By Marcus Uhe
Mick Fogarty is looking at the positives from Beaconsfield’s round one clash with Mitcham, despite starting the year on the wrong footing.
The young Eagles showed flashes of their dashing, daring best, but a goalless third term proved detrimental against the Tigers, going down 13.11 89 to 9.12 66 at Walker Park.
“I think Mitcham are going to be really good, top three for sure,” Fogart said.
“And we were able to not only compete, but give ourselves a chance of winning against a really good side. “
Fogarty’s side could not have made a better start, as Hayden Brough silenced the rowdy home fans behind the goals at the Maroondah Highway end with a long set shot in the first minute of the game, capitalising on a clearance from Sam Mackinder.
That was about as good as it got for Beaconsfield in the opening quarter, however, as Mitcham kicked the following four, and let their opponents know, with a number of scuffles breaking out across Walker Park.
Kicking with a breeze, Mitcham erected a wall across halfway that proved difficult to overcome, and when they did, the Eagles were made to pay for committing turnovers around half-forward.
Stationed behind the ball, Brandon White was busy on his return to Eagles colours, taking a number of intercept marks and repelling countless forward 50 entries.
A 20-point deficit at quarter-time became a seven-point lead at the long break, as momentum swung majorly in Mick Fogarty’s side’s favour.
Making the most of the zephyr at their backs, White came into his own, as his aggressive ball use and intercepting from halfback, combined with the run-and-carry game of the midfielders, came to the fore.
“He was terrific on Saturday,” Fogarty said of his star recruit.
“His ability, not just offensively but his defensive acts were terrific too.
“His sag-off and ability to read the ball coming in and make a two-on-one to help the other defender out and spoil a dangerous Jake Parente who’s a really good player from Mitcham, was outstanding.”
Mackinder set up a second, with a clever pass to Jafar Ocaa in the pocket, who snapped truly infront of his bench from a difficult angle on his right foot.
Josh Mounter kicked another on the run, as he and Josh Bowd’s speed began to cause havoc for the Tigers.
Brough kicked a second thanks to a huge contested mark on the goal line that saw him wrench the ball from his opponent’s grasp, running back with the flight, before White provided the highlight of the day.
Infront of a packed grandstand, the former Saint intercepted a kick-in from full back, and launched a bomb from outside the 45-metre line, to quieten the home fans.
Having responded from a slow start, Beaconsfield hit the rooms at halftime with wind in their sails.
But as the sun began to set in the second half of the twilight fixture, so did their hopes of a round one victory.
Mitcham kicked six goals in the premiership quarter to nearly double their halftime score, where their opponents could only manage two behinds.
White was forced from the ground as a crucial stage late in the third quarter after dislocating a finger in a marking contest, and his presence in the back half was sorely missed.
Not only did they need his ability to read the play and intercept, but his leadership and voice during a Mitcham scoring avalanche was noticeably absent.
Pressure got the better of Harrison Coe and Kye Rowland, fumbling the ball deep in the opposition’s forward 50, and resulted in a Tigers’ goal when White was off the field.
Trent Stokoe was forced to plug a hole for periods of the quarter, as they entered the final term with a 30-point deficit.
The first goal of the final period was going to go a long way in deciding the contest, and despite kicking against the elements, it was Mitcham who made the first strike, making the Eagles pay on turnover as they attempted to run the gauntlet.
Coe was thrown forward of the ball and provided a target for his midfielders, and shouldered the load shared by Ocaa and Brough.
He combined with Sam Merrick for a wonderful drop-kick goal, having flicked a ruck tap over his head for the speedy midfielder to shark and finish on the run.
Ocaa kicked his second to close the game, but the damage had been done by the fighting Tigers, who were able to hold-on for the victory.
For Fogarty, the difference between the two sides in the all-important third term was Mitcham’s ascendancy at the contest.
“We didn’t win our one-on-ones all over the ground in the third quarter, and when you lose them, it puts enormous pressure on your defensive six.
“When the ball comes in like that, they can only do so much.
“We won the contested ball in the second quarter by 16, and when you do that, you give your forwards good looks and you give them opportunities.
“That’s an easy fix; if you don’t win your on-on-ones, you don’t want to lose them, you want to neutralise them.
“If you can get better at that, we’ll hang in the game a lot longer and we won’t leak goals like we did in that third quarter. We can fix that, that’s fixable, so that’s a positive out of that.”
Beaconsfield will have the chance to register their first win of the season on 15 April, when they host Bayswater at Holm Park.
Darren Minchington is expected to make his season debut, as is ruckman Patrick Gerdan and vice-captain Jack Docherty.
Mitcham
4.3 6.5 12.8 13.11 (89)
Beaconsfield
1.1 7.6 7.8 9.12 (66)
Mitcham Goals: Byron Wright 4, Bailey Cowman 4, Jake Parente 3, Jesse Uren, Danny Baglava
Best: Jesse Cherry, Alexander Barton-Smith, Zachary Elms, Danny Baglava, Bailey Cowman, Byron Wright.
Beaconsfield Goals: Jafar Ocaa 2, Hayden Brough 2, Sam Mackinder, Josh Mounter, Sam Merrick, Damien Johnston, Brandon White.
Best: Brandon White, Harrison Coe, Sam Mackinder, Damien Johnston, Ethan Harris, Sam Merrick.
