reserve tank, a 42-disposal haul from Josh Fahey and a four-goal finial-term to complement it proved enough to oust the gallant visiting outfit 12.15 (87) to 9.6 (60).

A late snag from Tyrell Lafituanai (two goals) put the Zebras within 12 points midway through the last, but the sniff ended up being just that as GWS bagged the next three and their fourth consecutive victory. 

Jack Bytel was prominent after spending the past fortnight as St Kilda’s substitute, finishing with 36 disposals and nine clearances to lead the Zebras’ on-ball entourage.

The 23-year-old’s bursts gave his side advantages in the first and third quarters in particular, with two direct score involvements through traffic resulting in majors to Max Heath and Jordan Segar (three goals) in the first few minutes after the main break.

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Bytel was flanked by Marcus Windhager (21 disposals, five clearances) and Leo Connolly (27 disposals, seven inside-50s) at majority of centre bounces, but were forced to work hard for their clearances as Tom Campbell (28 hit-outs) and Matt Flynn locked horns in a bruising ruck duel.

Sandringham were unable to make the most of their opportunities going forward after its unanswered four-goal opening, but it was a similar story for the Giants as Tom Highmore (28 disposals), Tyson Milne (30) and Zaine Cordy (18) repelled the offensive with a combined 23 rebounds.

Extended periods of both sides grinding it out for little scoreboard reward entailed the afternoon; the Giants chipping away before skipping in front at the 25-minute mark of the third term courtesy of Mitchell Conn, before another to Daniel Lloyd pushed the buffer out further. 

Around the ground, Jack Billings banked a tidy 23 possessions playing predominantly between the arcs, Oscar Adams collected most of his footy forward of centre and as high up as the forward-50 arc, while Jack Peris moved on-ball in the final term to ignite the Zebras’ grunt inside.

Sandringham will host Coburg at RSEA Park next Saturday night, while GWS has a bye allocated for Round 10.

GWS  2.4  5.6  8.9  12.15 (87)
SANDRINGHAM  4.4  5.4  7.5  9.6 (60)

GOALS
GWS: Derksen 3, Flynn 2, Lloyd 2, McMullin 2, Conn, Edmends, Feja
Sandringham: Segar 3, Lafituanai 2, Lohmann, Gown, Heath, Lowe

BEST
GWS: Fahey, Flynn, Rowston, Derksen, Gilbee, Lloyd, Davis
Sandringham: Bytel, Milne, Highmore, Connolly, Segar, Campbell, Seaton