Doveton’s Brad Virgona sizes up his options during the Doves’ 66-point belting at the hands of Pakenham at Robinson Reserve on Saturday. 19974By Brad Kingsbury
DOVETON made a mess of its best chance to assert itself on the 2008 Casey Cardinia League competition with a 66-point loss to PAKENHAM at the Robinson Reserve on Saturday.
After a competitive first term nothing went right for the Doves, with the vast majority of players content to spectate as they were led to the ball for the next three quarters.
And injuries to key players Justin Hill and Ryan Brown have created new challenges for Tom Hallinan and his coaching staff as the season heads towards the finals.
The home side was up against it from the start after Ryan Hendy was out suspended and Nathan Wilson and Michael Laszyzk were unavailable due to injury.
However the Doves swooped early and sneaked out to a 12-point lead at the first change.
Despite the early exit of coach Dan O’Loughlin from the match, thanks to a hamstring twinge, the Lions did not panic and opened the second term with three goals in three minutes to wrest a lead that they held and continued to extend for the rest of the afternoon.
Doveton stopped as if shot while Pakenham was relentless and the home side’s demolition was complete one minute into the final term when Brown was helped from the field with a suspected knee injury.
The Lions continued their relentless and almost uncontested attack, extending the lead to 88 points before a late rally saw the margin reduced to 11 goals as the final siren sounded.
Experienced defender Brad Downe was far and away the Doves best with Michael Henry, Callum Pattie and youngster Kory Grant also able to hold their heads high, but Hallinan was bitterly disappointed with the effort.
NARRE WARREN defeated KEYSBOROUGH by 65 points in awkward breezy conditions at Fox Road.
The game went as most pundits expected with the Magpies taking revenge on the Burra for the previous weekend’s loss to rampant flag favourites Pakenham.
The inclusion of teenage ruck prospect Aaron Mills assisted the Magpies’ midfield strength, while Michael McGill was assigned the task of shutting down young Burra star Matthew Freeman.
After an even first term, the home side selected another gear and pulled away from their opponents, booting seven goals to two in the second term and taking a match-winning 37-point lead into half-time.
Despite losing Danny Brewster to a hamstring injury just before the main break, Narre Warren was slicker across the ground and rebounded superbly via Jack McTaggart, Jarrod Anderson and Lee Boyle, to retain control of the game in the second half and run out convincing winners.
There was a bit of flag-flying by both sides after Boyle was cleaned up late in the third quarter, but other than that the game petered out towards the end.
CRANBOURNE blew a golden opportunity to consolidate itself in the top five, going down in a two-point upset to a pumped up ROC at Starling Road.
The Kangaroos blasted through eight goals to one in the second term, sending their long-suffering but ever-loyal supporters into a frenzy.
However, they had to withstand a strong comeback from the visitors that saw them grab the lead late in the final term before two late ROC goals secured a fabulous victory.
Cranbourne hit the ground running, but the Kangaroos bolted to a 26-point lead at half-time and had the Cranbourne coaching staff moving their magnets.
The difference was reduced to nine points at the final change and when the visitors hit the front and moved ahead by 10 points entering time-on, ROC’s brave bid for a second win looked over.
But Delarue’s young group refused to accept that and maintained the forward pressure.
Jye Healey booted a late goal to bring the gap back to four points and then Graham coolly slotted the winning major from a 30-metre set shot with the clock almost out of time.
Graham booted six goals, while Marc Holt was dominant for his side, booting seven goals despite close attention.
HAMPTON PARK took on and beat BEACONSFIELD in a must-win match at the Robert Booth Reserve, hanging on to score by six points in a nailbiting finish.
With the Eagles boasting key inclusions, Kris Fletcher and Glenn Penglase, and the home side losing veteran playmaker Chris Hussey with a suspected fractured cheek in the first minute of play, Hampton Park was up against it from the start.
However the Redbacks rallied through on-ballers Linden Fredericks, David Biagi and Jack Besley to create a four-goal buffer at quarter-time and maintained their intensity to take a 19-point lead into half-time.
Coach Jason Caples was forced to further reshuffle his side in the second half after Scott Eastwood injured a hamstring.
However, the Redback players lifted to boot the first three of the last quarter and that proved enough to win the match as Beaconsfield made one last lunge at their leg-weary hosts, but ran out of time.
Not even a superb individual 10-goal effort from BERWICK full-forward George Gorozidis could inspire the Wickers to down an improving and attacking DEVON MEADOWS at the Edwin Flack Reserve.
The Panthers won the entertaining contest by 46 points in a final quarter shoot-out, after leading by two goals at the last change.
Gorozidis was at his awesome best from the first bounce, booting seven goals in the first-quarter and working over three opponents, Robert Baumgartner, Justin Corrigan and Chris Shepherdson.
However the Panthers displayed their developing maturity and self-belief to maintain pace with the Wickers, turning a 14-point quarter-time deficit into an 11-point lead at the main break.
Led by strong marking forwards Scott Morrison and Matt Davey, who both booted six goals, the Panthers continued to answer the challenge in the second half and took advantage of some sloppy defensive Wicker kick-ins to score important goals from turnovers and run away to victory.
PEARCEDALE continued its push up the Nepean League ladder and secured third position with a hard-fought 29-point win over Tyabb.
The Panthers only led by three points at the final change, but found something extra in the last quarter through power forward Kerem Baskaya who finished the day with five goals.
Among the Panthers’ best were former Hampton Park playmaker Tristan Lanarus and star on-baller Chris O’Dell.
