By Brad Kingsbury
TOORADIN coach Dan O’Loughlin was perplexed after his team continued its superb lateseason form to belt an undermanned Berwick by 162 points on Saturday.
“You can’t extend the season by a few more weeks can you?” he laughed.
“I suppose we weren’t good enough at the start of the year and now is when we’re paying for it, but we didn’t throw in the towel and it’s pleasing where we’re are at the moment.”
O’Loughlin, who spent the game playing in a back pocket, praised the determination of his players to prove that they were up to the standard required in the competition and produce a topline effort to back up their win over Narre Warren the week before.
Berwick, on the other hand, is a sad reflection of what can happen to a club when on and offfield troubles combine to ruin a season that started with much hype and promise.
Despite injured spearhead George Gorozidis pulling on the boots in a bid to boost the Wickers’ goalscoring options, he saw little of the ball as Tooradin bolted to an eightgoaltonil first quarter and dispelled any thoughts of a Wicker win.
The Seagulls enjoyed their afternoon from then on with David Lieuwen, Adam Splatt and Scott Weekley sharing 18 goals between them, backed up by cracking games from Tom Hallinan and Ben Disney.
Excluding Dan O’Hara, Chris Mizzi and Andrew Tuck, the Wickers were devoid of winners on the day and O’Loughlin conceded that their confidence was shot.
“I feel a bit sorry for Berwick, they’re in a pretty sad state at the moment. We went into the game thinking it would be a lot closer,” he said.
“But we haven’t done that to a team all year and the fact that we didn’t take our foot off the pedal was important. Earlier in the season it was us in that situation, so we knew what it was like.
“We’ve played two games in a row and put in two fourquarter efforts so that’s sensational.”
BOTTOM side Keysborough tried valiantly in the face of a massive skill difference against Doveton on Saturday and limited the scoreboard damage to 146 points in a scrappy game.
The Doves were without players including David George (unavailable), injured forward Ryan Brown and suspended spearhead Danny Casset, who received a oneweek suspension at the MPNFL tribunal for misconduct last week.
The return of Ricky Hayes and recovery of slick flanker Ryan Hendy from injury, assisted the Doves and gave the Burra bench many headaches as they tried to plug holes in their defence, which was under constant pressure.
A sevengoal to none opening term by the Doves set the tone for the day and under18 prospects Rohan Scott and Michael Henry were prominent throughout the afternoon, adding another string to coach Steve Henwood’s already ample bow.
The Doves continued to attack, but Keysborough managed to keep them in check with defensive pressure for much of the rest of the game.
Captain and ruckman Clint Wilson was also among his team’s best players, while the Burra was wellserved by burly Chris Capsalis, Kane Tucker and coach Adam Williams.
DEVON Meadows bounced back from an energysapping defeat the week before, to down Dingley by 34 points and maintain its slim finals chance with one round to play.
The Dingoes were competitive for the first three quarters and turned a sevenpoint deficit at quartertime into a fivepoint lead at the main break.
The loss of suspended pair Rohan Best and Matt Timmerman restricted the Panthers strength around goal in particular and the pressure was on from the first bounce.
With Panther officials fearing the worst, the home side booted four goals to one in the third term to lead by 13 points at the final change and then steadied to kick away in the last quarter.
The Dingoes confidence was up after their win over Berwick the week before and it was only the edge in experience of Devon Meadows coach Craig Hunter, along with Craig Taylor, Luke James and Brad Langley that saw the Panthers home.
For the visitors, Luke McGuiness booted three goals from limited opportunities and Tony Lavars, Craig Marshall and Robert Lemon were among the side’s best.
The downside for Dingley was the report of Lemon for abusive language.
