It’s all there in black and white. Cranbourne’s Marc Holt and Narre Warren’s Clay Peresso test each other’s strength at quarter time on Saturday. Magpies from left, Steve Watson, Kain Baskaya, Jarrod Anderson, Jackson Parker and Adam Hunter move in to assist. 84160 Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS
By DAVID NAGEL
THE two-horse race that is Casey Cardinia Football took a new twist on Saturday when Narre Warren removed the monkey from its back -and ended Cranbourne’s 28-game winning streak – with a resounding 52-point win at Casey Fields No 2.
“A monkey! … apparently it was a gorilla,” Narre Warren coach Chris Toner said after the game, in response to Cranbourne coach Doug Koop’s comments after the team’s round two encounter.
It’s been a long 11 weeks for the Magpies, who dominated the Eagles in that clash before throwing away a 47-point lead midway through the third term. Saturday was the Magpies’ chance at redemption … and boy oh boy … didn’t they start well.
The key match-ups were intriguing as the Magpies, kicking with the aid of a strong breeze, dominated from the first bounce. They led their opponents to the ball and were by far the more physical team.
In the Eagles forward line, Kain Baskaya went to Marc Holt, Andrew Hunter to Andrew White and 150-gamer, Michael McGill had the job on Michael Theodoridis. At the opposite end, Kerem Baskaya was marked by Stuart Morrish and Lee Boyle by Michael Boland.
The Magpies’ 6.6 to 0.0 first term was based on aggression, but, it must be said, they certainly had the best of the conditions. With three goals on the board, the wind whistled, the clouds rolled in and the lights were switched on as the day turned sour.
Aaron McIver and Nick Scanlon booted two each and Michael Collins was superb, in a quarter that ended in eerie silence and sunshine as the storm disappeared. There was no significant wind advantage for the rest of the day.
The remainder of the game was as expected, an even contest played at a blisteringly high standard. The Magpies’ 42-point lead at quarter time was cut to 40 at half-time, then 39 at the last break before two early Cranbourne goals cut the margin to 27 points at the nine-minute mark of the last quarter. Surely, it couldn’t happen again.
Unlike round two the Magpies responded in style, kicking five unanswered goals to put the issue beyond doubt. So what do we take from the game?
Narre’s mid-field was dynamite, with the combination of Collins, Andy Soumilas, Josh Tonna, Colin McNamara, Matt Lee and Jackson Parker producing magnificent football at times. Their forward line was dangerous, with the strength of Baskaya (4 goals) and Boyle (2) providing a great environment for the elusive Scanlon (4) and McIver (3) to thrive in.
Cranbourne will be disappointed with its performance but it’s certainly not the end of the road for the reigning champions. Holt was magnificent with his six goals in a forward line that was beaten badly on the day. Theodoridis and White were instrumental in the round two win but were non-existent on Saturday.
Narre Warren was clearly the better team on the day – and Cranbourne has concerns – but the unevenness of the playing field and a long injury list for the Eagles leaves more questions unanswered than answered.
And that’s just the way we like it heading into September.
