By David Nagel
Beaconsfield will play finals football in just its second season in Eastern Division One after the Eagles held off a fast-finishing North Ringwood at Holm Park Reserve on Saturday.
The Eagles currently sit fourth, two games clear of sixth placing, after their 9.16.70 to 9.7.61 victory, with just one round remaining in the season.
Fourth and fifth placings may change, but the Eagles and Saints will meet again in the elimination final at Boronia on Sunday 20 August.
Eagles coach Mick Fogarty, smarting from the loss of key forward Jafar Ocaa to a serious leg injury, welcomed the return of some classy play-makers on the weekend.
Dandenong Stingrays duo Kade De La Rue and Kobe Shipp played just their second games for the season, while Frankston pair Matt Johnson and Mitch Szybkowski added a touch of flair through the middle and forward half of the ground…in their third outings for the year.
North Ringwood played the better football early, taking a 22-point lead to quarter time, before the Eagles hit back hard in the second.
Inaccuracy in front of goal was proving costly, but a five-point half-time deficit was still manageable.
The Eagles upped the ante in the third, keeping the Saints to a solitary point for the quarter to take an eight-point lead into the final stanza.
With the Eagles finals prospects on the line, it was a case of many hands make light work as they began to book their place in the top five.
The footy passed through eight sets of hands to set up the first goal of the last quarter…inside 20 seconds!
Harrison Coe won the tap, with Damien Johnston winning the crucial centre clearance and tumbling one inside forward 50.
Josh Mounter picked the pill up cleanly, delivering quick hands to Casey Wassylko who did likewise to De La Rue.
The youngster switched the ball out wide, once again by hand, finding winger Ethan Harris free.
Harris kicked to the hot spot, where Saints defender Jesse Melkie dropped a mark under pressure, allowing Sam Mackinder to gather the crumbs.
Quick hands once again to Darren Minchington had the ball between the big sticks in the blink of an eye.
De La Rue then added another, just three minutes later, after a great hit from the in-form Trent Stokoe.
Hayden Brough then appeared to land the killer blow, putting the Eagles 26 points up after converting a free-kick from front-on contact.
But the Saints refused to concede, and a goal at the 21-minute mark cut the margin back to a delicate nine points.
The Eagles bravely held on however; celebrating the return to finals football.
The key inclusions certainly played major role for the Eagles, with Johnson booting five, and De La Rue two, with Shipp joining Stokoe, Coe, Lachie Valentine and Connor Mouat on an impressive best players’ list.
Mounter was also influential for the Eagles, while Johnston did some important things early in the last quarter.
The Eagles now travel to Lilydale, for a last-round engagement with the bottom-placed Falcons, before taking an eight-day break into the cut-throat final against the Saints.
BEACONSFIELD 1.5 4.10 6.12 9.16(70)
NORTH RINGWOOD 5.3 6.3 6.4 9.7(61)
Beaconsfield Goals: M. Johnson 4, K. De La Rue 2, C. Wassylko, T. Stokoe, H. Brough. Best: T. Stokoe, J. Mounter, K. Shipp, L. Valentine, C. Mouat, H. Coe.
North Ringwood Goals: M. Cullinan 3, B. Livingstone 2, L. Patterson, H. Flynn, T. Stubs, J. Gasper. Best: J. Braunthal, J. Gasper, J. Nathan, H. Flynn, A. Fenton, M. Cullinan.
Other Results R17: South Belgrave 19.19.133 def Lilydale 5.7.37, Wantirna South 10.8.68 def by Bayswater 23.15.153, Croydon 10.9.69 def by Montrose 12.9.81, Mitcham 10.13.73 def by Mooroolbark 14.14.98.
Ladder: South Belgrave 68, Montrose 50, Mitcham 48, Beaconsfield 36, North Ringwood 34, Mooroolbark 28, Bayswater 28, Wantirna South 28, Croydon 20, Lilydale 0.
Fixture R18: Lilydale (10) v Beaconsfield (4), Bayswater (7) v Mitcham (3), North Ringwood (5) v Wantirna South (8), Croydon (9) v South Belgrave (1), Montrose (2) v Mooroolbark (6).
