Southern league 2019: Springvale Districts steamrolls Caulfield in Round 1
New Caulfield playing coach Chris O’Keefe had an outstanding debut but Springvale Districts made a thumping return to Division 2 of the Southern league.
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IT was a rousing return to Division 2 for Springvale Districts.
Setting aside a week of headlines after the City of Greater Dandenong canned their “corporate box’’, a shipping container made into a match-day entertainment area, the Demons on Saturday flattened Caulfield.
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It was nine goals to one at half time at Newcomen Rd and Districts didn’t relent in the second half, winning 17.14 (116) to 5.5 (35).
Recruit Matt Wetering booted five goals, as did Stefan Feehan, and another newcomer, the pacy and springy Brody Ledder, was best-afield.
Class act Sam Raru had an impact too, slotting four goals.
Before the match District president Sean Francis unfurled the club’s 2018 Division 3 premiership flag, some welcome pleasure for him after a painful week when the box issue erupted.
And after the match Demons coach Kris Thompson said the club didn’t want to “just make up the numbers’’.
“It’s good to be back in Division 2. That’s where we want to be and that’s where we think we belong,’’ he said.
“We want to give Murrumbeena a real shake next week and we want to give all the teams a real shake.’’
He said Districts defended the ground “as good as any side I’ve seen in the two years I’ve been coaching’’.
Thompson said Wetering would be a handful for defenders this year with his marking and the tall Ledder would be a threat with his pace on the wings and flanks.
Cory Hutchinson showed a lot of dash too but went off the ground with a knee problem in the last quarter. Hutchinson missed most of last season with a knee injury too.
“We don’t know how bad it is but he walked off the ground. Fingers crossed for him because he’s had rotten luck in the past two years,’’ Thompson said.
First-year Caulfield coach Chris O’Keefe was named best for his team.
Even as he approaches his 38th birthday he can be expected to be a star of the division, either on the ball or when having a breather in the forward line.
It was easy to see why the former North Ballarat VFL player and Western Region captain and coach has been such a decorated player in the past two decades.
But he lacked support. At the huddle at three-quarter time it was noted that 10 Caulfield players had not had a tackle, and the team had applied only four shepherds.
“You can’t expect to ignore the fundamentals and still be in the game. We got our just deserts there,’’ O’Keefe said after the match.
“But we’ll work on that. We’ll have an opportunity to rectify that.’’
The Bears made the top five in 2018 but in the off-season lost 14 players who had played senior football. They’ve largely been replaced by youngsters. “It will take us a bit of time to gel and to get some experience into a few of the guys but I’m confident we’ve got something to work with,’’ O’Keefe said.
Big Adam Ballard and Jake Buggy never gave it up for the Bears.
Keysborough toughed out a seven-point win over Murrumbeena, but paid a heavy price with backman Brandon Mather suffering a badly broken arm.
He underwent surgery last night.
“It was a shocking break, a bad one unfortunately,’’ Keysy coach Matt Ferguson said.
“Really shattered for ‘Brando’. He had amazing an pre-season. Just really bad luck for him.’’
Keysy made a rattling start but the Beena had the better of the second and third quarters.
There was another shift in the final term when the hosts kicked four goals to one to defeat admirable opposition.
“We felt we were fit, and we finished off the game strongly, got rewards for all our efforts in the pre-season,’’ Ferguson said.
He said big Bryce Sutton was “the game-breaker’’ with his clearance work and James Anwyl did a fine job in restricting Lions champion Luke James to two goals.
Recruits Wade King and Nick Brazil were among the best for Murrumbeena, as was former league medal winner Jay Bruno.
The Burra had three first-gamers in Dylan Webb, Tim Edwards and Bryce Campbell, as well as the returning Ant Brannan, who was superb with his skills across half back.
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