Narre Warren’s Melissa Pansow controls the netball in front of Cranbourne’s Ellen Graham in Saturday’s contest. 68201Cranbourne’s Sarah Beazly (GS) stretches for the netball ahead of Narre’s Alice Gough (GK). Pictures: Donna Oates
By Mark Gullick
PAKENHAM hosts Narre Warren at Toomuc Reserve on Saturday in what is the clear-cut match of the round.
Last weekend, both teams suffered defeat, although the Magpies effort was far superior.
Narre Warren went toe-to-toe with league heavyweight Cranbourne before fading in the last quarter and a half, while Pakenham suffered a devastating 20-goal loss to Berwick.
Lions’ coach Michael Holland is eager to see how his charges respond to the severe loss.
“We want to see if the boys are willing to commit or if they want to let the season be whatever may be,” he said.
“I’ve got faith in the group that we’re heading in the right direction. We want to really redeem ourselves and put in a really competitive effort, because we let our supporters and the jumper down (against Berwick). The coaching staff has confidence that the players can respond the way we know they can.”
Holland welcomed the tough match and doesn’t want to shy away from the challenge.
“I was speaking to our coaching staff at recovery (on Sunday morning), and said, ‘we’re happy we’re coming up against a quality side like Narre,’” he said.
“We didn’t want to come up against a side that’s down the bottom of the ladder and get back into false pretences. We want to come up against the best and Narre are up around the best, and we want to see how we respond. We can gauge how far we need to improve and how much it does mean – the loss to Berwick.”
Conversely, Magpies coach Chris Toner was pleased with the endeavour of his players, but wants cleaner skills and adherence to team structure. Toner expects a desperate Pakenham outfit.
“I’ve said it all along that Berwick is a very good side, and I really rate them,”he said.
“They fought back and to win by 20 goals is unbelievable. Our game against Pakenham is going to be very hard, because they’ll be disappointed about what happened. Knowing Jock (Holland) and the way they are, they’ll fight really hard to make sure they win again.”
Narre Warren will rely on its floating forward line to kick a winning score.
“We were probably one-dimensional with Birdman (Brett Evans), who’s probably been the best country footballer I’ve ever seen,” Toner said.
“We needed to find more options, and we’ve got five or six guys that can kick three, four goals and it’s proven to be pretty dangerous, as we’ve kicked a lot of goals.”
DEVON MEADOWS v DOVETON
IF Doveton wants to play in the finals, then it has to make its move now.
The Doves’ fortunes have spiralled dramatically in the past month with four losses, three of those by over 10 goals.
However, Doveton is only one win out of fifth place and with a relatively easy fixture, could sneak in should its form improve.
Devon Meadows’ struggles are well documented, but on its day, it can be a capable adversary.
The Panthers top-end talent has performed at a consistently high level, but it needs its next tier to take on the responsibility if they are to be any chance in this contest at EG Allen Reserve.
BEACONSFIELD v ROC
FOLLOWING its shock loss last weekend, finals are now officially off the agenda for Beaconsfield.
Going into the match against Tooradin-Dalmore, the Eagles had a slim chance of making the five, but a two-point loss put that to bed.
Beaconsfield may use its last four matches to blood fresh talent, with the view of improving its status next season.
Clayton Bertoncello responded to demotion to the reserves with four goals, and is in line for a recall.
ROC has steadily improved throughout the year and coach Greg Tivendale is patiently imparting his wealth of knowledge on his pliable, talented list.
“They got us by about three goals earlier in the year,” Tivendale said.
“We saw that Tooradin had a close win over them. We think if we play our best footy, we’ll be right in the game.”
The Kangaroos are keen to finish the season on a positive note and pinch a couple of wins that will boost the playing group during the long summer of training.
HAMPTON PARK v TOORADIN-DALMORE
HAMPTON Park was the biggest winner last weekend and they didn’t even take the field.
With results falling their way, the Redbacks gained two places on the ladder, moving from fourth to second.
Coach Clint Evans anticipated the bye would refresh his battle-weary team and the Redbacks should regain several key inclusions for the contest at Robert Booth Reserve.
Hampton Park’s defence is one of the season’s talking points; the Redbacks stingy back half concedes just 55 points per game.
However, Tooradin-Dalmore has a potent forward line, despite missing Matthew Davey and Rory Gilliatte for extended periods, and the Seagulls’ ability to kick a winning score will determine the outcome of this match.
Tooradin-Dalmore takes solid form into the contest with two successive wins.
“They’re a top side, and they really embarrassed us on our home deck (earlier in the year),” Seagulls coach Beau Miller said.
“Hampton Park is a really tough place to play, but we just want to put in a good effort.”
The Seagulls are slowly regaining key players.
“Our footy club needs everybody playing well and not missing games,” Miller said.
“We’re starting to get a full list and getting players fitness and game time, and it’s starting to show. I’ve noticed it when coaching that it does make a massive difference – more players to pick from.”
KEYSBOROUGH v BERWICK
KEYSBOROUGH hosts Berwick with trepidation, as it simply doesn’t know which Wickers team it will play.
In the past two weeks, Berwick has lost and won by 20 goals, an astonishing record.
Keysborough’s fortunes improved significantly over the five weeks before last week’s bye.
The Burras defeated Beaconsfield, Tooradin-Dalmore and ROC, and were competitive against Hampton Park and Devon Meadows.
“We’re really looking forward to the Berwick game,” coach Brad Canavan said.
“The boys are really up for that one. We had a fair game out at Berwick (in round four). We just let them loose for a quarter and they kicked five goals.”
Berwick won that encounter by 41 points, but Keysborough kept the Wickers to their fourth lowest score of the season.
“At home, we’re going to make it hard yakka for them to beat us and we’re really confident going into that game,” Canavan said.
“We’ve got the top three sides to finish off (the season), so it’s a good challenge to see how far we’ve improved in the second half of the year. If you’re a coach of Cranbourne, Narre or Pakky, you’d hope that Keysy will come and give you a good test leading into the finals because sometimes a soft run can be your undoing.”
Should Berwick replicate the form it displayed against Pakenham, it could get very ugly for Keysborough.
“We played them in the first half of the year, and struggled at times to put them away,” Berwick coach Dean Rice said.
“We’re conscious and mindful of the way they’re playing.”
Rice wants the Pakenham win to serve as a benchmark for the remainder of the year.
“That’s what we want from now on,” Rice said.
