It’s a Wickers wipe-out!

BERWICK made light of the forced omission of its two key forwards, Jason Heath and Grant Noonan, to completely dominate a sub-standard Hampton Park by 57 points at the Edwin Flack Reserve on Saturday.
Talented utility Brad Miles returned to his best form after dislocating a shoulder earlier in the season, booting four goals from stints at full-forward and on a half-forward flank.
The Wickers started well, keeping the Redbacks goalless in the opening term and leading by 22 points at the first change.
It was all downhill for Hampton Park after that with Berwick controlling the midfield and Adam Mott, Andrew Tuck and Nathan Page creating the run and scoring opportunities to extend the lead to 58 points at half-time.
The second half was a matter of the Wickers going through the motions and maintaining the intensity, although the visitors did lift theirs with Brendan Fredericks, coach Josh Taylor and defender Sheldon Fredericks leading by example.
Berwick big men David Van Diemen, Brett and Dale Robinson have hit good form at the right time of year and were among the best, while 10 players contributed to the Wickers’ 18 goals in another positive.
Coach Glenn Dale was happy with the win and even more pleased with the fact that there were 10 players 21 years of age or under in Saturday’s side.
“We got off to a good start and finally improved on it and went away with it in the end. That’s a good sign for a young group,” he said.
“We really played some decent footy at last. The first half we dominated and we probably just did what we had to in the second half, but it was a good win.”
His Hampton Park counterpart, Taylor, is beyond explaining his side’s up-and-down form and is now just bemused by it.
“We were terrible and I can’t understand why. It’s just really disappointing,” he said.
“Berwick was missing their two main goalkickers and we must have thought ‘great we’ll go alright’ and it was the exact opposite.”
To add further drama to the Redbacks’ afternoon, talented playmaker Glenn Rees and veteran midfielder Pat Clish were both reported and could miss next weekend’s crucial game against Tooradin.
Lions a danger
LOOK out league, the Lions are coming.
That was the clear message issued by Michael Holland’s side with its 110-point crunching of neighbours ROC at Starling Road on the weekend.
This game was a case of the men against the boys and the difference between the top sides and the also-rans was made plainly obvious with three home-and-away rounds to play.
The Lions lost star on-baller Dan O’Loughlin in the opening minute after he received a kick on the shin, but they did not miss a beat and cruised away to a six-goal lead at quarter time.
The damage got worse for the Kangaroos as the game went on and the margin continued to blow out.
Big Daniel Fry booted eight goals in a superb effort at full-forward, while match winner Luke Walker is nearing top form as the finals approach.
Hard-running Lion Dean Blake played on ROC star Greg Tivendale and was helped out by a few of the other Pakenham midfielders, but Tivendale’s class saw him finish with four goals and named among his side’s best players again.
ROC continued to fight the game out and Ash Comer, Ben Johnson and Ben Tivendale could all hold their heads high afterwards, however the result was never in doubt.
Winning coach Michael Holland was happy with the overall effort and pleased with the way his players adapted to the away venue.
“We played well,” he said. “We have started playing a bit better over the last couple of weeks and there were a lot of positives to come out of the game.
“It was an even performance and to play that well on a small ground was a pleasing point too.”
Runner report dents Doves
THE report of Doveton runner and former coach Stuart Batten was the only lowlight of the Doves’ emphatic 79-point win over Tooradin at the Western Port oval.
Tooradin kicked the first goal of the game, its only major for the first term, and was nine points up before the Doves clicked into gear.
That happened after the incident that saw Batten ejected from the contest for alleged abuse, and then it was bye-bye Seagulls as the Doves booted eight unanswered goals to lead by 49 points at half-time and effectively have the game shot to pieces.
That was extended with ease to the final margin in the second half and Tooradin officials were left shaking their heads at the ease with which their opponents were able to score.
That was particularly pertinent given Doves’ full-forward Danny Casset pulled out of the side before the game, leaving Peter Pullen to play out of the goal square and wingman Callum Pattie as the other main scoring option.
However everything worked nicely for the Doves with Ricky Hayes dominating in defence and Aaron Henwood tagging Beau Miller, who played on a wing for much of the day, but was still named among the Seagulls best with Jared Thompson.
The Doves were simply too big and strong for their opponents in the end and assistant coach Clint Wilson said it was a good test to come through physically.
“It was a good win, but they were a bit undermanned,” he said.
“One thing I will say is that they were very physical and didn’t stand back. It was just our skill level that was too good for them in the end.
“We changed a few things around and a couple of players took their chance to play, so that was a good sign too.”