By JARROD POTTER
VWFL SOUTH EAST – ROUND 8
FRESH faces ensured Beaconsfield’s winning streak extended to six on Saturday after brushing aside Mt Eliza.
In the battle of the South East debutants, Beaconsfield shone that little bit brighter in a 27-point triumph.
While the sodden, muddy conditions didn’t favour it, clean possession was the standard the Eagles set early despite some strong defending from the Redlegs.
Aliesha Hamilton might’ve been wearing an Eagles’ jumper, but the tenacious midfielder acted like a bulldog. She clamped onto any Redlegs’ opponent and dragged them into the mud at Emil Madsen Reserve.
She jagged an important goal before the half to give the Eagles a 24-point buffer, with every goal worth two or three on the massive, water-laden reserve at the bottom of the literal hill of Mt Eliza.
Jasmin Hunt (four goals) tried to keep the hosts alive, as Mt Eliza got within four goals in a dogged third term effort. But she was matched at the other end by goal-kicking maestro Katie Angelis (four goals) – who leads the competition with 33 for the season.
Danielle Watkins, Millie Shone, Sarah Allingham, Amanda Torrington and Kerrie Richardson also toiled for the Eagles to take the emphatic 8.10(58) to 5.1(31) win.
For Beaconsfield, the win also showed it isn’t reliant on captain Jade Hough – who is sidelined with a knee injury – and can get the job done with a different mix through the centre.
“Probably for us coming into the game with some big injuries out – Houghie, our captain and leading playmaker out – but the others that stood up for us were given an opportunity to stand up and play a different role,” Beaconsfield coach Troy Robinson said. “The more ownership they get, the more they appreciate it.”
First gamer Chloe Melbourne particularly impressed through the Eagles’ midfield – running circles around Mt Eliza and giving the forwards’ first use of a good array of clearances.
“We got Chloe up out of the Youth Girls squad – knowing what the weather would be like and we knew it would be a game at ground level,” Robinson said. “She’s got a lot of grunt and hard at it – head over the ball and tenacious little player and add some great value around the ball.”
Beaconsfield has a bye this week, but even with everything trending upwards, the side is under no illusion of what it will take to stay at the pointy end.
“I constantly keep a reality check of where we are – we can’t get ahead of ourselves,” Robinson said. “At times we’ve played some great footy, others we’ve done a lot of scrappy play.
“We’ve still got a lot of improvement to do – there are some inexperienced footballers in the side and we need to help them understand what the next five or six games will involve now.”
