THE sendoff of Doveton’s Michael Davies for the rest of the game in the opening term, forced the Doves to fight hard to down their young Cranbourne opponents on Saturday.
The 40point victory was sweet for Doves’ coach Steve Henwood, whose resources were further stretched by injuries to key forward Ryan Brown and playmaker Aaron McIver during the afternoon.
The wide and unfamiliar expanses of Casey Fields put the Doves off their game in the opening term as Cranbourne’s fit young players led by Ash Adams, Josh Eden and Robert Moxon ran the ball forward with regularity.
Only stout defence from Brad Downe, who marked key Cranbourne forward Marc Holt and halfback Robert Hughes, kept the home side at bay.
At quarter time Henwood told his side to dig deep because they would have to play the rest of the game with 17 men on the field and with limited prospects for rotating players off the interchange bench.
Cranbourne led by 10 points at the first change, but the Doves showed their class and headed for the rooms at halftime with a 16point advantage after lifting their work rate through the midfield efforts of ruckman Clint Wilson and playmakers Michael Henry and Trevor Davies.
The game was still in Cranbourne’s reach early in the second half, but Doveton controlled the tempo and increased its lead to 27 points at the final change, finally running out winners by 40 points.
Henry was dangerous around goals with five majors, while Eden and Adams were Cranbourne’s main scoring options, sharing five goals between them.
Brown hurt his ankle and McIver a shoulder, with both in doubt after the Queen’s Birthday weekend bye.
Henwood was happy with the response after the early setbacks and said the bye had come along at the right time.
“We had our backs to the wall and we just made sure they didn’t get the ball out easily. It was a satisfying victory, really great,” he said.
“We couldn’t make too many moves and it was just a matter keeping our heads down. It made us work harder than we have for a long time.”
Hughes in superb touch, playing halfback and then going to centre halfforward and dominating, while young Cranbourne defender Matthew Rus also stood out.
TOORADIN took 10 minutes to settle and then dominated its game against Devon Meadows at Glover Reserve, running away to win by 65 points.
Had the Seagulls kicked accurately in the opening half, the game could have become a rout, but pressure from the young Panther defence forced errors in front of goal.
Tooradin coach Dan O’Loughlin pushed recruit Andrew Elborough into the key attacking post in place of the injured Jason Hucker, while strongmarking tall Clint Walker started in defence before moving on to the ball.
Panther mentor Wayne Briggs released former coach Craig Hunter from attack into a sweeping role on the defensive side of the midfield with good results, but the Seagulls were able to stretch Devon Meadows’ lack of height around the ground.
Tooradin led by 27 points at quarter time and increased that to 43 points at the main break.
Despite magnificent efforts from Panther captain Jesse Dehey, together with Hunter, David Grose and Matt Davey at the start of the third term, Tooradin retained the advantage, adding another eight goals to Devon Meadows’ four in the second half.
Ben Scanlon and Blake Batt continued their topnotch 2006 form and O’Loughlin believed his side’s preparation and early intensity set up the win.
“Devon Meadows is the type of ground where you have to start well. If you give them the opportunity they will run with it as much as they can,” he said.
“We had a lot of the football early and settled well.”
“There was a period in the third quarter where they had a crack at us, but the margin was just too great,” he said.
AS expected, Pakenham handed Dingley its seventh defeat without too much stress, downing the young Dingoes by 138 points an unspectacular match.
Lion spearhead Simon Ponter booted eight goals and was assisted by speedy youngster Sam Paynter with four and Paul Gramc who snared three majors.
The Dingoes tried hard, but managed just four goals for the afternoon with Jason Petrovic kicking two.
Pakenham’s trend of inaccuracy in front of goal continued with 34 of the Lion’s 57 shots at goal being minor scores.
Four teenagers in Casey Cherry, John Atwell, Nathan Leishout and Beau Wheeler figured in the Lions’ best players, while Steven DeBolfo and captain Tony Lavars tried all day for the Dingoes.
Pakenham coach Michael Holland was happy to get through the game without injury or incident and said Dingley’s top players were competitive but had little support.
“They had a crack and they’ve probably got three or four players who have a big go, but they fall away after that,” he said.
