High-flying Narre Warren star Lee Clark completed his second consecutive goal-kicking century with a 10-goal haul against Beaconsfield on Saturday.By Brad Kingsbury
NARRE Warren goal machine Lee Clark is anything but a typical full forward, but boy can he make defenders look silly on his day – and he has had a lot of those this year.
Clark was at it again against a hapless young Beaconsfield backline on Saturday, starting the day slowly and then breaking free to boot 10 goals, including six majors in a withering last quarter, to complete his second century in as many years.
At only 181cm (just on six-foot) and about 85 kilograms, Clark relies on his superb leap, strong marking and speed on the lead to beat his opponent, and his ability to retain the ball and win it at ground level makes him a most dangerous prospect.
Most opposing Casey-Cardinia League coaches rate Clark among the hardest players in the league to match up on, and that is high praise given he compares favourably to the likes of Luke McGuinness, Kerem Baskaya, Haydn Robins, Simon Ponter and Ryan Donaldson.
While Clark’s haul saw him move to 101 for the year, Keysborough’s McGuinness was busy a suburb away slotting through 13 goals against Berwick to make his tally exactly 100 for 2006, just failing to top the Magpie maestro for the year’s honours.
“I thought Luke had me with about five or six weeks to go but I got over the top and it’s a great thrill,” Clark said.
His 100th goal came midway through the final term after he marked a pass from midfielder Shane Brewster running back into the goal square, and he said it was great to reach the milestone in front of his home crowd.
“Coming into the finals last year it was on my mind and I was rapt to get it out of the way now,” he said.
“To do it at home was something I wanted and that was great for me too.”
Clark paid tribute to his team-mates and coach Aussie Jones for having faith in him as the side’s spearhead.
“The second half of the year especially, the delivery has been great,” he said.
“Aussie is approachable and enjoys himself just like anyone else, but when it comes down to footy you just have to be switched on.
“He and Trav (Marsham) have helped me and given me the opportunity to play at full forward.”
Jones said it was a relatively easy choice.
“He’s a freak,” the coach said.
“For a bloke who is just six foot (tall) to hold down and play full forward like he does and kick 100 goals two years in a row is a credit to him. His second and third efforts set him apart.”
