By Blair Burns
There were no regular matches played in Southern Division 1 on Saturday as the best players in the league took the field for the interleague clash against Western Football Netball League.
The conditions were wet and cold as three Southern football sides made the trip out to Avalon Airport Oval as they prepared to battle for bragging rights.
The senior interleague clash featured Narre Warren captain Joel Zietsman and star forward Jake Richardson, while Cranbourne’s Andrew Green was also in action.
The senior men’s coach was Cheltenham’s Des Ryan, with Andy Scott (St Paul’s McKinnon), Kris Thompson (Springvale Districts) and Zach Horsley (Dingley) his assistants.
The day started well for Western as Tom Condon kicked the opening goal of the match, inside the first 60 seconds.
Southern struggled for the remainder of the first quarter as repeat forward 50 entries for Western kept Zietsman and Green busy in defence.
Richardson struggled to get into the game in the first quarter, pressing up to get involved in the play and get his hands on the football.
At quarter time, Southern was scoreless and had been beaten in the clearance battle by a side which had just been cleaner and better in the conditions.
But Southern responded in the second, kicking three goals to one as they got back in the contest, kicking to the scoring end with a slight breeze.
Dingley midfielder Jackson Peet was impressive and helped his side gain some control around the contest to give Murrumbeena forwards Dareo Rogers and Ed Standish some good looks at goal.
Rogers was everywhere and took his chances in front of the big sticks, kicking four for the match and leading the way for his team.
Western was determined to push the lead out further in the third quarter and that is what the hosts did as they kicked four goals to one, taking a 29-point lead into the final term.
The Southern surge came in the form of five final-quarter goals, as the team doubled its three-quarter-time score.
However, Western was too good and if the side had kicked straighter, the margin would’ve likely been more than 14 points.
Zietsman and Green had plenty of the football down back and used the ball well given the conditions.
Narre Warren’s Richardson, who has kicked 10 goals in his past three games, had no trouble getting his hands on the ball, but failed to register a major as he missed a few shots on goal.
Ben Dessent (East Brighton) was another strong performer for Southern.
Rogers earned the best on ground medal for Southern with his four goals, while Tom Condon was Western’s best player on the day.
The Under-19s men played earlier in the day as Southern won by 33 points, with Ethan Campbell (Cranbourne), Jimmy Dwyer and Toby Griffiths (Narre Warren) all performing well.
Western was far too strong for Southern in the senior women’s clash, winning by 25 points.
