Cranbourne playmaker Curtis Barker listens intently to the coach Doug Koop’s By Brad Kingsbury
A LETHARGIC and strangely hesitant Beaconsfield was completely overwhelmed by Cranbourne from the first bounce of their clash at the Perc Allison Oval on Saturday.
The visitors recorded an emphatic 50-point win that should have been even greater, but for some inaccuracy in front of goals.
Both sides knew the importance of the clash that settled, for now, which one was true finals’ contender this season.
It was the Eagles from Casey Fields who stood the test and it was obvious to all at the ground that they were ‘on’ from the outset.
Marc Holt and Brad Coller looked dangerous in attack, often leading their markers Daniel Calteri and Kane Airdrie to the ball, while it only took Cranbourne five minutes to work out their midfield structure, despite Beaconsfield ruckman Chris Kelf winning most of the tap outs.
That proved crucial and the home side’s confidence was dented early and never recovered.
With spearhead Lachlan Oakley out injured, Andrew Williams was the only Beaconsfield forward who looked at all likely to score, but Cranbourne stopper Aaron Shedlock stuck to his task and took the points, keeping the former AFL star to two goals for the afternoon.
The visitors led by 15 points at quarter-time and extended that to 23 points at the main break, retaining control of the tempo and countering everything the home side tried.
Calteri moved forward and booted two goals in the second half, but opportunities were limited and Beaconsfield was lucky that Cranbourne’s tally of 3.7 for the third term was not 7.3 or else we might be using the words ‘smashed’ or ‘belted’.
Had it not been for the superb leadership and determination of coach Robbie Taylor around the ground, Beaconsfield would have been little more than an embarrassment to their always loyal home supporters and the coach was at a loss to explain his side’s capitulation.
“I’m really struggling to explain it. I know we had a couple of really big build ups to games before Saturday, but you can’t just look at a game and take it any less seriously than any other,” he said.
“That’s what some players did and it’s really disappointing.
“It was a big loss and we’re going to have to make some changes to the side. We weren’t hard enough at the ball (and) we stood back when the pressure was on in some of the contests.”
To add further to Beaconsfield’s woes, young forward Andrew Hunter went down with a knee injury in the third term and will have that assessed during the week.
Cranbourne had winners all over the field with Holt, Troy Adams-Tharle, Andre Young and Matt Rus leading the way.
Coach Doug Koop said it was a good response to the previous weekend’s drubbing at the hands of Pakenham and they were really switched on.
“The boys were good. We were really disappointed with the effort the week before, but I think to be a good side you have to win the games you should win and this was definitely one of those,” he said.
“I think the players are learning to be switched on and maintain that for long periods which is what you have to be able to do.
“I was happy with the back six and I have been all season and to be honest, there weren’t many negatives on the day at all.”
