By DAVID NAGEL
IT was largely over-shadowed by an ugly brawl after the final siren but Cranbourne secured its best victory of the season on Saturday, a 15-point triumph over arch-rival Narre Warren at Kalora Park.
But while the four points may be locked away, there’s going to be some worrying times ahead after an independent investigation was launched on Monday into the brawl involving players and spectators from both clubs.
It’s a not a good look for the newly-formed South East Football Netball League (SEFNL) and the AFL South East Commission, whose tribunal is likely to hand out some harsh penalties once recommendations are received in the coming weeks.
AFL South East Commission region general manager Jeremy Bourke said it was one thing to be involved in such an ugly incident, but to try and defend those actions was another thing altogether.
“It is totally unacceptable to try and defend the actions which took place in front of women and children,” Bourke said.
“It’s fair to say that there are some key stakeholders that are less than impressed with what took place on the weekend.”
After a grinding first half, where two of the most talented teams in the competition kept each other to just three goals, it was the Eagles who dug deepest, with a 5.2 to 2.2 third quarter to give them a 15-point buffer at three-quarter time.
Another arm-wrestle ensued, both teams scoring 1.2 in the final quarter to give the Eagles the sweetest possible victory. Coach Simon Goosey said his side had earned that reward after working hard on its fitness in the pre-season.
“The boys were pretty pumped up after the game, with the rivalry, the passion; it was good to come away with the win in the end,” he said.
“The most pleasing thing is our fitness, we’ve got a really good record in second halves this year and that’s due to the hard work we put in during the pre-season.
“We made some really good decisions with the ball, and that was probably another difference in the end,” he said.
Cranbourne’s forward line was dominated by Michael Theodoridis, who used the space created by his skipper Marc Holt to full advantage, using his combination of height, pace and strength to kick five goals that were treasured like gold in the context of the match.
George Angelopoulos kicked four for the Magpies, while Jarrod Anderson, Michael Collins and Ryan Morrison, who kept Holt to just one goal for the day, were other solid contributors.
Reigning-premier Beaconsfield raised the pressure gage in its 58-point defeat of Doveton.
“Our pressure against Pakenham (in round nine) was fantastic but I thought we took it up another 20 per cent on the weekend,” coach Clint Evans said.
“We played really contested one-on-one footy, we didn’t allow them to drop blokes back and be free, we just didn’t allow them any time or space all day.”
Jake Bowd was an unlikely main source of goals for the winners, booting four, while skipper Daniel Mislicki kicked two in a clear best on ground display.
Tooradin was laser-like with its accuracy during the second quarter of its 31-point victory over ROC.
The Seagulls were perfect from 10 shots at goal, their 10.0 to 3.3 second term setting up the win. Julian Suarez kicked three while Patrick Chin continued his recent return to form.
In the final game of round 11, Mitchell Johnson kicked seven goals in Berwick’s 113-point belting of Hampton Park.
Johnson, in his first game back since round four, was joined by skipper Madi Andrews on the home side’s best players list.
Pakenham had the bye.
