Hallam is on the board in Division 3 of the Southern league after defeating Dandenong
HALLAM coach Gary Frangalas says hard work paid off for his players after they saw off Dandenong by 32 points on Saturday.
Inner South
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Hallam broke through for its maiden win of the SFL Division 3 season with a hard-earned 32-point win over neighbour Dandenong at Hallam Reserve on Saturday.
“I think many of us were more relieved than anything else,” coach Gary Frangalis said after the game.
“We were certainly very happy though,” he laughed.
“It’s the result of a lot of hard work really. We’ve been playing good footy over the past four or five weeks and doing well against the top sides.
“We played four quarters today and the players are starting to believe in themselves,” he added.
“It got a bit physical there for a while but the boys stuck together and saw it through.”
The Hawks received constant drive from Ben “Stumpy’’ Coutet in the middle, Rory McIvor on his wing and Sean Gaitely on a half-back flank, while winger Tom Bradley and Stephen Chin also impressed.
Rover Nathan Prosser excelled around the packs, and Damien Sharp was solid in defence all day for the winners.
Trent Cole, Dave Barrie, Nick Ford and Steve Young did best for the Redlegs.
Endeavour Hills underlined its improvement this season when it claimed the scalp of Lyndale by 31 points in a high-scoring shootout at Barry Simon Reserve.
In a season marked by low-scoring tussles, players revelled in the ideal conditions as the Falcons cruised to victory 20-17-137 to 16-10-106. However, it took a nine-goal third term to bring the Pumas back into the game after trailing by 49 points at the long interval, but five goals in the same quarter to the Falcons kept them at arm’s length.
It was a solid team effort by the winners, with Jarryd Burke, Nathan Crutchley and former Doveton on-baller Cade Marshall setting the example. Shane Peake and ex-Nyora sharpshooter Daniel Morrison shared the honours up forward with five goals apiece for the Falcons.
Phil Ross, Ali Rexhepi and Brett Tosh worked hard all day for the Pumas, while Dale Tormey provided a target in attack with five goals.
They may be at the foot of the ladder without a win, but Southern Dragons lost no friends at Mayfield Reserve with their gutsy effort against last year’s grand finalist, Mount Waverley. The Dragons eventually went down by 46 points but not before keeping the Mountain Lions honest all day. In the end, they simply had no answer to their hosts’ experience or to key forward Luke Galle, who bagged nine of Mount’s 17 goals for the day. But with the form of justin Lim, Alan Taing, John Do and veteran Sareth Suon, the Dragons came away with plenty of positives.
Black Rock missed an opportunity to boost its percentage further in its 58-point win over Sandown at Edinburgh Reserve. Despite its handsome winning margin, the Jets sprayed the goals for 3-12 in the final term of its 15-23-113 to 8-7-55 victory. Nevertheless, it was an impressive effort by the Jets, who sit at the top of the Division Three ladder after six rounds. Seasoned campaigner Kelly Spratt was in vintage touch for the winners, with Sam Maitland and Brenton Rafferty also prominent. Tom Dewar continued his good form this season with another five-goal haul, while for the Cobras, Matt Dickson, Jake D’Atri, Ciaran O’Shaughnessy and Steve Ritchie battled gamely all day.
Moorabbin continued its unbeaten run when it overpowered Carrum Patterson Lakes by 37 points at Roy Dore Reserve. With the in-form Mick Kinsella and young Zdenek Hostalek holding sway, the Kangaroos kept the Lions goal-less in the first half and never looked like being challenged. Brendan Sloss, Puriharke Herbert and Mick Dettmann also shone for the winners, whose evenness was underlined by the fact that their 12 goals were kicked by 11 different players.
Trevor March, Adam Lello and Liam Hickman did best for the Lions, while Justin Olaman played a lone hand up forward with four of his team’s seven goals.
Ashwood held out a fast-finishing South Yarra by just six points in a spirited contest at Essex Heights Reserve. After leading by 27 points at the last change, the Magpies were almost brought undone by will-of-the-wisp South Yarra forward Jordie Cellini. Tagged out of the game early, Cellini slammed home four of his five goals in a scintillating, individual, final quarter effort. A missed free kick to Cellini only 15 metres from goal in the dying stages may have changed the result. Even the Ashwood faithful agreed he ‘was very unlucky’ not to be paid what appeared to be a ‘holding the man’ decision.
But Ashwood coach Mick Rossborough was grateful for the four points.
“I was pleased with our effort overall,” he said after the final siren.
“If we had kicked straight early we could have put the game beyond their reach, but I pay full credit to South Yarra for the way they got their run going and came back at us.
“We were missing nine senior players today, so to have a win against a side that has been in such good form is very pleasing,” he said.
South Yarra coach Brett Devlin was also pleased with the way his team fought back.
“We were very disappointing in the first half and didn’t do the ‘one-percenters’,” he lamented.
“But I was so proud with the character shown by the players in their fightback.”
Devlin saved special praise for Cellini.
“He’s a special sort of player, that’s for sure.”
Jeremy Nelson and Mitch Saunders were almost inseparable as best afield for the Magpies, while the exciting Frank Martiniccio was always dangerous and finished with four goals.
Other good players for South Yarra included Mark Braybrook, Kieran Finlayson, Tom Hanney and Tom McDonald.
In Division 1 East Malvern accounted for Mordialloc by 10 points in their top-of-the-table clash at Lucas Reserve. The Panthers took their feet off the pedal a bit in the final term but had enough in reserve to ease to victory, 10-9-69 to 8-11-59.
“We’ve done that the last few games,” East coach Justin Cowell said after the win.
“But I’m not too concerned as I was pleased with the effort. Mordi is a good football side — they move the ball well and are very consistent, whereas at the moment, we’re probably a bit more erratic.
“Our highs are really good but then we relax a bit, so we’ll be working on that”
However, given a spate of injuries, Cowell put the win in perspective.
“We had eight of our top 22 on the sidelines today and still had an even spread of players, so that was pleasing.
“Winning these early games is really important as it means you’re not playing ‘eight-point’ games every week later in the season.”
Former Korumburra big man Michael Cooke was instrumental in East’s dominance, as was the creative Ryan Fitzgerald.
Mark Ryan again provided a target up forward for the Panthers and finished with four goals, while Callan Van Dyke was rock-solid across half-back. The brilliant Benji Neal was another big winner for East before adding to the Panthers’ injury list with a suspected broken ankle late in the game.
The effort of Will Sadler in keeping the dangerous James Morris relatively quiet was also a factor in East’s victory.
The Bloods however, were from far disgraced and had goers in Sam Nichols, Carey Neville, Dave Marguglio and Anthony Scufidi.
East Brighton powered away in the final quarter to record an 88-point win over the rebuilding Chelsea Heights at Hurlingham Park. The Vampires had to work hard early against the plucky young Demons but after kicking only nine goals in three quarters, stormed home with an eight-goal final term to bury the visitors. So dominant was East after half-time that the Demons failed to add to their half-time score.
Tom Jessup put in his best effort for the Vampires to date, while ruckman Hamish Dahl controlled the air. Tom Backman was another standout for the winners, who had trump cards up forward in Toby Mahoney (5 goals) and Phil Smith (4).
Jordan Peryman, Pete Matheson, Jarryd Uren and Max Budds did best for the Heighters.
Dingley had too much firepower for an enthusiastic Bentleigh in ideal conditions at Bentleigh Reserve. The Dingoes’ superior strength and experience propelled them to an emphatic 68-point win, with Luke Bartholomew (4 goals), Jackson Peet (3), Andrew Frost and Stu Cleeve among their leading contributors. Young Robert Rusan was also impressive in only his second senior game for the Dingoes. Matt Hogan, Jackson Meredith, Sam McGarry and Matt Troutbeck did best for the Demons.
Clayton had all the answers against St Kilda City at Meade Reserve, coasting to victory by 47 points. The Clays led from the outset, with Justin Mitrevski hitting his best form of the season and the in-form Chris Lee again winning plenty of the ball. Gabby Irons was also in everything for the winners, while Stu Scanlon steered through five goals and premiership veteran Corey Pearce turned back the clock with four goals in his first senior game since 2012.
The Saints were well served by big Steve Arvanitis, who slotted through three goals, newcomer Jack Hammond, Joshua Herdman and Jamil Tye.
There was never much in it, but St Paul’s always held the upper hand against Cheltenham in their clash in ideal conditions at McKinnon Oval. With Rhys Peet, Ryan Smith and Kenton Hall leading the way, the Doggies scored by 15 points in the end, 9-13-67 to 6-6-42. It was an even spread of contributors that landed the victory for St Pauls, while the Rosellas had winners in the in-form Daniel Vaughan, the seasoned Ben Skinner, the hardworking Jack King and former Toora midfielder Justin Mills.
In Division 2 the Keysborough juggernaut rolled on at Newcomen Road when Springvale Districts became the Burras’ latest victim to the tune of 53 points. And again, it was the strong hands and true boot of spearhead Tyson King that did a lot of the damage for the winners. King finished with eight goals to take his tally to 32 in six games, while the in-form Daniel Morland and Will Gayfer continued on their winning way, along with the consistent Geoff ‘Joffa’ Humphreys. Veteran Waata Wells also showed glimpses of vintage form for the winners, while Shelton Rosario, Matt Thompson, Lachie Dunne (3 goals) and Lachlan Morrey were conspicuous for the Demons.
The evenness of the Division Two competition was again evident when sixth-placed Caulfield wore down third-placed Skye by seven points on their own turf at Carrum Downs Reserve. After a goal-for-goal struggle, the Bears held a slender one-point advantage at the last break, and did better in a hectic final quarter. Chris Lewis and ruckman Adam Ballard led the way for the Bears, with ex-Wodonga Raiders midfielder Adam Bence and former Hampton winger Josh Wood also constantly in the action. Adam Connell was also handy with three goals.
Murrumbeena and Highett staged a goal-for-goal arm-wrestle at Turner Road before the Lions prevailed by five points, 10-19-79 to 10-14-74.
After the scores were locked together at the last change, the ‘beena slotted through the first goal for the final term, but inaccuracy nearly ruined its chances.
“We kicked 1-7 in that last quarter and nearly threw it away,” said Murrumbeena coach Steve Wright after the game.
“We missed a lot of shots that we should have nailed.
“It was a tough match and good to get the points, especially at Highett’s home ground,” he added.
In a team effort, the Lions had standouts in the Hargrave brothers, Cory and Darcy, whose efforts inspired their teammates. Another set of brothers, twins Harley and Dechlan Turkington also shone for the winners.
“They alternated with each other in a forward-defensive role and I’m sure they confused their opponent. He must have thought it was the same bloke who was super-fit,” laughed Wright.
Wright’s son Josh continued his recent good form with another solid effort, while Mitch Walder and ruckman James Shirley were also prominent.
While the competition appears very even, Wright is realistic about where his team sits.
“We need our best team out there to be competitive,” he said.
“It’s good for the competition that there are no easy games, but we know the top three teams are going to be very hard to beat.”
Tom Brown was again in good touch for Highett and finished with four goals, with Rob Swayn, Mitch Hoar and Jacob Duscher among their many other effective contributors.
After a fairly even first half, Oakleigh District raced away for any easy 53-point win over Doveton Eagles in Autumn sunshine at Oakleigh.
The Oaks were always in control, with the likes of Matt Hacket, Matt Fletcher and Andrew Howison gathering possessions at will and had multiple options in attack, where Dave Velardo helped himself to four goals.
Corrie Wilson again carried the burden of resistance for the Eagles and he capped another sterling effort with three goals, while veterans Darryl Thomas and Rob Kreskas worked hard in support.
Hampton proved too accomplished for a more competitive Heatherton in their clash at Ross Street. The Hammers eventually prevailed by 29 points, 15-9-99 to 10-10-70, after the Tunners regained some scoreboard prestige with a five-goal final quarter.
Burly spearhead Joel Hanlon was possibly the difference between the two sides with seven of the Hammers’ 15 goals, while Matt Digby, Josh Burbidge and Jesse Ziino all played major roles.
Brodie O’Loughlin, stalwart Matt Sauer, Michael Bruce and Jesse Stone were the pick of the Tunners.
THIS WEEK
DIV 1
Mordialloc v Clayton
St Kilda City v East Brighton
Cheltenham v East Malvern
Dingley v St Pauls
Chelsea Heights v Bentleigh
DIV 2
Murrumbeena v Oakleigh Dist
Doveton Eagles v Heatherton
Keysborough v Highett
Caulfield v Springvale Dist
Hampton v Skye
DIV 3
Black Rock v Endeavour Hills
Lyndale v Carrum Patt Lakes
Moorabbin v Ashwood
Dandenong v Sandown
Southern Dragons v Hallam
South Yarra v Mt Waverley
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