Cranbourne won its second game of the year and got one back against old rival Narre Warren to win by 19 points in front of a big crowd at Amstel Reserve.
The Eagles remain on the bottom of the ladder but have won two of their past four matches and are seeing some improvements in their performances.
After the first win of the season a couple of weeks ago, it was a feeling of relief for coach Angelo Soldatos, but now he and the team are enjoying that winning feeling and want more of it.
The first quarter was a battle with plenty of stoppages and just one goal scored, somewhat underwhelming for what the clash between these two sides promised to deliver.
The goal came from Eagles skipper Zak Roscoe who started in the forward line and looked lively with a few early shots on goal.
Cranbourne was kicking to the scoring end in the opening term and while they managed only 1.2, Soldatos was happy with the pressure and work rate.
“We defended really well and managed to slow them up … overall, we were really happy with the first quarter,” he said.
“In terms of deciding when to go quick and when to go slow, that was probably the best we have done it and helped our forwards get some better looks at goal for most of the game.”
In the second quarter, Cranbourne kicked 5.1 and really put itself in a winning position thanks to some Ryan Jones brilliance as the livewire kicked three majors for the term.
The Eagles held Narre Warren goalless in the third quarter despite the Magpies controlling the play, and a four-goal final term wasn’t enough for the visitors to overcome the margin that Cranbourne had established.
The Eagles are continuing to build and have won two of their past four matches, as well as a competitive effort against Dingley.
“We were a mile off it against Cheltenham but apart from that, it’s been a decent progression over the last few weeks,” Soldatos said.
“It was always going to take a bit of time with our group; we have a lot of new guys and some young players.”
Young ruckman Lewis Robbins was out with illness, which meant a few magnets were moved around, starting with Kyle Lanham who did well in the ruck against Hayden Dwyer.
Soldatos was pleased with the way some other positional changes worked out as well, with Jones and Roscoe combining for eight goals.
“We thought we would have a go at playing Zak and Ryan both forward for the day and see what it looked like because they are pretty tough match-ups,” he said.
Nicholas Darbyshire also moved out of his regular position and looked at home on the wing, offering a marking target higher up the ground.
But the most pleasing thing about the win was the way in which Cranbourne responded when challenged, something the side didn’t do earlier in the season.
“When teams have got momentum against us, they have been able to score really heavily and that has been our biggest issue for the year,” Soldatos said.
The likes of Dillan Bass, Glenn Osborne and Luke Morell, have all been going under the radar, while Jake Hill, Tom Freyer and Andrew Green were at their reliable best.
Cranbourne will shift its focus to East Brighton this weekend but the Eagles will be without vice-captain Mitchell Tharle who is set for a stint on the sidelines with a broken arm.
In other matches, Dingley went 10-0 and remains the benchmark team of the competition as the Dingoes feasted on Bentleigh by 52 points.
A 39-6 first quarter set up the result as Jack Ferraro booted seven goals for the victors, while former St Kilda footballer Arryn Siposs (four goals) and Tom Morecroft (three goals) chipped in – Ross Barlas battled hard for the Demons with three goals.
Port Melbourne’s Chan Hargreaves, who is VFL listed, put on a show and kicked four goals to lead the Colts to their third win of the season against Murrumbeena.
The Lions, led by Nathan Scollo, were brave and only trailed by nine points at the final break, before Port Melbourne ran away to win by 33 points.
St Paul’s McKinnon kicked seven goals in the fourth quarter to smash East Brighton by 51 points, with the Bulldogs solidifying their spot inside the top two.
Brayden O’Toole (five goals) was dominant in the victory, while Sam Hilton-Joyce and Nicholas Roberts kicked three goals each.
Cheltenham has shot up to third on the ladder after it came from behind to defeat Springvale Districts by seven points in a nail-biter.
The Rosellas trailed at half time and three-quarter time, before kicking four goals to one in the final term to overcome Springy, as Luke Garnaut (three goals) set the tone.
SOUTHERN DIVISION 1
CRANBOURNE 1.2 6.3 9.4 11.7(73)
NARRE WARREN 0.0 4.1 4.4 8.6(54)
Cranbourne Goals: Ryan Jones 5, Zak Roscoe 3, Matt Alister 2, Brock Van Loon. Best: Jake Hill, Ryan Jones, Kyle Lanham, Glenn Osborne, Tom Freyer, Andrew Green.
Narre Warren Goals: Tom Toner 3, Will Howe 2, Jimmy Dwyer, Julian Goerlitz, Thomas Russell. Best: Julian Goerlitz, Hayden Dwyer, Jacob Mutimer, Declan Brown, Ethan Kennedy, Peter Gentile.
Other Results – R10: Dingley 15.11(101) def Bentleigh 7.7(49), Port Melbourne 13.18(96) def Murrumbeena 9.9(63), Cheltenham 10.12(72) def Springvale Districts 9.11(65), St Paul’s McKinnon 17.9(111) def East Brighton 9.6(60).
Ladder: Dingley 40, St Paul’s McKinnon 32, Cheltenham 26, Bentleigh 22, Springvale Districts, East Brighton 20, Port Melbourne 12, Narre Warren, Murrumbeena 10, Cranbourne 8.
Fixture – R11: Cranbourne (10) v East Brighton (6), Cheltenham (3) v Bentleigh (4), Springvale Districts (5) v Dingley (1), Murrumbeena (9) v St Paul’s McKinnon (2), Narre Warren (8) v Port Melbourne (7).
