Southern league 2019: Dingley sees off Port Melbourne Colts in rousing Round 2 clash

Dingley came out on top of Port Melbourne Colts in an exciting and entertaining Southern league Division 1 match at Souter Oval.

Gotcha: Dingley recruit Daniel Campisano claims Port Colt Mitch Clarke.

Two things became clear at sunny Souter Oval on Saturday.

Dingley, after slipping a few rungs last year as it chased a fourth consecutive Division 1 flag, will be back in grand final reckoning this season.

And the pre-season talk about Port Melbourne Colts making sharp improvement can be accepted as fact.

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In fine conditions and before a terrific crowd, the Dingoes emerged with a 12-point victory over the Colts, 8.10 (58) to 6.10 (46).

There were few easy goals and the pressure was unremitting as two excellent teams sought to apply their authority.

Dingley finished a shade stronger, but there was little between it and a Colts team strengthened by a string of recruits for new coach Lindsay Gilbee, the former Western Bulldogs star.

Danny Ades marks strongly for Dingley.

As Gilbee watched on from the Colts bench, his Dingley counterpart Shane Morwood stood on top of the social club, stats man Sam Lengyel at his side.

Morwood climbs a ladder to reach his perch and his team can be expected to climb the ladder in 2019 after just scraping into the top five last year.

Port Melbourne Colts began well, Jake Wood snapping a goal and then Tom Harley making a set shot.

Veteran recruit Troy Parker answered with two goals for Dingley and from there the teams wrestled over the lead, the hosts owning it for most of the second quarter, the Colts grabbing it back early in the third term after goals from Wood and Lachlan Harris.

Dingoe Kristen Feehan takes a cracker.

But Dingley got the next two, through Adam Caplan and Jackson Peet, and scored the only goal of the final quarter, Dan Farmer popping up for his third.

His second had come in the second quarter and served as a neat summary of the strains at play in the match.

Colts defender Mitch O’Neill took the ball and tried to get past Dingley forward Sam McGregor, who latched on to O’Neill as a dog does a meaty bone. A grateful Farmer made hay out of McGregor’s tackle.

It was a physical match: at one stage Dingley star Lucas Walmsley was hobbling around with a sore lower leg as teammates Caplan and Jackson Peet tried to shake off heavy knocks. By half time Peet had a bandage around his head.

Lachlan Harris of the Colts celebrates a goal.

There was also some cheek, a Dingley forward razzing Colts player Callum Cathcart after he sprayed a kick.

Walmsley was a good contributor for Dingley, all dash on his wing, particularly in the second half. Peet bored in for four quarters, Matt Morwood used the ball well coming out of defence and Danny Ades darted around the ground like a rover, not a ruckman. He is a fine player.

The Colts did some serious recruiting ahead of the season and landed a lot of talent.

Ruckman Matthew Dalla-Libera will win more duels than he loses this season. Onballer Matthew Sondergeld is a star.

Former WAFL premiership player Chris Deluca is a superstar.

The Colts named key defender O’Neill their best player, along with Josh O’Donnell, stalwart Torren Bonnett, Wood and Deluca, a powerful and elusive left-footer.

“I thought the game had everything,’’ Dingoes coach Morwood said.

“It was tough in the clinches and there was some good ball movement coming out of them. And then it was about who finished off better in the front ends. That’s an area of our game we’re trying to get better at, because generally the way we play we’ll get plenty of opportunity (to score).’’

Morwood said he was most pleased with his team’s perserverance to overcome a “quality opponent’’.

Colts coach Lindsay Gilbee at the huddle.