By Mark Gullick
ROC finally produced a consistent four-quarter effort to cause a major upset, defeating finals aspirant Keysborough by 10 points at Rowley Allen Reserve on Saturday.
The lowly Kangaroos had just one win for the season, while Keysborough were desperately fighting for a spot in the finals.
ROC kicked five goals to two, from 11 scoring shots, in the opening term and were able to hold that advantage for the majority of the game.
ROC outscored Keysborough in the second and third quarters to head into the final term leading by 26 points.
With its season on the line, Keysborough then came out firing, kicking five goals for the quarter. But ROC managed to goal when it was most needed.
ROC’s best players were coach Kris Fletcher, midfielder Cameron Fletcher, the reliable duo of James Brown and Ben Johnson, big man Kym Jones and Phillip Nanfra.
Stephen Hawkins and Kris Fletcher kicked three goals each.
All of Keysborough’s big names fired; talls Dean Gentle, Tyson King, Greg Walker and Will Gayfer were influential around the ground and at key positions.
Jordan Laragy and veteran Corey Wilkinson played well.
Luke McGuinness and Walker each kicked four goals.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:Cranbourne v Hampton Park
HAMPTON Park’s stay in the final five was short-lived after it was smashed by Cranbourne at Casey Fields.
The 145-point drubbing tumbled the Redbacks out of the five as its confidence, spirit and percentage took a hammering.
Cranbourne was irrepressible and the scary aspect is that it appears to be getting better each week.
A tricky, often ferocious wind blew during the opening term.
It took Cranbourne under a minute to lead after a goal to Leigh Holt. Further goals to Justin Berry, who cleverly outmarked two opponents, Glen Osborne and Ryan Davey quickly placed Hampton Park under immense scoreboard pressure.
However, it wasn’t all one-way traffic in the first quarter.
Hampton Park was winning its fair share of the ball, but it was breaking down badly across the half-forward line. The Redbacks scored their first goal at the four-minute mark of the second term after Jamie Rondinella cleverly grubbered a goal through from the pocket.
But from that point, Cranbourne dominated the match, around the ground and ultimately on the scoreboard.
It kicked the next seven goals of the second quarter to lead a shell-shocked Hampton Park by 67-points at the long break. The Eagles were just as ruthless in the second half, with 16 goals to two.
Captain Marc Holt kicked 10 goals in an unstoppable performance for the victors.
Matthew Rus was superb across the halfback line and he smartly undertook the duel role of defending and rebounding.
Troy Tharle Adams and Ricky Harmes were prominent, both chiming in with three goals.
Leigh Holt and Ryan Davey played well.
Hampton Park coach Josh Taylor was impressed by his conquerors.
“That’s the first time I’ve seen them and they’re a mile and a half in front of everyone,” he said. “I haven’t seen a performance like that for quite a while. They’ve got some good players, but they just play well as a side.
“You could see the disappointment on the guys’ faces. They knew what had happened. Coming into the game and losing by 140 points, I don’t think handing out sprays is probably the best thing to do. It was a pretty poor performance from the team.”
There were few positives for Hampton Park. “I think we wasted the footy at times,” Taylor said. “Our whole forward line was just chasing and they were bringing the footy out way too easy and the lack of pressure in our midfield made it near impossible for our backline.”
The Redbacks have a week off before their charge towards the finals.
“The bye probably came a week late for us. We have some pretty tired bodies and injuries have taken their toll. We’ve been up for a while and when you’ve got a young side, it’s pretty hard to maintain intensity for a sustained period.”
Shaun Winsall, Nathan Dawes and Matthew Shorey tried hard.
@BT Sub Sport Gaz:Pakenham v Tooradin
A SIX-GOAL second term helped Pakenham ease ahead of a determined Tooradin by 34 points at Major Recreation Reserve.
The Seagulls matched the fourth-placed Lions for three quarters, in their goalkicking outputs in the first, third and final terms.
The Lions broke the shackles in the second quarter by playing quick, skilful football that has rocketed them up the ladder in the past two months.
“It was good to get the result after a week off,” Pakenham coach Ryan Cassidy said. “We were probably a little bit flat to be honest, but we got the job done, which is the main thing. Tooradin, to their credit, had a real crack.
“We probably had the majority of the footy, but we couldn’t convert. The second quarter set us up a bit, but we really dropped away in the third. We came back in the last and really brought it home. It was a hard-fought contest, pretty physical for both sides, which was good.”
Pakenham went into the match with two debutants. “Unfortunately we had four changes,” Cassidy said. “If you have a bye, you would think everyone gets back fresher, but we’ve now got a few guys that will come back in over the next few weeks.”
Forward Nathan Lieshout has goaled in each of his nine matches this year and he finished with six against the Seagulls.
“He’s a hard person to match up on,” Cassidy said. “He plays tall, but he’s quite quick as well, so he plays well low to the ground. He kicked most of the goals from general play and not from marks. He had a lot of shots at goal and it could’ve been more.”
John Atwell was busy around the ground, as well as drifting forward and kicking three goals.
Young gun Chris Smith, the Gramc brothers, Paul and Sean, and vice-captain Beau Wheeler played well.
It was the usual suspects who carried Tooradin.
Defender Adam Splatt has had a brilliant year in the toughest position in his team and he played a great game again.
Mark Griffiths, Beau Miller, Ben Disney and Michael Hobbs were typically prominent.
Coach Chad Liddell kicked four goals.
