Doveton spearhead Danny Casset booted nine goals – despite some close attention from the Berwick defence – in his side’s two-goal win at Edwin Flack Reserve on Saturday.
BERWICK failed in its bid to peg back a five-goal three-quarter time deficit, finally succumbing to Doveton by 12 points in a great game at the Edwin Flack Reserve on Saturday.
The 2009 Wickers proved beyond doubt that they are up to anything that this season’s Casey Cardinia league rivals can throw at them and look almost certain to retain a top five position providing that coach Glenn Dale can keep the majority of his best side on the park for the remainder of the year.
The Wickers were without several key players including defender Shaun Calamatta, Andrew Morozoff and the Robinson brothers Brett and Dale, all who are bigger bodied and would have been handy on the day.
Doveton too was down several senior players including star recruit Russell Gabriel, Shannon Henwood and Corrie Wilson, but they jumped away quickly thanks to a dominant midfield and a super five-goal opening term from spearhead Danny Casset.
Danger signs were evident for the Wickers despite the efforts of captain Andrew Tuck and elusive playmaker Jason Rahilly, and the Doves went in to the half-time break holding a 35-point lead and in complete control of the game.
Berwick coach Glenn Dale swung a few changes in desperation after the Doves lead shot out to nine goals midway through the third quarter and the effect was immediate.
Jason Heath moved to Casset, Matt Ravenhall and young ruckman Jarryd Buntine started things happening in the centre and big full forward Grant Noonan kicked two important goals to reduce the Doves’ lead to 31 points at the final change.
Both coaches were animated at the three-quarter time break, but it was the Doveton supporters who looked more concerned, despite their lead, because the intensity had suddenly disappeared from the visitors’ game late in the term.
When Brad Miles reduced the margin to 25 points with a beautiful running goal from 50 metres at the three-minute mark of the final term, the Berwick tails were up.
It was then a matter of hanging on for the Doves as Noonan slotted his seventh and eighth major for the afternoon to reduce the difference to 13 points half way through the quarter.
Suddenly the players from both sides realised that the game was up for grabs and the battle resembled an under nine game with a huge pack of players following the ball and throwing themselves into each contest without fear.
The sides went goal for goal late in the quarter but in the end it was the experience and steadiness of captain Justin Hill, together with Daniel Charles, Callum Pattie and Brad Downe that saw the Doves retain their advantage and stave off the Wickers brave challenge.
Both sides were amazingly accurate at goal, a rarity in modern football, and between them scored 32.12 for the afternoon, with Casset (9.2) and Noonan (8.1) the stars.
Youngster Billy Carlyle was among the Wickers best players along with Noonan, Tuck, Rahilly and Buntine who battled manfully against experienced opponents in the ruck all day.
Dale was disappointed that his side had taken so long to click into gear, but warned that the majority of his injured players would return over the next two weeks and that would be a bonus.
“We had to dig deep because we lacked the players, particularly the big backmen to move around,” he said.
“It was tough. We had to use Jason back in the second half to play on Casset but then you take away one of your main forwards and unbalance the side again.”
“I’ve got no problem about our commitment, I haven’t all year but wins are what you need. It’s okay to say you have decent losses but it doesn’t work like that-you have to win.”
“We have the bye now and I expect seven players to be available after that so that will help us a lot.”
For Doveton, Casset was the match-winner while Daniel Zarjac, Callum Pattie and Peter Greenstreet were also among the day’s most consistent players.
Doveton assistant coach Clint Wilson was pleased with the victory but lamented the second half fade-out and said that would be addressed at training over the coming week.
“We had control of the game and we just took our foot off the pedal and stopped our aggression. They kicked a couple of goals and got their tails up and got back into it. We shouldn’t have allowed that to happen,” he said.
“Footy’s getting quicker and quicker and when we turned the ball over they were off and running. I thought (Berwick) was pretty good in the second half.
“It was a bit of a wake-up call for us. You can’t play unaccountable football or have down quarters in this competition any more. We won the game but there’s plenty of work to be done and a lot of improvement there. Training is where that has to start.”
Neither side reported any major injuries from the game.
