Caulfield clinches crucial win over Hampton in Southern league

CAULFIELD’S hopes of a double chance for the Southern Football League Division 2 finals have soared after it defeated Hampton.

SFL: Doveton Eagles v Springvale Districts

Caulfield grabbed third spot and the inside running for the coveted double chance for the Division 2 finals with a spirited 14-point win over fellow finals contender Hampton at Koornang Park on Saturday.

After a strong start by the Hammers, the Bears hit back in the second quarter to grab a five-point lead at the long break.

Their third term effort set up victory, although Hampton challenged again in the final quarter.

“It was a great win for us,” Caulfield coach Brette Dunne said after the game.

“They’ve won seven of their last nine games and came at us hard early.

“We had a young list out there today and they stood up superbly,” he added.

Jake Buggy was exceptional on his wing all day for the Bears and his running goal from the boundary in the second quarter was a highlight.

Adam Connell was also busy up forward, where his creative mastery earned him six goals.

“Adam kicked them from all angles today and really gave us a target,” said Dunne.

Clever forward Sean Gunning, on loan from the Dragons, was also a standout for the winners, along with defender Tom Stait and midfielder Jason Twirdy.

The Hammers were never out of it and when Brendan Bennett produced a huge last quarter, the Bears had to hold tight.

Josh Burbidge, Todd Crane and Aaron Shedlock also shone for the visitors, who surrendered their spot to Caulfield with the loss.

But Dunne is not getting carried away with the turn of events.

“We’ve got to keep winning — it’s as simple as that,” he said of the remaining two games.

And he’s right. The “musical chairs’’ that have characterised Division Two this season are sure to continue until the final siren sounds at the conclusion of round 18.

Mordialloc pummelled a brave, but undermanned Murrumbeena by 67 points in an impressive display at Murrumbeena Oval.

Chris Brooking, Simon Fragiacomo and Michael Barnhoom led the way for the Bloods, whose eight-goal third quarter buried any remnants of the Lions’ resistance.

The Bloods shared the goals around with 10 different goalkickers, while the hosts’ avenues to goal were fewer and less potent. However, the Lions had their share of winners, with Chris Evans, Tom Valenta and Alex Moloney among them.

Doveton Eagles’ 58-point victory over Springvale Districts at Power Road completed an 81-point turnaround since their previous meeting in May.

Back then, the Demons scored by 23 points and their horrific run of injuries was still in the future.

But since then, the Eagles have also spread their wings and grown in stature.

They thoroughly deserved their success in gusty conditions, with the brilliant Corrie Wilson again starring. Keith Dobson, Enayte Samadi and Nathan Wilson also excelled for the hosts, while Bj (no, that’s not a typo) Oakford-White was more than handy with four goals. Justin Doust, Dave Monaghan, Gav Vassallo and David Ford did best for the Vales.

Skye sent Oakleigh District tumbling out of the top five with a hard-fought, 28-point win in a low-scoring arm-wrestle at Princes Highway Reserve.

The Oaks’ shocking inaccuracy didn’t help their cause as they slid to defeat 8-11-59 to 3-13-31. The Bombers always appeared to be in control, with ruckman Daniel McEwan, Aaron Pacey, Matt Gonzalez and hardworking midfielder Chase Allen among their many clear winners.

The Oaks had goers in Dan Kiellerup and Mark Thavarajasingham, who produced his best game of the year, along with Paul Fermanis and Brent Crawley.

Highett has climbed back into the top five on the back of a 50-point win over Moorabbin at Widdop Crescent.

However, for three quarters, the Bulldogs were anything but convincing and the plucky Kangaroos worked hard enough to outscore their visitors for two quarters.

But a withering, third-quarter burst that unleashed ten unanswered goals, was too much for Dave Stynes’ charges.

The Doggies were in control, thanks to the efforts of Sam Jackson, who put in his best game of the season, Jess Elms, Ben Williamson (4 goals), Jacob Duscher and Yianni Pasialis (4 goals), to name a few.

But the Roos continued to fight on and came home with seven goals in the final term, with Jimmy Hadfield, Mark Russell, Matt Johansson (3 goals) and Peter Gerard among their major contributors.

In Division 1, for the second time this season Dingley asserted its authority over East Brighton, this time prevailing by 54 points at Souter Oval.

The Vampires were well in the contest early, with Mark Jamieson, Will Hetherington and Toby Mahoney conspicuous. But from midway through the second quarter, the Dingoes began to pull away as their miserly defence shut down the visitors’ scoring opportunities. By game’s end, the Dingoes had restricted the Vampires to just three goals for the day to win comfortably, 12-10-82 to 3-10-28.

Adam Stock, Jack Williams and Jackson Peet were among the many winners for Dingley, with Dan Bolger and Aaron Sawers also prominent.

St Kilda City collected one of its biggest scalps of the season when it outplayed finals contender Chelsea Heights by 34 points in another low-scoring contest at the Peanut Farm.

The Saints held sway from the outset and were never challenged from quarter-time.

Former Congupna utility Paul Kennelley has proved a useful acquisition for the Saints this season and he was terrific again on Saturday, while Daniel Ella continued his recent good form with another impressive effort.

Coach Gav Mahoney was also to the fore for the winners, while Simon Hislop weighed in with four handy goals.

Lachie Dobson, Jordan Peryman and Matt Terech did best for the Heighters, who can’t lose their spot in the five but won’t want to go into the finals with the burden of too many recent losses weighing on them.

The season that promised so much at the start has become a struggle for Clayton, but the Clays’ fourth victory on Saturday was well constructed and well applauded.
The battle of the black-and-whites at Meade Reserve saw the Clays triumph over Heatherton 20-14-134 to 10-12-72.

Nine unanswered goals in the first quarter had the Tunners reeling, but to their credit, they fought back and the eventual winning margin was only a point more than the quarter-time deficit.

The Clays simply had too many winners, with the classy Chris Morrison leading the way with seven goals.

Jesse Henderson, Gabby Irons and Justin Mitrevski also impressed for the winners, while the Tunners were again valiantly led by the tireless Clint Einsiedel. Einsiedel booted four goals and set an inspirational example of never giving in. Paul Connolly, Chris Tosin and Josh Dwyer were among those who followed it.

It took until the final quarter for St Pauls to shake off a persistent East Malvern at Lucas Reserve last Saturday.

While the Doggies did enough to keep the Panthers at bay, their 22-point lead at three-quarter-time was modest by their recent high standards.

But suddenly, the visitors upped the ante and powered away to win by 54 points, 15-13-103 to 7-7-49.

Brendan Dawes was on fire for the winners and capped a polished effort with six goals, while ruckman Andy Gilbert and fleet-footed pair Pete Mercoulia and Harley Ambrose, also impressed.

For the Panthers, Tremaine Tohiariki celebrated his return to the field with a ripping performance, while Andrew Johnson, Cameron Roughhead and Chris Duck were also prominent.

Cheltenham made better use of the breeze to overcome a determined Bentleigh by 19 points in an interesting tussle at Bentleigh Reserve.

The Rosellas’ six unanswered goals in the second term paved the way for victory and although the Demons outscored their visitors in the second half, they went down 13-16-94 to 11-9-75.

Pat Bolger was at his bustling best for the Rosellas, while Daniel Vaughan, Ben Fahey, Zac White and Ben Moloney all did their bit for victory. Dale Hynes, Liam Hogton-Hewish and Matt Troutbeck did best for the Demons, while James Robertson steered through four handy goals.

Lyndale showed sensational pre-finals form when it crushed fellow finals contender Black Rock by 10 goals at Barry Powell Reserve.

The Pumas’ physical pressure and attack at the ball stopped the Jets in their tracks and obliterated their hopes of a top-three finish.

“It’s probably the best footy we’ve played all season,” Lyndale coach Rodney Benstead said.

“We’ve been building up to this and have got ourselves into a good position. We’ve just got to win next week.”

The Pumas take on the division powerhouse Mt Waverley in next Saturday’s final home-and-away round with their third spot and the double chance in the balance.
A loss could see them looking to the result of the Sandown-Black Rock clash for their ultimate fate.

“We’re not worrying about that, we’re only concentrating on beating Mount and then nothing else matters anyway,” Benstead pointed out.

If the Pumas can sustain their tackling and assault on the ball of last Saturday, Mount could be in for a tough time.

“We laid 22 tackles in the first quarter, our best effort for the season,” Benstead noted.

“We’ve struggled with consistency at times this season but we put in four good quarters today, with everyone playing their role to perfection.”

Ordell Buntine was again a tower of strength down back for the Pumas, while Jared Henshaw excelled across half-forward. Tommy Clappers and defender Alex Bertucci also showed out for the winners, as did Damien Wilsnach and veteran Steve Harrison.

“Steve is really starting to set the standard with his leadership and example and he’ll be valuable for us in the finals,” Benstead said.

The Jets will need to regroup for finals and this week’s vital clash against Sandown. A Black Rock victory will ensure that the same clubs meet again the following week in the elimination final, while a Sandown victory could see another encounter with Lyndale, depending on how the Pumas fare against Mt Waverley.

Either way, the Jets will know their opponents well.

Their best last Saturday included Steve Baranski, Alex Shulman Kelly Spratt and Dave Dewar.

Sandown got in the right frame of mind for the upcoming finals with a ruthless 183-point annihilation of Hallam at Edinburgh Reserve.
After a sedate start, the Cobras turned up the heat with an eight-goal second quarter and poured it on in the last with 12 goals to one for a final scoreline of 29-24-1989 to 2-3-15.

Jason Toan and Clint Sheedy led the goal rush with seven apiece, while Frank Martinicchio snagged five. The Cobras had winners all around the ground, with Nic Morris, Daniel Macklin and Brad Hemphill among the standouts. The outgunned Hawks battled on bravely, with Steve Richards-Gill, Chris Molnar and Linden Fredericks doing best against the huge odds.

Carrum Patterson Lakes did its best work in the third quarter in their 59-point win over Ashwood at Roy Dore Reserve.

After a low-scoring first half, the Lions made the most of the strong breeze to kick seven goals to the Magpies’ one to take a stranglehold on the game.

Andrew McCormack, Joel Dalton, James Dent and Stuart Cormack led the way for the Lions, whose tight defence conceded just four goals for the game.

Brett Figas, Paul Wineberg, Tim Smith and Josh Stanton were the pick of the Woods.

Ladder leader Mt Waverley flexed its muscles with the finals only a week or so away with a thumping 130-point win over Endeavour Hills at Barry Simon Reserve.

The Mountain Lions showed no mercy as they continually pumped the ball forward, where James Gough did the rest with 11 goals.

Chris Cafiso, Ben Stacey and Richard Mathers were among the many other stars for the winners, while Ben Swift, Byron Hoe, Jarryd Burke and Andrew Rohan battled hard for the besieged Falcons.

Success has been elusive for Dandenong this season, but the spirit was still there at a slippery Fritsch Holzer Park last Saturday when the Redlegs notched their fourth win of the year, a 29-point triumph over South Yarra.

“It was nice to finally break through again,” Dandy coach Daniel Atkin said after the game.

“The boys are determined to finish off the season with two wins and it was a good, even team effort by them.”

After an even first half, the Redlegs exploded with seven goals in the third quarter to grab the game by the throat.

“Our second halves have been poor this year, so it was good to reverse that trend,” Atkin said.

“I thought we won the midfield battle and we had an even goal-spread. It’s never easy at the South Yarra ground, so a win here is great for our morale.”

Chris Arnold was superb on a half-back-flank for the Redlegs, while Brodie O’Loughlin dominated all day.

His ‘speccy’ on the wing would be a candidate for any mark-of-the-year award.

Dave Barrie booted five goals for the winners, while O’Loughlin and Atkin himself bagged four apiece.

The slick Matt Van Schajik and defender Ash Harvey also did their bit for victory, while the Lions were well served by Kieron Finlayson, Josh Gledhill, Shaheen Merchant (3 goals) and Eamon Hanney.

THIS WEEK

DIV 1 (Round 17)

Chelsea Heights v Dingley

East Malvern v Bentleigh

East Brighton v Clayton

Cheltenham v St Kilda City

St Pauls v Heatherton

DIV 2 (Round 17)

Mordialloc v Skye

Murrumbeena v Doveton Eagles

Hampton v Moorabbin

Springvale Dist v Caulfield

Highett v Oakleigh Dist

DIV 3

(Round 18)

Ashwood v South Yarra

Dandenong v Endeavour Hills

Mt Waverley v Lyndale

Black Rock v Sandown

Hallam v Carrum Patt Lakes