SFNL: East Brighton captain Sean Downie delivered an ‘all-time’ performance to pip Cranbourne

Down by four goals with its season on the line, East Brighton needed to lift. And it was “special player” Sean Downie who led the charge with a rattling second half.

Sean Downie of East Brighton handballs during the round ten SFNL Bendigo Bank Division 1 Senior Mens match between Springvale Districts and East Brighton at Springvale Reserve, on June 22, 2024, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Josh Chadwick)

The occasion called for a hero and it was the captain who answered.

A Sean Downie-inspired East Brighton spun a four-goal halftime deficit to defeat Cranbourne and tighten its grip on a return to the Southern league Division 1 finals.

Vampires’ coach Nick Jewell turned to his midfielders at the main break after the Eagles had “pantsed” them at stoppages in the second term.

Downie responded in a big way to finish with 37 disposals (21 contested), 14 clearances and 14 tackles in the 17.6 (108) to 13.6 (84) victory.

“It was one of the all-time games from the captain,” Jewell said of Downie.

“He’s aggressive out the front of the stoppage but he works just as hard defensively.

“14 tackles after you’ve had 14 clearances, it’s very rare you get a midfielder that works just as hard defensively as he does offensively.

“He sets the tone, every week there’s clips of him: rundown tackles, fingernail chases putting pressure on the kicker, he’s in the contest every minute of the game.

“He’s a special player.”

Sean Downie of East Brighton handballs. (Photos by Josh Chadwick)

Throw in five goals from spearhead Nick Corp and some big moments from new recruit Kyle Hutchison, the Vampires’ big names got to work.

Jewell said twist in the game, which resulted in a 12 goal to four second half, came off the back of work rate.

“(Nick) Corp obviously kicked five and then we threw Josh Bennett forward in the second half and he kicked four in the half,” he said.

“We threw the magnets around, the other coaches were terrific with the ideas they threw around and they worked.

“They worked off the back of the effort going through the roof.

“We just weren’t working hard enough, so I just reminded them that they needed to work a little harder and turn it into a contest.

“The stats in the second half were outstanding, I think we held them to eight marks in the third quarter when they had 30 in the second.”

Nick Jewell.

With East Brighton now six points ahead of Port Melbourne Colts and eight points ahead of Cranbourne, a Division 1 finals berth is likely to be on the horizon.

A return to finals in the clubs first season back in the top flight would be a huge success, but Jewell isn’t locking his side in just yet.

“We want to beat St Paul’s this week, that’s what we want to do,” he said.

“We haven’t been in Division 1 for 10 years but it used to be a really strong rivalry.

“They got us by about 15 points the first time, so we’re just focusing on trying to get a win over the second-placed side and then we have Cheltenham and then Chelsea Heights.

“We’ll just focus on beating those good finals sides.”