Kangaroos’ late leap

By Brad Kingsbury
ROC snapped out of its lethargy and proved it was ready to play finals if the cards fell its way with a 48point result over Cranbourne at Starling Road.
The Kangaroos went back to basics after some soulsearching by the players and dug deep in the final term to win the sometimes fiery encounter.
The young Cranbourne side started well and matched up on their bigger and more seasoned opponents well in the opening term, shutting the game down and trailing by only four points after a lowscoring quarter.
The Kangaroos broke free in the second term and booted seven goals to one with talented utility Brad Jones the key in attack, to take a 39point lead into the main break.
There was a heated exchange between the two sides on the halftime siren and several players appeared to be lucky not to have their numbers taken.
Cranbourne reacted positively to the challenge after the break and booted four goals from 10 shots to reduce the margin to 24 points at the final change, but ROC steadied and kept its finals’ hopes alive with a solid last quarter effort to seal victory.
Jones starred with six goals and teammates Ben Tivendale and Clint Williams led the way for the Kangaroos, while Ryan Davey, Ross Lambrick and Kade Anderson were in good touch for Cranbourne.
On the down side for both teams, Marc Holt and his Kangaroo opponent Ben Waite were reported in the third quarter and will miss their sides’ final homeandaway games after accepting a oneweek penalty.
Cranbourne coach Brett McMaster, who was recently reappointed for another two seasons, said the development of the club’s youth would continue and games like Saturday’s were good lessons.
“We played okay in the first quarter, but the second quarter was very poor and that’s where they got away from us,” he said.
“After the scuffle we came out and played some really good footy in the third quarter and at threequarter time we thought we were some sort of chance, but we just faded away and we got close, but were not good enough.”