By DAVID NAGEL
A MESMERISING 20-minute burst from Berwick half-forward Tim Gunn led the Wickers to a 34-point victory over Beaconsfield at Edwin Flack Reserve.
Saturday’s Battle of the Creek looked like going down to the wire at half time, the Wickers leading by a kick – 4.5 to 3.5 – a margin that was wiped away with an early third-quarter goal to Beaconsfield’s Troy McDermott.
But Gunn went bang, with goals at the 7, 11, 13, 19 and 25 minute marks, before trumping them all with a left-foot snap that pierced the middle as the three-quarter time siren sounded.
“I’ve seen on-ballers have quarters like that, but for a half-forward flanker to come out and play that sort of quarter, that’s the best I’ve seen at local level,” said Berwick coach Rhys Nisbet.
Nisbet opened up his forward line, the Wickers runners cut loose, and pretty soon a spark turned into a fire that couldn’t be quelled. The Wickers kicked seven unanswered goals to take a 42-point lead into the final break.
“It was freakish what Gunny did, but it was really our speed into the forward line that opened things up,” Nisbet said.
The win basically secures the Wickers a double chance, with this week’s top-of-table clash with Cranbourne set to decide the minor premiership.
Gunn finished the day with seven, to be a clear best on ground, while Jimmy Phillips, who battled manfully against Meyer, was joined by Lucas Jellyman-Turner, Tom Brennan and Ash Smith on the Wickers’ best players list.
Jordan Stewart was sensational for the Eagles, keeping Berwick danger-man Mitch Johnson goalless for the afternoon, while Meyer and skipper Daniel Mislicki battle hard to the bitter end.
Doveton has kept its finals hopes alive with a come-from-behind 34-point victory over Pakenham at Toomuc Reserve.
The fifth-placed Doves trailed at the first three changes, but kicked 6.6 to 0.2 in the final term to give them a four-point buffer over the Lions in sixth place.
Simon Black kicked three, while Andrew Humphries and Shannon Henwood were dominant performers around the ground.
Narre Warren full-forward Kerem Baskaya kicked his biggest bag for the season, a nine-goal haul that led the Magpies to a rampaging 127-point victory over Tooradin at Westernport Oval.
Jackson Parker and George Angelopoulos kicked three each for the Magpies, who need to win their last four games to grab hold of a double chance.
It might all come down to their last game of the season against Beaconsfield.
And finally, Cranbourne champion Marc Holt kicked six goals in the Eagles’ 81-point dismantling of ROC at Starling Road. Brandon Osborne, Troy Tharle and Chace Struth were best for the winners.
