Beacy survives the flak

By Mark Gullick
BEACONSFIELD wrestled its season back on track with a gutsy 15-point win over a tough Berwick outfit at Edwin Flack Reserve.
In a match where there were few easy kicks, it was a former Wicker that proved the difference.
A 10-minute period from Beaconsfield forward Ryan Donaldson broke open the contest; a five-minute burst in the third term yielded two goals to reclaim the lead and then a five-minute period in the final term gave his team an unassailable lead.
Beaconsfield needed some individual brilliance after a sluggish start.
“The first half was not our best footy, but we hadn’t paid credit to Berwick during the game,” Beaconsfield coach Aussie Jones said.
“They came out and obviously set themselves for a huge game.
“We could tell the way they went about their warm-up and the noise they were making that they were up and about for a big game against us and our boys wore what they had and then got on with the job.”
Berwick’s seven-point half time lead was quickly erased by Beaconsfield Dale Hynes’ goal after his teammates won the ball from a contest in the middle.
Berwick had several chances, but were unable to convert until Robert Palazzolo skidded through a long goal from behind 50 metres.
Nathan Page then took a brilliant diving mark and converted to give Berwick a little breathing room.
Two Donaldson goals gave Beaconsfield a one-point lead going into the last term.
It took six minutes for the first goal from Page after a cleverly intercepted handball.
Donaldson kicked two goals in quick succession and then cut off an errant and dangerous kick from the back pocket and successfully snapped another goal.
Further goals to Hynes, Donaldson and Mislicki sealed the match for Beaconsfield, who kicked five goals to three in the last term to claim the important win.
There were heavy casualties; Mitch Collins (Beaconsfield) and Adam Mott, Dale Robinson and Nathan Page (Berwick) were all injured, while the match signalled the return of star Eagles ruckman Chris Kelf who returned from a long lay-off.
A massive crowd filled every vantage point around the venue and barbs, mostly good-natured, were traded between rival camps.
“The rivalry is absolutely massive,” Jones said. “We’re obviously a couple of kilometres apart and both clubs have had different sorts of successes over the last few years. The supporters probably live on the rivalry more than the players but, for us, the celebration on the field was about having shown a fair bit of courage and the first time we’ve come from behind to win and I think the playing group really understood how big that win was for us.”
While Donaldson stole the show, there were plenty of contributors for Beaconsfield.
“On the scoreboard, Ryan’s affect was enormous. Up the ground we had a lot of players that changed the game for us. I thought Ben Collins’s second half was absolutely brilliant. He looked like he wanted to impact the game.
“The other guy was Glenn Penglase. He showed courage that you don’t see a lot of in local footy. His ability to put his head over the footy and get the footy more often than not was brilliant and probably the winning factor for us.”
Other significant Beaconsfield contributors were forwards Daniel Calteri and Dale Hynes, youngster Aaron Gwozdziewski, and the improving Lachlan Cove and Josh Dodsworth.
Andrew Williams continued his superb year with a lot of damaging work in the forward and back line.
Berwick coach Glenn Dale walked away from the match proud of his players, but disappointed they couldn’t get the win.
“The effort from our blokes was great and intensity was good,” he said.
“We were ferocious all day; I couldn’t doubt their effort.
“Beacy are definitely a top three contender, there’s no doubt about that, but we didn’t get the points, which was disappointing. There was a big crowd and we had our past players day and everything went well. They were all pretty happy with the performance and effort, so that was the main thing. The main thing is that we had to have a dip. If there wasn’t going to be an effort, then that would have a massive impact on the club. It’s a bit of a downer; we’re out of the five and we played so well. It just feels pretty empty after the game.”
Berwick still remain in touch with the finals. “We control our destiny to a certain degree. If we win the next three matches, we make it. If we don’t win then we do have to rely on other matches.
“It’s the same as every other team. Keysborough, Hampton Park and Devon Meadows are all in the same boat; we’ve all got reasonably hard runs home.”
Dale was pleased with the work of 18-year-old rising star Nathan Page.
“He’s so hard at it and so courageous,” he said. “He puts himself in places where his body is susceptible to getting crunched and they do tag him now, but he’s awesome; he surprises me every week the way he plays. “Luke Sheppard was awesome. David Van Diemen on the half-back line played his best game of the year.
“We had some good, strong players over the ground, but we just couldn’t get the job done. Shane Findlayson was brilliant all day and he was pretty much one-out in the second half because we lost Dale Robinson.”
Berwick captain Andrew Tuck played a typically hard-nosed game.
Mitch Talbett and Thomas Humphries continued their strong recent form.