TOORADIN coach Dan O’Loughlin summed up his side’s costly 18point loss to Beaconsfield succinctly.
“They smashed us in the midfield and we did a lot of spectating. It was a clinical effort by Beaconsfield,” he said.
The pressure applied by the Eagles at their tight home ground upset the Seagull runners from the start of the game and forced many turnovers and stoppages.
The Eagles led by six points at quarter time and increased that to 14 points at the main break with coach Haydn Robins dominating in attack, together with Luke McConnell and rugged small men Kris Fletcher and Robbie Taylor in control around the packs.
Beaconsfield maintained a twogoal buffer at the final break and McConnell broke free to kick four of his eight goals for the day in the final term to see his side home and the Seagulls lose their hardwon topfive position.
On the downside for the Eagles was a knee injury to 2005 league bestandfairest winner Daniel Charles, suffered early in the game, but the positives were many.
For Tooradin assistant coach Tom Hallinan was among the better performers with Seamus Scanlon and Ash Palmer who booted four goals, but O’Loughlin said the effort was not up to that required for a potential finalist.
“I was really disappointed with the commitment,” he said.
“We scored our goals a lot harder than we did through lack of intensity and pressure in the midfield. It was a real step backwards from where we had got to in the previous weeks.
“It was a good reality check for myself, the coaching staff and players.”
In a fashion typical to coaches, Robins was pleased with the win, but pointed out that there were still plenty of mistakes.
“I was ecstatic with our work rate and ability to win the football, but the way we coughed it up is disappointing,” he said.
“I’ve never known a team that works harder and then does everything it can to give the football back to the opposition. We’ve got plenty to work on.”
BERWICK had a strong 58point win over a young Cranbourne at Casey Fields.
The game was marred by an allin brawl between both sides at halftime with several players nursing bumps and bruises from the fracas after the game.
The Wickers lost star forward Ryan Donaldson to a leg injury in the second quarter, but had kicked away to a fivegoal lead.
As the siren to end the first half sounded and the two teams grouped to head to the rooms, there were some verbal jibes, so both sides decided to blow off a little steam in a scuffle that lasted for more than two minutes.
There were no umpires’ reports and both clubs said it was more a case of players flying the flag.
After the break, Berwick applied the pressure with Gavin McLean moving forward and booting four goals and Kirk Betts, Matt Crosby and Adam Mott taking control around the ground.
Youngster Matt Thompson did his best to quell the visitors and had assistance from Cranbourne teammates including Damien Whitnall, Adam Wright and under18 prospect Matt Lillie, who was a late inclusion after being cleared from Mt Eliza.
The Wickers held their nerve in a freeflowing final quarter to emerge comfortable victors and coach Ronnie Burns said he was just happy to get a win.
“Isn’t it lovely? I can finally walk around Berwick Village and get a cup of coffee and a pat on the back this week,” he chuckled.
“We played pretty well, but still need to concentrate on four quarters of football.
“Kirk Betts was sensational. The first few games he had to get used to this style of competition and now he’s getting used to it, he’s getting better and better. That goes for quite a few of the new boys.”
DEVON Meadows scored its second victory for 2006 with a comprehensive 97point result over bottom side Dingley.
The Dingoes were competitive early for the second week in a row and only trailed the Panthers by four points at quarter time and 25 at the long break.
It was their best half of football for the season and a return of seven goals at halftime was very pleasing for coach David Barnes and his players.
However, after Wayne Briggs fired up his players they reacted by slamming on eight goals to one in the third term and putting any idea of victory out of the Dingoes’ heads.
Devon Meadows win was led by fullforward and under18’s coach Matt Davey with nine goals, together with teammate Craig Taylor, who chipped in with five.
Briggs was happy with the win and said that, despite a tough year, the signs for the future were good.
“I’d have been disappointed if we’d lost. We probably should have kicked another 10 goals, but at least we won,” he said.
“We’ve played nine firstgamers now and I’ve still got a few more kids who we’ll run through the seniors yet. We’ve got some good young footballers coming through and my numberone aim is to get them playing senior football. The average age of our senior side is only 20 to 21.
“The morale of the group has been sensational and we’ll keep working on our style and the way we approach our football for the rest of the season.”
Dingley’s better players included Bret Lavars, Jason Wallis, Stephen Pitt and captain Tony Lavars.
