Dandy dominates the competition

By Marc McGowan
THE Dandenong and District Junior Football League’s best players showed their might in a dominant interleague showing over the long weekend.
The league won seven of its nine matches from under-14 to under-16 level, while the region’s Youth Girls squad also emerged victorious in its two clashes.
The under-16 DDJFL team competed in the Regional Interleague Carnival at Shepley Oval and was untroubled in each of its three games to take out the title.
Beaconsfield footballer Alex Benbow was the star, winning the medal for the best player of the carnival, but had willing allies in Berwick pair Jake Calvert and Jack Sheppard, Endeavour Hills midfielder Ghanim Zoghbi and Narre North Foxes defender Ben King.
All five players have been involved in the Dandenong Stingrays’ program at some stage.
Endeavour Hills under-16 coach Geoff Cummins oversaw the team and was delighted with its display considering the players barely had the opportunity to train together.
“Just the way they trained from the first night of training was fantastic,” he said.
“The ball rarely hit the ground, the voice was there and all the way it should be – it was almost like a dream team.
“Their attitude and application to training and into the game was great.”
The DDJFL also had three teams in the AFL Victoria Metropolitan Junior Championships.
The under-14 and under-15 Division One sides both won their opening two matches, while the under-14 Division Two squad was competitive in its two contests.
DDJFL under-14 Division One coach John Webb is pleased with his side’s displays so far, but knows the upcoming clash with the Eastern Football League will be tougher.
“We’re travelling very nicely, but obviously we have a bigger game coming up against Eastern and the winner will go onto the grand final,” he said.
Talented Endeavour Hills midfielder Blake Pearson has led from the front, while forward Jake Donaldson, onballer Nathan Foote and defender Kalen Murrian have also impressed.
The DDJFL has never won an under-14 Metropolitan Junior Championships title and last won at the event in 2006 in the under-15 Division One age group.
That team contained current Stingrays stars Tom Scully and Ryan Bastinac.
The DDJFL will meet fellow unbeaten side the EFL in their under-14 Division One clash at Noble Park’s Pat Wright Senior Oval on Wednesday, 17 June at 8.15pm.
Their under-15 equivalents will meet on the same night and time at Narre Warren North Reserve.
The under-14 Division Two DDJFL outfit faces the EFL in the curtain-raiser to the under-15s.
The South Eastern Youth Girls team held its Bendigo and Western counterparts scoreless to record mammoth successes ahead of its third-round appointment with Northern on 17 June.
That match-up is the curtain-raiser to the under-14 Division One match at Pat Wright Senior Oval.