Tooradin coach Dan O’Loughlin lays the law down to his charges at quartertime of Saturday’s classic encounter against Berwick at the Westernport oval. By Brad Kingsbury
TOORADIN snatched a thrilling twopoint win over Berwick at the Westernport oval on Saturday, after star Wicker Ryan Donaldson missed a shot at goal from 25 metres out in the dying seconds.
The victory has prompted league followers to predict that the Seagulls may be the biggest threat to the dominance of Doveton and Narre Warren in this year’s premiership race.
Seagulls’ coach Dan O’Loughlin was his usual measured self after the game, but could not hide his pleasure at the fact that his side fought back to win after being challenged.
“It was the first time we have been in that position this year and it was pleasing the way we reacted,” he said.
Tooradin started the game with a loose man in defence and maintained that ploy until after the main break.
The idea was to bottle Berwick’s dangerous forwards up, but with big man John McNamara playing in a key defensive position, the Wickers running players took advantage of the groundlevel play and kept the ball in Berwick’s scoring vicinity more often than not.
After halftime, O’Loughlin dispensed with the loose man and reverted to a more traditional oneonone setup. It had instant results with his team kicking four goals to one in the third quarter and levelling the score at threequarter time.
Berwick booted the first two goals of the final term and looked to have the momentum to record its first victory, however the Seagulls dug deep and found something, booting the next three goals to grab and then hold a slender advantage.
The last few minutes were as exciting as any game could be, with the Seagulls standing firm as Berwick threw everything at them.
O’Loughlin singled out his assistant coach Beau Miller for special praise after a bestonground performance, while fellow Seagulls Ben Disney, Tom Hallinan and Tom O’Loughlin were also damaging.
Berwick’s best included wingman Andrew Tuck, Chris Kickett, Ainsley Betts and David Thurmond.
However, coach Ronnie Burns gave his team a dressing down after the game and president Peter Jensen conceded that the Wickers were still not quite there.
“We’re probably still a couple of players short and that has been shown so far,” he said.
“We had our chances, but Tooradin is a good side. They play good footy and their effort can’t be underestimated.”
