By Blair Burns
Cranbourne conceded six unanswered goals in the first quarter against Springvale Districts and never managed to find its way back into the contest as it lost its sixth consecutive game.
The Eagles remain the only team yet to win a game in the Southern Division 1 competition after the 62-point loss at Springvale Reserve last weekend.
The Demons, at their home ground, got the jump on Cranbourne and kicked their first goal just two minutes into the match with some fast end-to-end ball movement.
Eagles’ Jake Stephens earned some early free kicks in the ruck as the Lewis Robbins replacement and was performing well, before he conceded two quick goals in a bad couple of minutes.
After earning a free kick in a ruck contest in the defensive 50, he turned the ball over across half-back which resulted in a Matt Wetering goal, and then gave away a free kick and a 50 metre penalty at the next centre bounce, resulting in another goal.
Wetering kicked another for Springy shortly after and Cranbourne was already behind 24-0 after just nine minutes of play.
Coach Angelo Soldatos said the past three weeks had been disappointing and acknowledged that there was no easy fix to turn the season around.
“This isn’t a click the fingers and everything is going to be okay situation, we need to get to work and get better,” he said.
“It’s a similar story (to previous weeks), we are just killing ourselves with our ball use … some of our turnovers were horrific.
“Everyone turns it over but they were not ones you can defend, we literally handed them the ball in spots where they could have a shot on goal.”
The Cranbourne team, which was without Bailey Buntine, Matt Alister and Glenn Osborne (away at a wedding), needed to lift and it did.
Captain Zak Roscoe had plenty of the ball in the opening quarter and was clean in heavy traffic to kick the Eagles’ first goal for the day.
Mitchell Tharle and Ryan Jones kicked goals late in the term for Cranbourne and reduced the margin back to 17 points, but they were still playing catch-up footy.
Springvale Districts went on to score 5.4 in the second term with the wind, keeping the visitors to just 0.1 and the game was all but over.
Despite some resistance in the third quarter, the Demons dominated the final quarter to turn a 36-point three-quarter time margin, into 62 points at the final siren.
Jarryd Barker (22 disposals, 11 marks) was named Cranbourne’s best player, while Andrew Green (30 disposals, 12 marks) and Roscoe (20 disposals, one goal) worked hard.
Romeo Bellinvia made his senior debut for the Eagles and provided plenty of energy.
“I thought he was good and looked pretty comfortable at the level, he is quick and has played some really good footy in the Under-19s and Reserves,” Soldatos said.
Former Collingwood and Noble Park star Kyle Martin was dominant with 38 disposals and two goals, leading the way for Springvale Districts.
In a season where it has been hard to find positives at times, Cranbourne’s Tom Freyer has been a shining light, as he relishes a pre-season positional change.
The key defender produced one of the best five-disposal performances that you’ll see and was named as one of the Eagles’ best players.
“He has been a ruckman throughout his career, but we have played him as a key defender all season and he’s barely had a goal kicked on him,” Soldatos said.
“I sat down with him in the pre-season and asked if he’d want to have a crack at playing as a key back and he was really open to it … I don’t think he’s been beaten yet.”
But unfortunately for Cranbourne, the losses continue to mount up, which is putting more and more pressure on the young team as it tries to get the monkey off the back.
And the team may not get a better opportunity for a win than this weekend as the side takes on Port Melbourne.
Much like the Eagles, the Colts have also been hit with injury this season and have struggled on-field as a result, with a 1-5 season record.
“All of the games are pretty important for us now, given where the win-loss sits and what the season is sort of looking like,” Soldatos said.
“It’s a big game and both sides are sort of in a similar boat … neither of us are in the position we probably wanted to be in, or thought we were going to be in.”
In other games across Division 1, Murrumbeena caused an upset against Narre Warren to win by 23 points at the Lions’ den.
After winning their first three matches of the season, the Magpies have now lost three in a row and have another tough task against Bentleigh this weekend.
While it is not panic stations for Narre Warren just yet, the side cannot afford to drop games like this if it is to play finals later in the season.
The Magpies had the upper hand in the first quarter kicking six goals to two, to take a handy 24-point buffer into the first break, but the clash tightened up after the first break.
Murrumbeena led by six points at half time and five points at three-quarter time, before putting the visitors away in the final quarter to get its second win of the year.
The two big forwards who teamed up last weekend in the interleague clash, Ed Standish (10 disposals, three goals) and Jake Richardson (18 disposals, four goals, eight marks) led the way at each end.
Another interleague representative and Narre Warren captain Joel Zietsman (16 disposals, one goal) was named best on ground for the Magpies, while Pete Gentile (30 disposals, four marks) had the footy on a string.
Dingley continues to pass every challenge that is thrown at it, defeating St Paul’s McKinnon by 49 points as the Bulldogs coughed up a 16-point half-time lead.
Brayden O’Toole , Sam Hilton-Joyce (two goals each) and Matthew O’Brien (26 disposals, one goal) were best for the Bulldogs, while Jack Ferraro and Tom Morecroft kicked four goals each for the Dingoes.
After thumping Cranbourne last week, Bentleigh sent a message to the rest of the competition as it defeated East Brighton by 31 points.
Caleb Sheahan (32 disposals, one goal, 13 tackles) was impressive, along with Andrew Walker (27 disposals, nine tackles) and Mitchell Smart (10 disposals, 10 tackles, 51 hitouts).
While Cheltenham defeated Port Melbourne by 42 points thanks to outstanding performances from Alec McComb (four goals) and ex-Saint Jack Lonie.
Riley Stafford battled hard for the Colts with three goals, but the side will now shift its focus to Cranbourne next week, with a win in its sights.
SOUTHERN DIVISION 1
SPRINGVALE DISTRICTS 6.1 11.5 12.6 16.9(105)
CRANBOURNE 3.2 3.3 6.6 6.7(43)
Springvale Goals: Matt Wetering 3, Josh Bradley, Daniel Helmore, Ricky Johnson, Kyle Martin 2, Liam Giove, Kyle Hendy, Brody Ledder, Jamie Nguyen, Jackson Sketcher. Best: Zane Merdanovic, Kyle Martin, Xavier Woodland, Cory Hutchinson, Josh Bradley, Ricky Johnson.
Cranbourne Goals: Kyle Lanham 2, Nicholas Darbyshire, Ryan Jones, Zak Roscoe, Mitchell Tharle. Best: Jarryd Barker, Andrew Green, Tom Freyer, Jake Stephens, Jake Cowburn, Damon Krake.
MURRUMBEENA 2.4 7.7 11.9 16.13(109)
NARRE WARREN 6.4 6.7 10.11 12.14(86)
Murrumbeena Goals: Ed Standish, Byron Wright 3, Pat Bannister, Blake Meadows 2, Lucas Cloke, James Corboy, Louis Nousis, Thomas Rigby, Dareo Rogers, Mitch Virtue. Best: Samuel Michael, Nicholas Minchin, Pat Bannister, Nathan Scollo, Louis Nousis, Ed Standish.
Narre Warren Goals: Jake Richardson 4, Jesse Davies, Hamish West 2, Julian Goerlitz, Jett Kearney, Brayden Sharp, Joel Zietsman. Best: Joel Zietsman, Trent Papworth, Jake Richardson, Peter Gentile, Hayden Dwyer, Riley Siwes.
OTHER GAMES – Rd 6: Bentleigh 13.11(89) def East Brighton 8.10(58), Cheltenham 13.15(93) def Port Melbourne 7.9(51), Dingley 18.10(118) def 10.9(69).
LADDER: Dingley 24, East Brighton, Bentleigh, Cheltenham, St Paul’s McKinnon 16, Springvale Districts 12, Narre Warren, Murrumbeena 8, Port Melbourne 4, Cranbourne 0.
FIXTURE – Rd 7: Dingley (1) v Murrumbeena (8), Cranbourne (10) v Port Melbourne (9), East Brighton (2) v Springvale Districts (6), Cheltenham (4) v St Paul’s McKinnon (5), Narre Warren (7) v Bentleigh (3).
