SFNL: Murrumbeena claim first Division 1 win in 20 years after defeating Cranbourne

A Murrumbeena recruit announced himself to the Southern league with a six-goal haul as he lifted his side to a historic win. See his coach’s reaction to his performance.

Murrumbeena coach Michael Kinsella. Picture: Valeriu Campan

A breakout Southern league game from Murrumbeena recruit Edward Standish has helped propel the Lions to their first Division 1 win since achieving promotion.

Murrumbeena coach Michael Kinsella said Standish was a “nightmare” for the opposition defence as he booted six goals in the historic 15-point triumph over Cranbourne, which was just Murrumbeena’s fifth top flight win in the club’s Southern/South East league history and its first in 20 years.

“It was definitely his best game, he played a bit deeper this week, we tried to stretch Cranbourne with his size and athleticism,” Kinsella said of Standish, who made the move from VAFA club Oakleigh in the off-season.

“He got some decent delivery which was a focal point for us this week on our ‘moneyball’ kick.

“He had his looks and his final goal was a back heel soccer goal in the goal square.”

The opening three rounds had entailed promising performances for Murrumbeena, but it was a lack of consistency across all four quarters which has cost them each week.

Murrumbeena player Mitch Virtue. Picture: Valeriu Campan.

“We really focused on the contest and getting back to the basics during the week, we probably went away from that against St Paul’s McKinnon (last week),” Kinsella said.

“20-30 minutes of footy has really cost us in the first three rounds.

“Our big motto was about the contest and playing 120 minutes of footy. We were really hungry and ferocious at it all day.”

Cranbourne gun Zak Roscoe was crucially held to just 13 touches courtesy of a strong tagging performance from Lion Mitch Virtue — with some help from Pat Bannister.

Bannister, alongside Julian Callahan and Will Smith, provided great run and drive.

“They’ve all got exceptional speed, when we were able to win the contest we could get to the outer layer and they just really drive the ball with run and carry and broke the lines,” Kinsella said.

“They were ultra impressive with that. All of them were applying maximum pressure.”

Kinsella said the win would be crucial for his side’s confidence going forward, particularly given several key players were absent and he fielded eight players aged 21 and under.

“That gives them extreme confidence that they’re capable of transferring their footy to Division 1 footy,” Kinsella said.

“I couldn’t be prouder of them.”