By Jonty Ralphsmith
Doveton will playoff for premiership favouritism in its second semi final against Murrumbeena on Saturday at Ben Kavanagh Reserve, Mordialloc.
It follows the Doves edging out East Malvern 10.19 79 to 9.6 60 in the qualifying final, inaccurate kicking late in the game keeping the Panthers in the game until the late stages.
Pressing repeatedly and bombarding their forward line with good looks, Doveton was unable to extend the margin beyond a goal until Matt Clarke finally converted a set shot at the 25-minute-mark of the last quarter.
To that point, Doveton, which led by 10 points at three-quarter-time, had kicked 0.9 to East Malvern’s 2.0.
“We spoke about needing to impact and win contests when your time came so it was pleasing we were able to do that on a number of occasions throughout the day,” coach Matt Stapleton said.
“It’s been a while since we had everyone out on the park together so it was good to get them together and I was really happy with how the boys up forward went about it.
“They were able to grind out a solid win.”
East Malvern had multiple periods of momentum throughout the day, but a combination of Doveton’s heat and full forward Isaac Morrisby being neutralised kept the scoreboard in Doveton’s favour.
Jake Ingaliso had the job on Morrisby, continuing a trend of strong shutdown roles in significant fixtures.
“We know he’s a good player and kicks goals but I thought Jake Ingaliso did a really good job on him,” Stapleton said.
“He’s a real competitor and loves playing in big games and playing on the best players.
“I think his finals games over the past three seasons have showed that.”
Others to play well included winger Ricky Johnson, marking forward Matt Clarke and youngster Brodie Howie.
On Saturday, the Doves will look to open the ground up and run the Lions around.
Their firepower in the middle and multipronged attack lifted the Doves to a victory in round 12 over Murrumbeena, after an understrength outfit lost a shootout against them earlier in the year.
While the margin swelled to 39 points in their most recent meeting, it was tight for three quarters before a last quarter domination.
Defenders Ingaliso and Matthew Jameson will play a big role on twin towers Todd Elton and Steve Tolongs, but will take confidence out of having quelled them both in round 12.
The winner will qualify for the grand final, while the loser will take on the victor of Hampton Park’s clash with East Malvern on Sunday.
