TOORADIN applied what coach Dan O’Loughlin described as fourquarter pressure to down a young Cranbourne combination by 35 points at Casey Fields on Saturday.
The Seagulls’ effort was a complete contrast to its past fortnight, which saw them fall out of the top five after insipid efforts against Beaconsfield and ROC.
“It’s still frustrating that you can produce something like that one week and then play like we have in the last few weeks,” O’Loughlin lamented.
The unkind weather, and the unfamiliar Casey Fields ground, combined to steel Tooradin and from the first bounce it was apparent that Cranbourne would have a battle on its hands.
With Ben Disney and Scott Weekley controlling the midfield, the Seagulls took advantage of their opportunities and booted two early goals, while Cranbourne struggled with accuracy and managed only five behinds in the opening term.
Tooradin rammed home its advantage in the second quarter, booting another four goals and again keeping its opponent goalless to take a matchwinning 30point lead into the main break.
After halftime Cranbourne lifted its work rate through the efforts of youngster Ash Adams, Daniel Watson and Luke Martin, reducing the margin to 22 points at threequarter time.
However the Seagulls steadied and kicked clear in the final term to record a moraleboosting victory.
A highlight for Tooradin was Justin McGrath’s blanketing game on Cranbourne key Marc Holt and O’Loughlin said there had been a lot of soulsearching at the club over the past week, leading to a change in focus from individual statistics to team goals.
“We went about putting them under as much pressure as we could and focusing on the onepercenters on our behalf rather than possessions,” he said.
“The day and conditions suited us a lot better. We had things we wanted to achieve as far as onepercenters in the midfield, backs and forwards and we did that for the four quarters so that was very satisfying.
“A lot of their scoring shots were under pressure and I thought the Tooradin players responded well to the situation.”
The positive news for the home side was the fact that it boasted six under18 players together with another five firstseason youngsters in its senior lineup.
Traditional win for Burra
KEYSBOROUGH won a spirited clash with traditional rivals Dingley and retained the TyrellShorthouse trophy in the last meeting of the clubs under the MPNFL banner.
The Burra’s 41point win kept it in the mix with the top five and only behind fifthplaced ROC on percentage.
Despite the apparent gap between the two neighbours in skill and ladder position, the young Dingley side proved competitive in general play against its bigger, stronger and far more experienced opponents.
The conditions were not conducive to fast, flowon football, but Keysborough took advantage early, before players’ legs became heavy and kicked away to a 32point halftime lead, which it used as an effective buffer for the rest of the game.
The Dingoes did not lie down and fought the match out, led by Andrew Frost, Jai Smith, William Kelly and inform big man Stephen Pitt.
The return of two goals compared with Keysborough’s three in the second half was as satisfying for Dingley coach David Barnes as any effort to date this season and gave the club encouragement for the future.
The Keysborough coaching staff was disappointed at the side’s inability to ram home the advantage, despite fine performances from Michael Davis, William Gayfer, Corey Wilkinson and Chris Capsalis.
Officials from both clubs will discuss programming a preseason practice match between the sides after Dingley’s transfer at the end of the season, so that the tradition of the TyrellShorthouse trophy remains.
DEVON MEADOWS is in idle mode as far as season 2006 is concerned and it was quite plain that the Panthers had neither the skill nor experience to worry ROC at Starling Road on Saturday.
The Kangaroos kicked the biggest score of the wet round, snaring 19 goals and the 98point margin was easily the biggest difference in any Casey Cardinia League game across the senior, reserves and under 18grades on the weekend.
ROC hit the ground running and booted four firstquarter goals before further upping the pressure to slam on another nine majors in the second term to take a commanding 74point lead into the halftime break.
Devon Meadows lifted significantly in the third term through the efforts of Craig Taylor, Scott Young and Brent Clinnick who was back in the side for his first senior game of the year after returning from overseas.
The Panthers outscored the Kangaroos by four points in the quarter, before ROC wrested back control and cleared away with five lastquarter goals.
Ben Tivendale was superb off a wing, booting three goals for the ’Roos and he had fine backups in Michael Barker, Sean Stanton, Kevin Quinn and Dean Blake.
ROC coach Hayden Stanton was pleased and said that his players had addressed their midseason problems and were now plying some good football.
“We played very well. I was happy with the effort,” he said.
“When our endeavour is good, we know we can match up with most sides and I’ve been happy with the way the players have reacted to the pressure we’ve been under to maintain our position.”
