Diamond Creek showcases its defensive prowess in top-of-the-table win
There’ll be some sore boys after this one. Diamond Creek showcased its defensive prowess in a bruising top-of-the-table win over Eltham.
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There’ll be some sore boys after Diamond Creek’s bruising 21-point win over Eltham on Saturday.
The NFNL Division 2 top-of-the-table clash at Coventry Oval was tough and at times fiery as both teams threw themselves at the contest.
Creekers defender Joel Randall was left with a suspected broken nose in the opening minutes but returned to be among the best.
Panthers coach Tim Bongetti came from the ground nursing his jaw but also returned and Nathan Perrone played through an ankle injury but Luke Wachinger wasn’t as fortunate, ruled out with a concussion in the third term.
The 9.6 (60) to 6.3 (39) victory puts Diamond Creek in the box seat to claim the minor premiership and a rest in the first week of finals.
It was another strong defensive effort from the Creekers, a backline that gives up an average of just 35 points a game.
Coach Andrew Tranquilli said not just the back six, but the entire team, was buying into the system.
“That’s one of the things we’re proud of, we know we’ve got a pretty good defensive outfit,” he said.
“Defence alone won’t win you the game and we’ve really had to work on ways to manufacture more goals, we identified that after the last Eltham game.
“We know it’s the ace up our sleeve, our defensive structure, to hold a side more often than not to under 60 (points).
“It’s not just the back six, it really is the whole team, I keep saying the best defenders in this team have to be forwards.
“We got a couple of cheeky ones (out the back) but that’s reward for effort, that’s one of our KPI – to make sure we’ve got frontal and rear pressure.”
Diamond Creek held Eltham goalless in the first quarter, the Panthers having just two shots on goal – the first hitting the post, the other out on the full.
The Panthers were finally on the board through Tom Goodwin in the eight minute of the second, set up wonderfully by Harvey Furlong, and were within a point when Cameron Sullivan earned a free kick in the goalsquare.
Sage Dicello replied and when Ryan Sizeland pounced on a horror Panthers turnover and Jacob Booth kicked truly the Creekers’ lead was back out to 20 points at half-time.
Jesse Donaldson threatened to single-handedly drag Eltham back into the game with a superb third term, kicking a goal and winning disposals almost at will.
However, a late Jack Prosser goal increased Diamond Creek’s lead at three-quarter-time to 26 points.
Jason McCormick goalled in the third minute of the final term as Eltham looked to launch a comeback but the home team locked down and the Panthers wouldn’t go again until the 24th minute.
Returning from Footscray VFL duties, Ewen Macpherson was prolific around the ground, while Dale Marshall stood out with his class off half-back.
Nick Barro and Tom Goodwin had an enthralling battle in the ruck, while Donaldson and Josh Merkel were Eltham’s best in defeat.
“Ewen was pretty good, Mitch (Tobin) really gave us the grunt work, big Nick Barro competing against Tom Goodwin all day was awesome,” Tranquilli said.
“Dale Marshall was pretty good, he’s pretty cluey, and our forward line, Dicello is someone that’s starting to understand the message of forward pressure.
“We’ve still got some names to come back, Andrew Elward was out with concussion, Chris Maloney with a calf, Jayden Walker probably comes back next week and Daniel Jarvis in two weeks.”
The win sees Diamond Creek break the tie at the top of the table and move a game clear of the Panthers.
With three games remaining in the home-and-away season, the minor premiership looks the Creekers to lose, but Tranquilli says it isn’t high on his club’s priority list.
“It’s not (something we care about) but what we do have is a surety of top-three,” he said.
“Our first goal was to make finals, we’ve ticked that box, the next was an improvement on last year when we finished fourth – so top-three.
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“It wasn’t a goal we set but I think it’s a nice bragging right.”
Diamond Creek faces another big test next week when it travels to Whatmough Park to face third-placed St Mary’s, while Eltham hosts fourth-placed Watsonia at Central Park.
Elsewhere, the race for the top-five is wide open after Watsonia knocked off South Morang by 29 points, Northcote Park beat Epping by 42 points and Thomastown edged Lower Plenty by 13 points.
St Mary’s smashed Panton Hill by 42 points to cement itself in third.
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