By Brad Kingsbury
THE traditional ‘Battle of the Creek’ clash between Casey Cardinia League neighbours Beaconsfield and Berwick ended in an exciting draw on Saturday
Eagle teenager Jake Rose hit the post with a snap from the boundary line to tie the scores as the final siren blared and exhausted players from both sides dropped to their knees after an intense game.
Both sides were ready for the usual intense battle and the big crowd was not disappointed, despite the blustery wind favouring the clubroom’s end.
Berwick booted with that breeze in the opening term, but did not use it to great advantage and only led by 10 points at the first change.
However the visitors lifted their effort in the second quarter against the flow and booted five goals to three to take a 20-point lead and significant momentum into the half-time break.
The Wickers dual-pronged attack of Grant Noonan and Jason Heath broke away from their Eagle markers Daniel Calteri and Kane Airdrie and created a dangerous combination.
At the other end, star Beaconsfield forward Andrew Williams had a battle on his hands with Wickers ‘blanket’ Sean Calamatta and the pressure was on the home side to find a way to respond.
The third term was the scene for that response and Beaconsfield upped its work rate significantly against the breeze.
Players like Justin Duffy, Daniel Mislicki, Josh Dodsworth and Damien Szwaja were good and got better as the match progressed.
While the Eagle youngsters still appeared to be knocked off the ball too easily, their second and third efforts were the difference from previous weekends and suddenly they were in with a chance, with only 20 points separating the sides at the final break.
The atmosphere at the three-quarter time huddles were opposite with Berwick under pressure and the Eagles tight and vocal and obviously confident that hope of a long-awaited win over a top-five side was real.
Berwick swung Heath back as a spare man in defence and he swept across the defensive line brilliantly with several match-saving pack marks.
It took 10 minutes, but suddenly the Eagles started to come.
Two superb snapped goals to youngster Aaron Gwozdziewski, together with one each to Mislicki and Williams, saw the margin reduced to one point at the 16-minute mark of the quarter.
What followed was an eight-minute arm wrestle.
The scores were levelled by Beaconsfield, but a rushed behind to Berwick looked set to deliver the ultimate disappointment before teenage Eagle Jake Rose received a handball from Taylor deep in the forward pocket and snapped at goal.
In what seemed like slow motion, the ball spun towards the big opening but collected the post on its way as the final siren sounded seconds later.
Players were spent, as were all that witnessed the tense finale, however games between Beaconsfield and Berwick have a habit of becoming epics and this one was no different.
As is always the case in drawn games, supporters are not sure whether to cheer or curse, but the feeling in the Beaconsfield rooms was certainly more upbeat than that of their opposition and Taylor acknowledged the improved performance of his side afterwards.
“We wanted to play and do well against a team that was entrenched in the top five and we did that I think. I thought we deserved to win it, but at least we didn’t lose by a point,” he said.
“There’s some talent in this group. We competed well for the four quarters which was more pleasing than anything.
“They’re a good side, Berwick. They’ve got some good zip around the ball with young Page and Tuck and their structure is much better this year. I suppose that made our effort better again, but we still couldn’t get the four points and that’s disappointing.”
Taylor was brilliant in the midfield all day and was his side’s best player, along with Chris Kelf, Mislicki, Gwozdziewski and Calteri, who kept Noonan to four goals.
Berwick coach Glenn Dale was matter-of-fact about the Wickers performance.
While he did not criticise the effort, he said his players were wasteful with the ball and simply did not adjust to the smaller, tighter ground, despite his instructions.
“In the third quarter they bottled it up and played a clustering type of game and we just couldn’t get the score on the board,” he said.
“They were smart and played back of us and ran the ball out. We mucked around with silly little handballs and it wasn’t a day for that sort of game.
“Footy is 95 per cent instinctive, but there are instructions to follow and too many times they made the wrong choices.
“We did have some good players on the day, but I don’t want good players, I want a good team.”
Heath was best afield, while Brett and Dale Robinson, Rowan Pybus and Calamatta were also in great form all day.
