DOWN by three points at the final change, ROC seniors stormed home with hard running and good team play to beat Keysborough by 39 points on Saturday.
A strong first quarter gave the Kangaroos the early lead, but a drop in concentration and lack of discipline in the second term squandered the advantage and ROC entered the long break nine points in arrears.
A hardfought third quarter saw the Kangaroos peg the gap back slightly and set the stage for an exciting final term.
ROC took the initiative early in the term and quickly established the ascendancy.
Inspired by a tight and uncompromising defence, ROC’s running players took control of the game and helped set up a ninegoaltotwo quarter.
Scores ROC 18.11.119 d Keysborough 11.14.80.
Goals for ROC: K. Quinn 5, C. White, J. Goodes 3, C. Williams, M. Barker 2, D. Blake, B. Tivendale and S. Overdyk, 1.
Best ROC: Michael Barker, Kevin Quinn, David Main, Brad Jones and Craig Eagleton.
The winner of the Pakenham Hotel award was Michael Barker.
RESERVES
After a slow start the Kangaroos showed some good form to beat Keysborough convincingly.
Matt James had an outstanding game at fullback and was a standout as best on ground.
Shane White has started running himself into form and is now showing some of the class that was evident in his early years at ROC.
Sean Marchetti, Sean Sullivan and Shane Webster also had strong games and Peter Tucker played well and was rewarded with three goals.
Some late goals to Keysborough made its score a bit more respectable, but the game was well controlled by the Kangaroos.
Scores: ROC 12.12.84 d Keysborough 6.10.46.
Goals for ROC: P. Tucker, S. Marchetti 3, S. Sullivan, K. Dowsett 2, J. Duncan, S. McIntyre, 1.
Best for ROC: Matt James, Sean Marchetti, Sean Sullivan, Shane Webster and Shane White.
UNDER 18
A good competitive first half from the young Kangaroos wasn’t enough to get the four points, but was indicative of the improvement the side has shown this season.
Although leading at the long interval ROC’s inexperience led to a loss of concentration in the third term and allowed Keysborough to build a matchwinning lead.
The Kangaroos regrouped and came back late in the game, but the damage had already been done.
Scores: Keysborough 10.11.71 d ROC 6.3.39.
Goal kickers for ROC: D. Churchill, G. Marshall, T. Folino, G. Staindl, D. McDonald and A. Hobson.
Best for ROC: Daniel Churchill, Josh Boyle, Daniel Glen, Glen Marshall and Shaun Main.
The Bubba’s Pizza Pakenham awards went to Shaun Main and Daniel Glen and the Domino’s Pizza award went to Daniel Churchill.
