Magpies’ winning ways

By Brad Kingsbury
NARRE Warren kept its awesome recent finals record intact with an all-the-way, 26-point elimination final win over BERWICK at Pakenham on Saturday.
The Magpies put the final touches to a season of domination over its neighbour and set up a huge first semi-final showdown with Cranbourne next weekend.
Narre Warren went into the no-tomorrow final without star midfielder Daniel Borninkhof but still favoured to win after accounting for the Wickers by a total of 100 points in their two meetings during the year.
The return of experience in Jarrod Anderson, Glenn Hamilton, Steven Kidd and Cole Harvey also boosted the Magpies’ line-up.
Berwick selectors added Andrew Pybus to the line-up but put their faith in the team that went within three points of downing undefeated Doveton the week before.
Narre Warren opened the game in typical 2009 fashion with talented teenagers Jackson Parker and Justin Marriott joining star team-mates Michael Collins and Chris Lee in the midfield against more seasoned opponents including Brett Robinson, Jason Rahilly, Andrew Tuck and Adam Mott.
The Magpies took advantage of every spillage and fumble and used their pace to expose the Wickers, who chased valiantly but were simply out-run.
When Berwick did go forward they lacked penetration and direction which allowed Magpie defender Lee Boyle to run off lumbering Wicker spearhead Grant Noonan time and time again, turning defence into attack.
The Wickers were kept goal-less in the opening term despite entering their 50-metre arc 15 times, while the Magpies made them pay with two goals to Parker and one each to Collins and veteran full forward Brett Evans.
The margin at the first change was 23 points and, except for a patch in the third quarter when Berwick reduced the lead to three goals, Narre Warren held sway from that point on.
There were casualties throughout the afternoon on both sides with Berwick losing vice-captain David Van Diemen to an ankle injury at the start of second quarter and the Magpies suffering a double blow with captain Glenn Hamilton (shoulder) and reliable defender Jarrod Anderson (knee) exiting the game in the third term.
Berwick coach Glenn Dale had a minor victory when he swapped Brad Miles from defence to attack after quarter time, with Miles being the only Wicker forward prepared to lead up the ground and present.
Strong-marking centre half forward Jason Heath was swung back to defence after half time and picked up Kidd, leaving a big hole in the Berwick forward line.
One of the more puzzling tactics from Berwick was the decision to allow Collins a tag-free afternoon and he made them pay with two goals and a near best-on-ground performance.
Evans and Marriott also finished with two majors while Parker slotted home four in an exciting performance.
Parker was sensational in bursts and his clash with Page after half time was a highlight, while Boyle is a very smart player and does not have to rely on players up the ground. He was brilliant all day.
Triumphant Magpie coach Matt Shinners was thrilled with the victory but also warned his side had plenty left.
“When we stick to our game plan and instructions we do well but there were a lot of times that we went away from it so there’s improvement there,” he said.
A superior work-rate combined with self-belief saw PAKENHAM overcome its first finals challenge of 2009 with a 38-point qualifying final victory over CRANBOURNE at the Edwin Flack Reserve on Sunday.
Both sides were close to full strength with star midfielder Dan O’Loughlin coming back from a leg injury after a three-week break for the Lions and Nick Barker replacing suspended defender Robert Beadel in the Eagles line up.
Cranbourne kicked to the scoreboard end of the ground which was slightly favoured by a swirly wind blowing to the outer side, and took immediate advantage of some sloppy Lions turnovers to boot the opening two goals in the first five minutes of play.
As thoughts of 2008 deja vu suddenly flashed into supporters’ heads, Pakenham’s leaders snapped into action and helped the Lions kick the next five goals, including two pearlers to experienced big man Glen Wouters, to take a 20-point lead into the first break.
There were already several sore bodies on the Cranbourne bench at the change and it was the second quarter that told the story of the game.
There was nothing special about it, in fact it was scrappy and ugly at times but, importantly, every challenge thrown down by the Eagles was answered by Pakenham, with captain Jared Goldsack controlling the game from centre-half back and bringing mobile team-mates Dean Blake, Beau Wheeler, Luke Walker and Dom Paynter into the game.
The Eagles were kept goal-less for the quarter and trailed by 36 points at half time.
Cranbourne regrouped at the break and started to harass the Lions in the third quarter, forcing the Pakenham bench to move a few magnets.
The Lions lost Walker who was crunched and winded on the wing at the 12-minute mark of term, and suddenly a look of vulnerability appeared.
Defender Adam Cook was sent forward with Dan O’Loughlin, but the Eagles defence led by Daniel Watson, Matt Thompson and Troy Aust, kept the pressure on and, had it not been for some ordinary shots at goal by Cranbourne’s attack, the three-quarter time deficit of 29 points would have been smaller.
The game opened up in the final term with the two sides going goal for goal, with Paynter booting three for the quarter and Eagles captain Marc Holt breaking free of Nathan Brown’s close checking to kick two.
In the end the Lions showed why they are the main challenger to Doveton this year but given that veterans Troy Datson and Adam Wright, along with recruit Brad Coller were the only three players in the side to have played a senior final, the effort was not that bad.