Doveton coach Michael Cardamone is confident his Doves will find their ‘mojo’

Despite injuries and playing all of its games on the road, Doveton coach Michael Cardamone is confident his group can turn their season around. Here’s why.

Southern league Division 2: Doveton v Skye. Doveton player/coah Michael Cardamone. Picture: Valeriu Campan

It’s not panic stations at Doveton just yet.

The Doves won their first match of the year against East Malvern before falling to East Brighton, Murrumbeena and – most recently – Hampton Park, 7.10 (52) to 7.8 (50).

But despite losing three on the spin, coach Michael Cardamone has faith the reigning grand finalist will find its “mojo”.

“There’s no secret that we haven’t had our best cattle out there,” he said.

“The personnel we have out might make a little bit of a difference but the people you put on the park have to still get the job done.

“Arguably the best player in the comp Dylan Chapman has been out with a hamstring, so count my lucky stars he will be back this week because that makes a big difference to our midfield.

“We will go from not having anyone above six foot to having a dominant ruck, it’ll make a big difference.

“But we just have to go back to hunting the footy and getting our mojo back a little bit, it’s been a tough period but we know what we have to do and still believe in the game plan, we will bounce back this week.

“You talk about eight-point games; they’re (Highett) 3-1 and we’re 1-3, it’s a huge game this week and we expect them to come out firing.”

Michael Cardamone. Picture: Valeriu Campan

The Doves have kicked poorly in the past three weeks, booting more behinds than majors in each loss – including 6.14 against Murrumbeena.

Cardamone said the goal kicking has contributed to the defeats and is hopeful the devastatingly accurate Doveton of 2022 will resurface again soon.

“We lost by two points and 14 points, so it probably looks a lot worse than it actually is,” he said.

“We kicked 6.13 I think against Murrumbeena, if you kick straighter it could be a bit different, last year we were getting on runs kicking 10 goals in a quarter and it’s game over, whereas if you’re kicking 1.5 you’re keeping sides in the game.

“Once we click, you’ll see a different Doveton where people will say ‘oh they’re back’.”

Cardamone is looking forward to the returning Dylan Chapman. Picture: Valeriu Campan

In addition to its hefty injury list, Doveton has also been waved access to its main ground.

The Doves have been training on a subsequent ground that has very little lighting and have played their one home game at Narre Warren North Junior Football Club’s ground.

To make up for the lost matches, Doveton will play eight of its last nine matches at home.

Elsewhere in Division 2, East Brighton looks ominous, blitzing Highett under lights on Saturday night, 17.15 (117) to 3.6 (24).

Former Sorrento spearhead Nick Corp starred for the Vampires, booting three majors in a best afield performance.

Earlier in the day, Caulfield Bears handed Black Rock another defeat, 14.9 (93) to 7.5 (47) and Skye recorded another win, overcoming East Malvern 8.10 (58) to 5.9 (39).

East Brighton sits 4-0 while five teams – Caulfield Bears, Hampton Park, Skye, Highett and Murrumbeena – are all stuck together with a 3-1 record.

Keysborough and Black Rock are the only two outfits yet to register a win but play each other this Saturday.