Hisham Kerbatieh on fire after move forward, inspiring Melton Centrals to victory
Hisham Kerbatieh bagged nine goals to make it 17 in the past two weeks, inspiring Melton Centrals to a drought-breaking RDFNL win over Lancefield.
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Hisham Kerbatieh had kicked eight goals in his first eight games of the Riddell District season.
The Melton Centrals ace has now bagged 17 in the past fortnight.
The former VFL star slotted nine goals, including four in a match-winning fourth term, on Saturday to power the Blues to a drought-breaking 24-point victory over Lancefield.
The 17.8 (110) to 13.8 (86) win ends the club’s nine-game losing streak.
Kerbatieh’s eight majors weren’t enough to get Centrals over the line last week, as it suffered a shock loss to Gisborne Giants, so he went bigger at Arnolds Creek Reserve to inspire his team.
It was an old fashioned key forward shootout as Tom Sayers kicked eight at the other end for the Tigers.
Melton Centrals coach Damien Zanic said he was hard to beat one-on-one.
“He could have had a couple of 10s if he stayed a little bit more patient in front of goals,” Zanic said.
“We lost Brad Layton and we needed someone forward and Hish is one of those blokes, you leave him one-on-one down there he’s very hard to beat and very smart.
“We thought let’s get him out of the midfield and made him a permanent forward and the rewards have come.”
Lancefield burst out of the blocks with a six-goal first quarter, taking a 17-point lead into quarter-time.
However, Centrals worked its way back into the contest and claimed a one-point half-time lead after a five-goal quarter of its own.
Scores were deadlocked at three-quarter-time with both clubs desperate for a win.
The Blues hadn’t won in nine weeks, while the Tigers are yet to claim a win this season.
It was the visitors who struck first but Kerbatieh answered and Anthony Piva and Dylan McDonald quickly followed suit to establish a 12-point lead.
Kerbatieh would go on to kick three consecutive goals to open up the final 24-point margin.
“It’s been a long year and I said to the boys this is good reward for effort for the year,” Zanic said.
“The way we finished off in the last quarter, the boys deserved that.
“We learnt from the loss to Gisborne, we were five goals up at half-time and then lost our way in the third and it was goal-for-goal in the last.
“We stayed composed, stayed patient and made the right decisions.
“Lancefield are better than what the results show, they’ve got some good footballers in that side, and they came out with some really good intent.
“I said at quarter-time, trust the process and we slowly worked out way back into the game.”
While Kerbatieh stole the show in attack, Taygen Dennison was named best-on-ground, while Karl Ullrich, Jake Armistead, Fabian Brancatisano and Jonny Ferri also shone.
“Taygen’s last month has been really positive,” Zanic said.
“He finds it hard to train on Tuesdays because of work and he’s always sending me maps of 8km or 10km runs he’s been doing.
“It’s reward for him as well, it was his best game for the year.”
For Lancefield, Sayers was the standout and Noah Smallacombe, Riley O’Meara and Adam Miles stood tall.
The win lifts Centrals back up to ninth, ahead of Gisborne Giants on percentage.
The club hosts eighth-placed Woodend-Hesket on Saturday before a horror run home featuring Riddell, Diggers Rest, Kyneton and Macedon.
“We’ve got a tough run home, we’ve got Woodend next week who we played in Round 1 – no doubt personnel has changed from then to now,” Zanic said.
“Being my first year I was still getting to know the players and where I could best utilise them.
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“Next week we’re really looking forward to, that’s a winnable game at home, but our goal for the rest of the year is just to enjoy our footy and whatever happens, happens.
“It’s a reward for the club, it’s been a long year, and hopefully it can start something and we can play some good football between now and the end of the year.”
Elsewhere, ladder-leader Diggers Rest was too good for third-placed Melton South in a 30-point win and second-placed Riddell kept pace with a 83-point hammering of Macedon.
Romsey moved back into the top-six with a 50-point win over Gisborne Giants, while Kyneton edges Woodend-Hesket by nine.
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