East Brighton too strong for St Paul’s in Southern league qualifying final

IMPRESSVIE finals victories for East Brighton, Skye, Carrum Patterson Lakes and Lyndale in Southern Football League.

SFL Div 1 finals: St Paul's v East Brighton

East Brighton confounded many tipsters with a confident and stylish 41-point win over St Paul’s in Saturday’s SFL Division 1 qualifying final at Newcomen Rd, Springvale.

The fast-flowing game in ideal conditions proved yet again that previous results and expectations mean little in football — the last time the teams met, in June, the Doggies won by 73 points. Saturday’s scoreline of 13-9-87 to 6-10-46 was a turnaround of 114 points.

“We knew if we put our best foot forward, we could win this game,” East coach Ben Murphy said.

“Our poor has been really poor this season but our good has been very good. It’s really a confidence thing and we were up for the challenge today.”

The Vampires skipped away early before the Doggies kicked a few unanswered goals to close the gap to five points at the long break.

“I thought we should have been further in front at half-time, but you can’t afford a momentary lapse in concentration against a quality side like St Paul’s and they were suddenly back with us,” said Murphy.

But the Vampire defence was superb in the second half, allowing St Paul’s just one more goal.

“It was a great effort by our backline,” Murphy acknowledged.

“And I think their job was helped immensely by the pressure applied by our midfield.

“I thought we ground them into submission through the midfield, which was decisive for us.”

Hamish Dahl used his experience in the ruck to counter Doggies big man Andy Gilbert, while Liam Bowman and Matt O’Rourke kept dangerous Doggies forwards Luke James and Travis Ridgway to just three goals between them.

Tait Sabec and experienced finals campaigner Barry Hope also excelled for the Vampires, who will now face flag favourite Dingley in this Saturday’s second semi-final.

“They’ve given us a real touch-up twice this season,” Murphy conceded. “But finals footy is different.’’

Owen Lewis and James Bragagnolo were among the standouts for the Doggies, who live to fight another day in Sunday’s first-semi-final.

They will be looking for more help for the likes of Harley Ambrose, Adam McIntyre and James Marasco, who were among their better players last Saturday.

East Brighton's David De Luca. Picture: Paul Loughnan

Skye pulled away after a tight first half to eclipse Caulfield by 29 points in Saturday’s Division Two qualifying final at Cheltenham.

In the end, it was the Bombers’ greater experience that led to their 10-16-76 to 6-11-47 victory and a berth in this weekend’s second semi-final against Mordialloc.

But the Bears were always a chance, according to their coach Brett Dunne.

“Many others may not have given us much chance, but we really believed we could win it,” Dunne said after the game.

“I was pleased with the way we held them in the first half, but four unanswered goals at the start of the third quarter did the damage.”

The Bears matched the Bombers again the last quarter, but the leeway was simply too great.

Jim Martinson, Ben Evans and Travis Kitchin shone for the winners, while Mark Fedderson was in everything all day. Martin Watts did best up forward with three goals.

For Caulfield, Adam Ballard did a sterling job at full-back to hold the dangerous Luke McGuinness goal-less, with Todd Wallace also shining in defence.

Veteran rover Tommy Siegert was at his cheeky best for the Bears, while Colin Trigellis-Smith worked tirelessly up forward.

For Dunne, the highlight of the game was his team’s ability to apply pressure against the odds.

“The pressure we applied in the first half is what stood out for me,” he said. “If we can maintain that for four quarters, we can beat any side.”

The Bears’ defeat was compounded by the loss of prime mover Adam Connell with a season-ending hamstring injury.

The fact that home-and-away results count for nothing at finals time was proved yet again at Heatherton, when Carrum Patterson Lakes surprised Mount Waverley by nine points in the Division Three qualifying final.

Twice this season, the Mountain Lions have had the Lions’ measure, but with Joel Dalton providing a target up forward, it was the Lakers’ day this time.

Dalton finished with six of the Lions’ nine goals, but it was the determined efforts further afield that made the difference.

John McMurray chose an ideal day to produce his best form of the season for the winners, while Chris Barr, Chris Mouritz and Danny Graves all did their bit for victory.

Richard Mathers, Taryn Dawson and Lachlan Morrey worked hard to keep the Mountain Lions close, with Drew Macrea and Sean Rickard also conspicuous.

Lyndale players celebrate a goal in their semi-final. Photo: Tanya Fry

On Sunday, Lyndale earned its passage through to the preliminary final with an impressive 37-point win over Sandown at Heatherton.

The Pumas recovered from a four-goal deficit midway through the second quarter to prevail 14-9-93 to 8-8-56.

Lyndale coach Rodney Benstead was thrilled with his team’s endeavour.

“It was a ripper effort by the boys,” he said immediately after the final siren.

“They lifted a cog after half-time. We made a few poor decisions early but the endeavour was always there.

“I’m just so proud of this group today — it was a fantastic effort across the board.”

And he had every right to be chuffed. The Pumas were on song — their tackling was superb, their forward thrusts carried conviction and their second efforts were commendable.

Taylor Irish was a tower of strength for Lyndale, while Adam Reed was almost impassable across half-back. Dale Tormey was another to show out for the winners, while the excitement machine that is

Tommy Clappers put on a show of his own in the final term. His sensational goal at the nine-minute mark signalled the end of Sandown’s season.

The Cobras were certainly not disgraced and had a real goer in skipper Jason Toan, while John Frenken left no stone unturned in his efforts to lift his team.

But in the end, the Pumas simply had too much firepower.

“They were just too strong for us today,” said Sandown coach Mick Rossborough.

“They moved the ball very well and used it better then we did.

“We won plenty of the ball but turned it over too often. But we’ve had a good year after losing a lot of players and I’m very proud of the boys.”

Lyndale will now take on Mount Waverley in next Saturday’s first semi-final.