By Mark Gullick
CRANBOURNE raced into early premiership favouritism with a 71-point thumping of reigning premiers Narre Warren.
The Eagles were unstoppable, doubling their opponent’s score en route to the win.
In the opening term, both teams showed earnest commitment to rapid ball movement and as such, the play zipped around the park.
Cranbourne took a 12-point lead into quarter-time.
The Eagles captain Marc Holt goaled from the opening bounce of the second term after a strong juggling mark, and quickly added another six points.
Laurence Angwin soccered a goal from 20 metres and when Holt kicked his third of the term Cranbourne was clearly on top.
The Magpies hit back with two late goals to Nick Scanlon, but Cranbourne kicked six majors to three for the quarter to lead by 33 points at the long break.
Cranbourne outscored Narre Warren 11 goals to five in the second half to record an emphatic win.
“They let go a few good opportunities to put scores on the board, which is normally our forte,” Cranbourne coach Doug Koop said. “In the second quarter, we said if we could maintain the pressure, that we might get a break on the scoreboard and that’s pretty much how it panned out. Our delivery in the forward line was a lot better in the second and third quarters and we benefited from that.”
Caleb Tiller impressed in the back-half and Luke Martin – in his 150th appearance – played well.
Versatile big man Michael Boland worked hard, Berry overcame the close-checking work of Jackson Parker to influence the contest and Nick Barker was strong at centre-half back.
The Magpies were competitive in the opening term before they drastically fell away from the second quarter onwards.
“(The two byes) contributed, but it certainly wasn’t the reason,” coach Chris Toner said.
“We were beaten by a better side on the day. We hadn’t played a game in three weeks and it was difficult, but we had opportunities to score and we had periods of dominance for eight or nine minutes, and then Cranbourne would take it up the other end and score. The scoreboard was still ticking over for them.”
Josh Tonna was brilliant for the Magpies on a wing. Matt Lee was excellent in defence, while Michael Collins, Chris Collins and Michael McGill tried hard around the ground.
Pakenham v Berwick
PAKENHAM rebounded from last week’s horror loss to record a powerful 30-point win over the in-form Berwick.
The Lions’ five-goal to nil opening term was the catalyst for the win.
The slip in concentration by Berwick was costly, as they matched the Lions in general play and on the scoreboard over the next three quarters.
Each team kicked eight goals in that period.
After a promising start to the year, it was a massive let-down for Berwick, which has now slunk to eighth.
“Considering the way we had been playing, it was disappointing,” Berwick coach Dean Rice said. “We’ve been up for a few weeks, so I was concerned we’d come out a bit flat, but I didn’t think we’d be that flat, especially in the first quarter. I don’t think there’s any excuse why we started poorly. I think it was a lack of concentration and a bit of selfishness, but maybe the players thought it was just going to happen after a couple of good performances.”
Young gun Jack Sheppard came into the Berwick team and was excellent through the midfield until he was injured, while Semir and Ahmet Zijai were lively, youngster Kristian Meredith, Brett Robinson and ruckman Steve Finlayson played well.
Devon Meadows v ROC
ON THE back of another strong finish, ROC has recorded successive wins.
The Kangaroos kicked seven goals to three after half time to defeat Devon Meadows by 29 points at E. G. Ellen Oval.
Devon Meadows had all the early running with four goals to one in the opening term, but ROC hit back in the second term with five goals to one. With the game evenly poised at the long break, it was ROC’s youngsters that led the charge to victory.
After an Adam Jago goal reclaimed the lead for the Panthers, ROC kicked three of the next four goals to take control of the match. Devon Meadows remained a chance, but an early goal to Greg Tivendale in the last term closed the door on the Panthers.
ROC kicked three goals to one in the final term. Scott Young was staunch in defence, Daniel Velardo was prominent at both ends of the ground and captain Jesse DeHey never stopped trying around the ground. Brandon Wapshott is developing into a quality midfielder.
Joel Alder kicked three goals.
Beaconsfield v Tooradin-Dalmore
A SERIOUS neck injury to Tooradin-Dalmore’s David White marred Beaconsfield’s 54-point win over Seagulls at Perc Allison Oval. “(The match) was called off with about five minutes to go in the third quarter,” Tooradin-Dalmore coach Beau Miller said. White, who is in his first year with the Seagulls after joining with his brother Ryan, was injured in a tackle.
Beaconsfield was racing away to an impressive win when the injury happened.
After an even opening term, Beaconsfield kicked eight goals to two in the second term, and then four goals to one in the shortened third quarter. “We just played so badly,” Miller said. “We couldn’t concentrate and tie them down for even five minutes and they scored pretty heavily in that second quarter. There wasn’t much we could do about it.”
According to Miller, his players went away from the team concept and instead focused on themselves.“It’s a little bit worrying,” he said.
Tooradin-Dalmore went into the match favourites, but were blanketed by Beaconsfield in the midfield and outgunned up forward. Of the few players who performed for Tooradin-Dalmore, James Cottrell, Michael Hobbs, Paul Ray, Adam Splatt and Scott Szucs did their part.
Keysborough v Doveton
DOVETON ensured Brad Downe and Ryan Hendy’s milestone day was special with a 23-point win over Keysborough at Rowley Allen Reserve.
A seven-goal to nil opening blitz gave the Doves an unassailable lead at the first change. Although Keysborough outscored Doveton by 11 goals to eight in the proceeding three quarters, the damage had already been done.
“We started off the way we finished off the week before,” Doveton coach Mark Ladgrove said. “For us to be able to kick seven goals in a quarter told us that we’re really capable of hitting the scoreboard when we get it right. We’ll take any win we can get at this stage. It’s going to be a really even competition and wins are going to be the thing that counts.”
The quick start was crucial for the Doves, who have a healthy respect for Keysborough.“Keysborough have some big talls and they were able to score goals,” he said. “They picked their game up through the middle and the game was pretty even after quarter time.”
Keysborough coach Brad Canavan was disappointed and frustrated with his players.
