By Blair Burns
Narre Warren had the perfect start against undefeated Dingley in Southern Division 1 football but fell 18 points short at the final siren.
Despite leading by 34 points at half time and having kept the only undefeated side in the competition to just one goal in a half of football, the Magpies couldn’t hold on.
Narre Warren forward Will Howe had four goals at the main break, two of which were kicked from the exact same spot, and things were looking good for the home side.
But the second half belonged to the Dingoes, who got on top around the stoppage and started converting in front of goal, kicking 12 goals to four after half time for an impressive victory.
Magpies Coach Steven Kidd said it was a disappointing result to the game of two halves.
“Our attitude was great, we came out and played our brand of footy and it was really effective in the first half, it was excellent,” he said.
“But once they got on top in the second half, we lost our nerve a little bit and started to play it a bit safe.
“Unfortunately we were unable to maintain it for the whole game, the players were very disappointed.”
The Magpies welcomed back Sam Toner, thanks to a Richmond VFL bye, and the exciting half forward didn’t disappoint.
The star has put his name up in lights playing for the Young Guns in a series of rep matches, and is as good a chance as anyone to find a new home at an AFL club when the mid-season draft rolls around.
Just two minutes in, Dingley defender Jacob Duscher kicked across the face of goal, but he didn’t hit the kick perfectly, and Toner competed in the air.
The ball fell to ground and despite being held, the young Magpie gathered the ball and snapped truly on his right boot for the opening goal of the game.
From here, the one-way traffic continued as Narre Warren put some real scoreboard pressure on the Dingoes, with the home crowd loving what they were witnessing.
“We put a fair bit of time into them and how they play, the guys were really looking forward to the challenge,” Kidd said.
“We were chopping off their shorter kicks and making it a bit harder for them to pierce through us, creating turnovers.”
But Dingley came out and controlled the game in the third quarter and proved why they are one of the hot flag favourites.
The Dingoes kicked five of the next six goals as Tom Morecroft (three goals) got into his work.
The same trend continued in the fourth quarter and despite a scare, the Dingoes had recorded a strong comeback-victory and kept their unblemished record intact.
Kurt Mutimer had the ball on a string collecting 11 disposals more than his closest teammate to finish with 38 touches, six marks and six tackles and a huge 166 ranking points.
“Kurt was great, so was Pete Gentile (25 disposals, seven marks), there are plenty of positives to take out of the game and I hope we can continue to build,” Kidd said.
“It was great to have Sam (Toner) back playing, he got a bit of attention from their players, but he kicked a couple of goals and looked dangerous at times.”
Will Howe (13 disposals, five goals, seven marks) had his best game of the season and is building nicely with eight goals across his past two matches.
While Narre Warren ruckman Hayden Dwyer added another strong outing with 17 disposals, five tackles and 22 hitouts.
Kidd conceded that one more win would’ve been really important after the first five rounds.
“It would be nice to be 3-2 but at the end of the day, we are learning on the run a bit and figuring out what it takes to play against some of these top sides,” he said.
“The positives are that we have got the right team and game plan to beat some of these sides, it’s just a matter of sustaining it for longer.”
For the Dingoes, Chris Horton-Milne (31 disposals), Lachie Benton (29 disposals, nine marks) and skipper Jackson Peet (26 disposals, two goals) were strong in the victory.
In other games, Cranbourne walked off the field trailing on the scoreboard for the fifth time this season, as the Eagles slumped to 0-5.
It was a percentage-booster for Bentleigh as they won by 70 points and Angelo Soldatos will expect a big response from his players in Round 6 against Springvale Districts, after the week off.
Seven players for East Brighton scored multiple goals and three players had more than 40 touches as the Vampires feasted on Cheltenham to win by 83 points.
Despite trailing by only eight points at the first break, the Rosellas were completely outplayed in the remaining three quarters, and kicking 7.16 definitely didn’t help.
Alex Keath (44 disposals, two goals), Sean Downie (47 disposals, two goals) and Kyle Cooper (41 disposals, one goal) were on fire, while Blake Cochrane’s 27-disposal, four-goal performance was also impressive.
Springvale Districts made it two consecutive victories as it accounted for Murrumbeena by 33 points, with star Kyle Martin (26 disposals, one goal) leading the way.
St Paul’s McKinnon is now up to third on the ladder after winning its fourth match of the season against Port Melbourne.
Andy Scott’s men produced one of the best fourth quarters you will see, dominating the Colts, kicking 7.2 to 0.2 in the final term to overcome a 14-point deficit.
There will be no matches in Southern Division 1 this weekend, as the best players from the league battle it out in the interleague match against Western Football Netball League on Saturday.
Narre Warren players selected in the squad include Jake Richardson, Joel Zietsman, Pete Gentile, Tom Toner and Will Howe, while Jimmy Dwyer and Toby Griffiths were selected in the Under-19 squad.
Other players in the squad include Cranbourne’s Andrew Green, Jarryd Barker, Nicholas Darbyshire and Zak Roscoe
SOUTHERN DIVISION 1
NARRE WARREN 4.0 7.6 9.8 11.9(75)
DINGLEY 0.4 1.8 7.12 13.15(93)
Narre Warren Goals: Will Howe 5, Sam Toner 2, Dejan Janjic, Jett Kearney, Jake Richardson, Hamish West. Best: Will Howe, Joel Zietsman, Hayden Dwyer, Joshua West, Hayden Johnson, Mitchell Tonna.
Dingley Goals: Tom Morecroft 3, Michael Lewis, Jackson Peet 2, Michael Barnes, Cam Dickie, Jack Ferraro, Jake Johnson, Adam Peacock, Luke Simmonds. Best: Mitch Gent, Michael Barnes, Christopher Horton-Milne, Lachlan Benton, Jackson Peet, Jack Ferraro.
CRANBOURNE 2.0 2.2 5.6 7.8(50)
BENTLEIGH 7.5 10.11 12.12 17.18(120)
Cranbourne Goals: Zak Roscoe, Mitchell Tharle 2, Jed Benham, Ryan Jones, Adrian Russo. Best: Not Available.
Bentleigh Goals: Kieran Foley 5, Callum Dooley, Jack Hastings, Lachlan Lawrence, Castan Racunica 2, Ross Barlas, Ben Cooper, Thomas Dowsing. Best: Kieran Foley, Callum Dooley, Willis Reidy, Thomas Smith, Caleb Sheahan, Mitchell Smart.
OTHER GAMES: East Brighton 21.16 (142) def Cheltenham 7.16 (58), Springvale Districts 12.12 (84) def Murrumbeena 7.9 (51), St Paul’s McKinnon 15.11 (101) def Port Melbourne 11.7 (73).
LADDER: Dingley 20, East Brighton, St Paul’s McKinnon 16, Bentleigh, Cheltenham 12, Narre Warren, Springvale Districts 8, Port Melbourne, Murrumbeena 4, Cranbourne 0.
FIXTURE: Interleague – Western v Southern. Avalon Airport Oval. (Men’s, women’s, under 19s)
