Five goals to untried forward Matty Allison, a powerful forward outing from Max Heath and a midfield masterclass spearheaded by the returning Brad Crouch, Hugo Garcia and Tom Campbell has catapulted Sandringham to its biggest victory under coach Jake Batchelor, with the purple-clad Zebras running away to a 110-point win over Richmond.
Allison had two of his five by quarter-time as the Zebras put the pedal to the metal with a 20-goal onslaught after Richmond skipped off to a bright start in the opening two minutes, with the injury-hit Tigers scoring just two behinds after half-time to put the final score at 20.14 (134) to 3.6 (24).
The quality of Sandringham's midfield was at the crux of its success in the wind-affected contest at Wilson Storage Trevor Barker Beach Oval, more than doubling the forward-50 entries (71-30) and commanding the weight of possession (397-253) to pile on the pain and add a staggering 16.3 percentage points to claim the Pat Cronin Foundation Trophy.
Richmond's afternoon was worsened by a suspected ACL injury to ruckman Sam Naismith, while Austin Johnson was also taken from the field after a heavy collision.
Crouch's powerful performance (38 disposals, five clearances) is sure to accelerate his return to Euro-Yroke's senior ranks after battling through knee surgery, while Garcia responded well to his omission this week with a leading 11 tackles, 10 inside-50s and eight clearances to accompany his 29 disposals.
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Hunter Clark was equally impactful as he builds towards a return to the Saints' squad with 25 touches, two goals and six clearances, Olli Hotton had plenty of the pill (21 disposals, one goal) in his return outing from an ankle setback, while train-on player Hugo Hall-Kahan was second only to Allison on the scoreboard with a three-goal return.
Pat Cronin Foundation medallist Max Heath manned the key forward post in a best-on-ground performance to finish with two goals and a personal-best 24 disposals amid a dominant aerial display, pairing well with Jack Hayes who also bagged two while offering relieving ruck duties to the tireless Campbell.
The 32-year-old was again immense with 33 hit-outs and a goal to boot, continuing his rich vein of form at VFL level as he lies in wait for a call-up to assist leading ruckman Rowan Marshall.
The run of Angus Hastie (21 disposals, five rebound-50s), wingman Ryan Byrnes (20 disposals) and Tom Blamires (23 disposals) was evident as the struggling Tigers played catch-up, with the defensive line of Isaac Keeler, Angus McLennan, Liam O'Connell and Zaine Cordy far less busy than usual; the latter even cashing in with a goal in the final term.
Sandringham will head to Casey Fields next week to face the Demons on Sunday 26 May, while Richmond will head to the MCG as part of the Dreamtime at the 'G curtain-raiser against Essendon.
SANDRINGHAM 3.3 8.7 13.9 20.14 (134)
RICHMOND 1.3 3.4 3.6 3.6 (24)
GOALS
Sandringham: Allison 5, Hall-Kahan 3, Heath 2, Hayes 2, Clark 2, Lowe, Hotton, Garcia, Cordy, Campbell, Blamires
Richmond: Koschitzke 2, George
BEST
Sandringham: Heath, Garcia, Allison, Crouch, Clark, Campbell, Hall-Kahan
Richmond: Garner, Smith, Harris, Kosochitzke
