Above left and above: Beaconsfield’s Michael Fisher picks up a loose ball deep in defence before being besieged by Doveton full forward Danny Casset with support from team mate Aaron McIver. By Brad Kingsbury
‘But it means nothing’ coach
DOVETON put the final piece of its perfect 2005 homeandaway record in place on Saturday, when it resisted a lastgasp surge from Beaconsfield to win a thriller by 10 points.
The Doves led all day until Eagle hard nut Tim Musgrove levelled the scores with a goal at the 16minute mark of a hectic final term, sparking 10 minutes of desperate, highpressure football that saw the Doves find the steel to lift and win.
The sentiment around the Perc Allison Reserve afterwards was that the Doves of previous seasons would have likely lost in a similar situation, with nothing other than pride and the chance to complete the rare feat of a clean sweep in the minor rounds on the line.
That did not happen this time and Doveton confirmed itself as outright premiership favourites with the win.
Doveton coach Steve Henwood was suitably happy with his team’s outstanding performance this season, but tempered his comments with an obvious warning that the job was far from complete.
“Look, it’s great, but we’ve achieved nothing really,” he said.
“It’s the first time Doveton has beaten Beaconsfield at the venue since they joined the league and we’ve had a magnificent season, but sport can be cruel.
“The minor premiership does mean absolutely nothing without success in finals. We’ve still got a lot of hard work ahead of us.”
Excluding injured star Ryan Brown, the Doves were almost at full strength, while the Eagles were still missing mainstays including Kane Airdrie, Dean Ziesler, Troy Cashman and Clint Evans.
The ground was wet in patches, but the ball remained relatively dry, which suited Doveton’s playmakers like David George, Daryl Thomas, Ryan Hendy and Justin Hill.
The first term was a battle of wills with the Doves forcing Beaconsfield wide and shutting down its usually dominant midfield with strong tackling and accountable play.
Underrated big man Clint Wilson had a great battle with Beaconsfield ruckman Chris Kelf and honours at the stoppages were fairly even in the first half.
Doveton led by seven points at the first change and put the pressure on to move 19 points ahead at halftime.
Eagle defender Craig Jackson had a good joust with leading goalkicker Danny Casset, keeping him quiet, but Hendy was proved a handful for the Beaconsfield defence all afternoon.
The second half was a dogfight between the two main sides vying for the premiership.
Tempers became frayed in the third quarter, but the umpires settled things down without any ramifications.
At threequarter time Doveton held what looked like a matchwinning 25point lead, but the Eagles proved why they have won the past two premierships with a scintillating final term.
Onballer Kris Fletcher led the way and when Beaconsfield drew level with direct football, it appeared that the momentum had shifted and Doveton was gone.
It was not to be however and the Doves lifted to pepper the goals through Hill and Hendy, but only managed behinds.
Beaconsfield attacked on several occasions, only to be repelled by the Doveton defence led by Brad Downe and then, with three minutes remaining, Hendy snapped his sixth goal for the day off the pack in the goalsquare, to seal the match.
Henwood was proud of his team’s fightback and said that he could not remember a Doveton team going through the homeandaway season undefeated.
He also refuted any suggestion that the result of the game did not matter.
“Of course it mattered,” he said. “Forget about the context of where we are and they are (on the ladder), both of us wanted to win today.
“It was a tough ground to play on against good opposition and we’re happy to come here and be the only side to beat them on their home ground this year.
“Beaconsfield was good, you’ve got to give them credit. They’ve copped a lot of injuries this year, but they are still a formidable side.
“Our fightback was really good. Late in the game you’ve got to play direct footy and we did and that’s why we won.”
Beaconsfield coach Leigh Clifford agreed that he was out to win the game, but said that the way his players fought the game out would create the impetus to play well in the finals.
“We wanted to win today,” he said.
“People were saying to me all week that it doesn’t matter if we lose, but we wanted to take some momentum into next week and we probably will after that.
“There was pressure all day. It was phenomenal and I was pleased that we just kept on coming. The boys showed a lot of spirit.”
