By Brad Kingsbury
TOORADIN’S upset win over thirdplaced Narre Warren on Saturday proved that, had it not been for injuries at the start of the season, the Seagulls could have been a serious finals’ contender.
In its first fourquarter effort for the season, the Seagulls refused to allow their highly rated, but injurydepleted opponents, the initiative and despite being headed in the second and third quarters, continued to grind away and hung on for a welldeserved sixpoint victory.
The Magpies were without star forward Lee Clark who missed with a hip injury and were forced into some mismatches as Tooradin stretched the visitors’ lack of height in attack.
The game was a dour struggle from the first bounce and the Seagulls maintained their strongtackling game with an emphasis on pressure, in an effort to unsettle Narre Warren’s playmakers and force turnovers.
The ploy worked well and despite the Magpies kicking to the lead and threatening to pull away on several occasions, Tooradin remained focussed and was within two points of the Magpies at the final change.
The last quarter was an exciting affair for homeclub supporters as Tooradin booted two early goals and secured a lead that it defended grimly for the rest of the term.
Narre Warren threatened, but Tooradin showed great poise to remain strong and take the win.
Magpie midfielder Daniel Field was a shining light for his team with an outstanding individual performance.
The effort of Seagull defender Andrew Hewson to subdue dangerous Magpie Shane Dwyer, together with the leadership of younger players including Scott Weekley and Lachlan Gillespie in the centre, were keys to Tooradin’s improvement.
Tooradin coach Dan O’Loughlin praised his players for maintaining their intensity and work ethic, even though finals were now out of the question, and said it was the most determined his team had been all season.
“Without doubt it’s the first time we’ve pressured a side for four quarters,” he said.
“Narre Warren kicked goals that can usually put you on the back foot (in the second quarter) but we continued to pressure and tackle.
O’Loughlin said as a spectacle it probably wasn’t the best game of football, but as a contest it was unbelievable.
“We did the simple things well and we forced the turnovers. It was a really good armwrestle,” he said.
“While I’m disappointed the way the season has gone, the fact that the players are still willing to do the hard things is encouraging for the rest of the year.”
His Narre Warren counterpart, Paul Hamilton, lamented the club’s lateseason injury run, but didn’t use it as an excuse, saying that Tooradin deserved the win.
“They played well. We were in the game all day and there was never really more than two goals in it either way, but we still thought we had a side that could win,” the disappointed mentor said.
“They shut us down and nullified us all day.
“It’s not the fact we lost the game, but the way we went about it that I’m upset about.
“We set ourselves to win the last six games and that hasn’t happened, but I found out a few things about certain players under pressure and that is one positive to come out of it.”
THE days of fierce traditional rivalry between Cranbourne and Doveton appeared to be reserved for the history books on the weekend as the Doves dismissed their once fearsome foe by 112 points.
Despite their homeground advantage, the Hawks were a shadow of former tough and uncompromising teams of the past and allowed Doveton to control the game from the outset.
The Doves booted seven goals from 15 scoring shots with the wind in the opening term and broke the young Hawks’ spirit before it could muster a challenge.
Cranbourne was inaccurate in the second term, booting 3.7 and trailed by 33 points at halftime, before capitulating again in the third quarter to trail by 12 goals at the final change.
There was drama for the Doves at threequarter time when spearhead Danny Casset, who had kicked six goals, was redcarded and sent off for the rest of the game after reacting to an incident with a spectator.
However, the Doves again proved their composure, booting six goals into the wind and keeping Cranbourne to one behind for the term, despite playing with only 17 men.
Craig Sidebottom, Marc Holt and James Martin were the day’s better performers for the Hawks, while David George, Robbie Hughes and youngster Michael Henry starred for Doveton.
Doves’ coach Steve Henwood was disappointed with the circumstances surrounding Casset’s report, but happy with his team’s reaction to run away in the final term.
“Danny shouldn’t have to put up with (opposition) supporter’s abuse like that, no players should. We’ll deal with that during the week at the tribunal,” he said.
“We had a minicrisis at threequarter time when Danny was off and Clint (Wilson) also got 15minutes for wrestling (Marc) Holt.
“I was very pleased the way young players like Callum Pattie, David Welling and Jason McCloy lifted and led the way in the last quarter when the pressure was on.”
The downside for the Doves, apart from Casset’s report, was a thigh injury to Ryan Hendy that may see him miss next week’s clash with Keysborough.
THE rollercoaster ride towards a possible finals’ date continued for ROC when it comprehensively pounded Keysborough into submission and grabbed fifth position.
The 152point victory was achieved on the back of a 10goal haul by burly spearhead Matt Castricum, who moved to 51 goals for the year and made it 19 majors from the past two games.
ROC joins Pakenham in the five, two points clear of Hampton Park, with two games in the homeandaway season left.
The Kangaroos were off target early in the game, booting nine behinds in the opening term, but sheer weight of opportunities meant the ’Roo forwards had the chance to maintain pressure and gradually found their range to boot 28 goals from 54 shots.
The Kangaroos applied pressure in each term and moved further in front as Keysborough’s resistance waned.
Ben Tivendale continued his recent stellar form to gain best afield honours, while fellow midfielder Clint Williams backed him up with a top performance.
Youngsters Brenton Cowell and Jarrod Goodes also chipped in with good games, increasing coach Hayden Stanton’s options as the business end of the season approaches.
Keysborough is lurching towards a winless season and simply had no answers to its opponent’s fitness, skill and structure.
Justin Tully tried hard along with Corey Wilkinson and captain Luke McGuiness, who finished with three goals from limited opportunities.
