By Tyler Lewis
It was a stress-relieving win for Berwick coach Clint Evans on Saturday.
It took the Wickers eight rounds and everything to play for to finally sing the song, but it was still belted out with gusto in the Quambee Reserve change rooms.
The win came at an almighty cost however, with star forward Harry Money suffering a gruesome knee injury.
But despite losing their best forward, who had accounted for 18 of the Wickers 57 majors going into round eight, Berwick was able to push forward to secure an elusive 11.10 (76) to 6.13 (49) victory.
The win ultimately left one word front of mind for Evans.
“Relief, to be honest,” he said.
“As I have been saying every week, we have been playing good footy, just not getting the reward.
“The big emphasis on the weekend was to just get the reward for effort, the effort has been there, we just haven’t got the reward yet.
“It was good on the weekend that we could have both.”
Money has been beyond impressive for the Wickers this year and at times Evans has called out for someone to go with him, and his midfielders to look after him with their delivery.
The live-wire forward didn’t get to enjoy much of the win before he went down, suffering the injury in the early stages of the first term when the Wickers were pushing against the wind.
“He did it in the first five minutes, it could be an ACL,” Evans said on Monday.
“He goes in to get an MRI this morning (Monday) and he will get his results later on today, everyone has their fingers crossed.
“We’re not confident, but our trainer thought it was an ACL and he went and saw someone else and they said it might be a sprain.
“We’ve got him in to see the Richmond doctor and he will give us more today.
“Fingers crossed… hopefully it’s not an ACL, but he will be out for a fair chunk of the year (regardless), unfortunately.”
In the absence of Money, and with an injury himself, Travis Tuck stood up for the Wickers, taking guard at the Money post and booting four match-winning majors.
And while Evans would adore the luxury of having a forward trio that includes Money, Tuck and Bryce Rutherford – it is very much the chicken and the egg, with how will the ball get down to that exciting trio.
“We have tried him (Tuck) and Bryce Rutherford the week before,” Evans said.
“I think he (Rutherford) kicked three or four, it’s hard because I want both of them on ball, but with Harry going down and Tucky not 100 per cent, it was not a bad option for us.
“He is such a strong mark and a beautiful kick, he got on the end of a few on the weekend, it was good.
“Because we’re such a young group and we have been up for so long without actually winning, you’re always waiting for that lull.
“Now that we have got that (win), hopefully it gives them that confidence to go forward.
“I think the week off is going to do them well, it’s just every week we have new injuries – five or six now from our top 10 players.”
Berwick, and the rest of the sides that played on Saturday will have a bye this weekend.
This week marks one of the better weekends on the Eastern Football Netball League EFNL calendar, with Noble Park hosting Balwyn in the stand-alone Queen’s Birthday Saturday clash.
Both sides sit in the 20-point log-jam and to add even further theatre to the match, Bulls legend Shayne Allan will play his 200th game for the club.
In other Premier Division results: Parch Orchards defeated Doncaster East, 15.6 (96) to 6.7 (43), Blackburn burst past Norwood, 11.12 (78) to 8.5 (53). South Croydon secured a big win on the road over Vermont, 10.13 (73) to 8.11 (59) and Doncaster bounced back with a big win over the unblemished Rowville, 7.9 (51) to 10.10 (70).
LADDER: Rowville 28, South Croydon 24, Balwyn 20, Noble Park 20, Doncaster East 20, Vermont 20, Blackburn 14, Park Orchards 12, Norwood 12, Doncaster 12, Berwick 6, North Ringwood 0.
TOP-5 GOAL-KICKERS: C Haley (Balwyn) 30, J Wilsen (South Croydon) 24, K Vicars (Doncaster) 23, C Hickey (Park Orchards) 19, J Lisle (Balwyn) 19.
