By Mark Gullick
HAMPTON Park survived a determined and tactical Doveton to run out five-goal victors in glorious conditions on Saturday.
It was a tale of two forwards at Robert Booth Reserve, with Doveton’s Peter Pullen (six goals) and Hampton Park’s Kerem Baskaya (five) combining for 11 of the 21 goals scored.
The two clubs have formed a natural and spirited rivalry over the years and they garner great support from their parochial supporters, who vigorously encouraged from all points of the ground.
From the opening bounce, Hampton Park’s Kain Baskaya came off the half-bank line and cannoned into Michael Henry and the manic action rarely abated until the final siren.
Henry slowly gathered himself as his teammates remonstrated with the star Redback defender.
Kerem Baskaya’s aerial dominance gave him three early shots on goal, but he kicked truly just once.
Pullen steadied the visitors before Jack Besley took a superb mark and goaled from a long distance.
Doveton controlled the match and three further goals to Pullen, from a variety of situations, including marks and smart crumbing, put the Doves two goals ahead at quarter-time.
Pullen kicked his fifth in the opening moments of the second term before promptly adding another major.
It was an extraordinary performance by Pullen, who single-handedly made a mockery of one of the league’s premier defensive units.
Baskaya added another goal before Peter Dye beat two defenders to hold a mark and kick truly.
Hampton Park had late chances, but failed to convert.
Doveton held a 20-point half-time lead and its tactics of dropping numbers back into defence was forcing the Redbacks to use the ball poorly.
Each time a Hampton Park player streamed forward he was confronted by a wall of black and green jumpers.
“Our kicking and decision-making in the first half was terrible,” Hampton Park coach Clint Evans said.
“We just couldn’t curb it. We just kept going for (Kerem) Baskaya all the time, and they always had three on him.
“In the second half we just had to go man-on-man and try and use the ball a bit better.
“In the last quarter, we had to use Baskaya as a guinea pig. We had a couple of other kids down there that we used as targets. (Baskaya) kicked a few in the first half, but he was marking with three on him and really we shouldn’t have been going to him all the time.”
Kerem Baskaya opened the third term with another strong mark and goal, but Doveton replied via a clever Dye snap and a long Adam Dean goal from a Hampton Park turnover.
Kerem Baskaya kicked his fifth goal and saluted the crowd with his customary one-hand in the air.
Doveton led by 19 points at the final change but could they hang on?
The game was a stalemate in the first 10 minutes of the final term as Doveton repeatedly repelled Hampton Park’s numerous forward attacks.
The Doves’ last line of defence held firm, but they rarely moved the ball past the centre.
Young gun Jackson Dalton secured a mark on the flank and wheeled around his opponent and bent back a goal.
Then when an unchecked Pat Clish drifted forward, marked and goaled, Hampton Park trailed by just six points.
The crowd was rabid at this point, and even the innocuous boundary umpire, who hadn’t been involved in the play, was copping it from the outer.
Hampton Park closed the gap with a series of behinds.
With the ball near the centre, Brad Virgona gave away a reckless free kick for vehemently disputing an umpire’s non-holding the ball decision.
The ball was transferred to Chris Barnes, who played on and missed before Chris Hussey chased down Doveton ruckman Clint Wilson.
Hussey won the free-kick and was advanced 50 metres owing to Ryan Hendy booting the ball away in frustration, which placed the veteran on the goal-line.
Hussey kicked truly, which sparked a flurry of Hampton Park goals.
Brennan Barwise intercepted an errant kick-in and goaled, Barnes sliced through the defence and Clish and Baskaya added further majors.
The game descended considerably with several heavy hits and tests of strength.
Evans was satisfied with the win, considering his team was outplayed for two-and-a-half quarters.
“(Doveton) are a quality side, they’ve pushed a few of the other sides and they beat us the first time,” Evans said.
“I thought we had 65 to 70 per cent of the ball, we had 15, 16 more inside 50s than them, but our ball use was just terrible.
“I said at quarter-time, the way they were playing, they couldn’t run out the four quarters, because it would just take it out of them.
“They did to us what they did in the first game; they’d kick it over our half-backs and try and get that one-on-one where they’d have a bloke running onto it. Our defenders were in no-man’s-land.
“They should have been back 25 metres from goal, but they were 50 metres from centre-half-forward. Once Doveton got the ball and ran, they just kicked it over our heads.”
Evans’ three-quarter-time address refocused his players.
“In the last quarter, we had to change a few things and luckily it worked for us,” he said.
“It was a massive game for us. We want to hold onto that double chance. I said that you’ve had 10 months to try and get to this spot where you are and it’s time now to reward yourselves for your hard work.
“That was the best thing to come out of it – the character that the boys showed when they were down and out. It’s great for the club; they haven’t been involved in finals for five or six years.”
Barwise was superb for the victors with his pace on the wing, while midfielder Clish and Leigh Morse in the back-half were prominent.
Dalton, Besley and Kerem Baskaya excelled.
Doveton coach Mark Ladgrove was content with his players’ endeavour.
“We decided we’d try and clog their forward line up, which took a lot of running effort for the guys to run forward,” he said.
“Over a period of four quarters, it took its toll. We were disappointed after the game. We got to the last quarter and we couldn’t even score.
“In the end, the big bodies of Hampton Park stayed big bodies and they started taking their marks and kicking their goals. Once they got a bit of a run-on, we were in trouble.”
Doveton was led by Scott Dinsdale in defence, while Ryan Pearson, Aaron Henwood, Ryan Morrison and Hendy were steady contributors.
Peter Pullen starred in the forward line.
“It’s twice now that he’s done that against Hampton Park,” Ladgrove said.
“The boys further up the ground, to their credit, gave him the opportunities to kick goals by putting the ball above his head and allowing him to run onto it.”
Henry worked hard after his heavy hit.
“There’s not much of him, but he’s pretty tough,” Ladgrove said. “He copped a heavy hit and he was still pretty jaded right up until after half-time.”
The loss rules Doveton out of finals contention, but Ladgrove believes the club has taken positive steps this year.
“The big picture is that two years ago we weren’t even supposed to win a game and now, without many big name recruits, we’re on the verge of playing finals footy,” he said.
“I think the club has put themselves in a position where they can have a real go at it and get Doveton back to where we belong, which is playing finals.
“Some of those boys are now 22, 23 years old and they’ve realised they can be good players in the Casey Cardinia league. If we put a few more good ones around them, who knows what they can do?”
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:KEYSBOROUGH v CRANBOURNE
CRANBOURNE concluded its home and away campaign undefeated following a 135-point win over Keysborough at Rowley Allen Reserve.
The Eagles piled on nine goals in the opening term and led by 101 points at half-time, having kept the Burras scoreless.
Keysborough altered its tactics during the long break and held the visitors to two goals in the third term, before Cranbourne kicked five goals to two in the final term.
“Our objective was to start well and keep them down,” Cranbourne coach Doug Koop said.
“They’ve been really good starters over the last month and we were aware of that. For us to start so well and keep them scoreless at half-time, it was a pretty solid effort.”
Keysborough adopted a man-on-man policy in the second half.
“To their credit, they were far more competitive in the second half,” Koop said.
“I thought we overused the ball in the third quarter and went too wide trying to set things up, rather than be more attacking like we had been (earlier in the game).
“They gave us some competitiveness. In the last quarter, we finished over the top of them, but again more points than goals. It was a little bit disappointing but, overall, the boys finished off pretty well.”
The Eagles’ defence were at their frugal best again, limiting Keysborough to three goals.
“We’ve been in a battle with Hampton Park all year (for the lowest points against),” Koop said.
“This year, we’ve actually thrown a few blokes back there and they’ve taken on the role really well. We just don’t have a back six; we have a back eight or nine.”
With Cranbourne having played its rescheduled clash in April, it was captain Marc Holt’s final chance to add to his goal tally.
