By DAVID NAGEL
SOUTH EAST FOOTBALL NETBALL LEAGUE REVIEW – ROUND 6
“NOT only do we answer the question boys, but we answer it with an exclamation mark!”
Doveton coach Shannon Henwood’s parting words to his players at three-quarter time of Saturday’s SEFNL match-of-the-day against Pakenham – in response to a question he had asked his team just moments earlier.
“Are we relevant in this competition this year?”
The answer he received was an overwhelming “yes!” – the full-strength Doves putting themselves in the finals-picture with a stunning 49-point victory over the Lions at Robinson Oval.
The margin – which grew from 14 points at three-quarter time – was largely irrelevant.
Andrew Humphries broke the Lions’ spirit, at the 13-minute mark of the final term, putting the home side 19 points in front, before a six-goal avalanche, in just 15 minutes, put the exclamation mark on victory that Henwood had asked for.
What isn’t irrelevant… is the victory itself.
It vaguely answers a question, which Henwood admits he had himself, about where the Doves sit in the kaleidoscope of premiership chances this year.
They’re in amongst it, and we need to judge them from this point forward, and not judge them through the uninspiring efforts of the first five games of the season.
They’re a different side now.
Consider the eight changes that were made for Saturday’s game.
Jarrad Boumann comes in, is best on ground, his desire and second efforts rewarded with four goals for the day, three in the final term.
Michael ‘Pickles’ Henry was once regarded as the premier small-man in the competition, the 2010 Norm Walker Medallist is fit and firing again and carved the Lions up with three goals from the midfield. He also set the tone in each quarter, kicking the Doves first goal in the first three-quarters of the match.
Frank D’Agostino joins Russell Gabriel in the ruck, allowing the former-Frankston star to drift forward and kick three goals for the afternoon. Cameron Bowman, Aaron Henwood and Ashley Scott add stability through defence… and we’ve left the two most impressive to last… the debutants!
Former Port Melbourne players, midfielder Sam Raru, and 2011 Borough premiership player, defender Jake Dermott, were terrific on the weekend.
Raru could hardly have been more impressive, shrugging and breaking tackles and using his sublime skills to cut the Lions to ribbons. It’s hard to imagine a more impressive debut, while Dermott stood tall at centre-half-back, winning his crunch duel with Pakenham coach Steve O’Bryan.
The Doves just wanted it more. They applied unbelievable pressure, and looked and acted like a team, with unsung heroes like Sean Semmens, Jordan Temopoulos, Michael Laszczyk and Mitch Davies playing significant and unselfish roles in the victory. Pakenham looked flat and should console itself with the fact that it still had a realistic chance at victory in the final term.
The Lions missed easy opportunities to apply early pressure to the Doves, but then waved the white flag, their effort dropping appreciatively in the last 15 minutes of play. Troy Toussaint and Russ Lehman kicked two each for the Lions, while Dean Blake, Damien Holmes and Chris Smith had plenty of ball through the midfield. The margin would have been greater if not for the efforts of Beau Wheeler and Michael Taurua in defence.
Doveton 16.12 (108) Pakenham 8.11 (59)
