By Nick Creely
SOUTH EAST FOOTBALL NETBALL LEAGUE
REVIEW – ROUND 5
The sheer difference in class, experience and goal kicking prowess was always going to yield a Berwick victory, but the 146-point eventual margin simply won’t sit well with Tooradin.
When coming up against such a power unit – and on their home deck – all Lachie Gillespie and his Seagulls needed to do was show something resembling fight.
Instead, they were a taught a brutal lesson about workrate by a clinical Wickers side who are just chugging along nicely.
The writing was on the wall early when in-form forward Harry Money expertly curled a ball around, and from there, a running precision saw five more goals piled on, and the quarter time score read 6.5 (41) to 0.0.
It’s fair to say the Gulls were shell shocked, and with Bailey Asher, Travis Tuck and champs Luke Sheppard and Madi Andrews looking as if they have five seconds more time than their opponents, it was serious danger signs.
The 41-point margin was stretched out to 53-points at the major break, with Andrew Dean booting the only major of the half.
The only real issue with the Wickers – if you can really nit-pick – in the early stages of the season has been taking the foot off and not really ramming home the advantage, but that was quashed when Trent Thomas coolly slotted another major on his way to five early in the third.
From there, it was the premiers at their blistering best, running in waves, using the footy expertly and on the rare occasion the opposition get the ball inside their attacking fifty, defend with desperation.
The forwards in Thomas, Money and Brody Connelly were carving up a Seagull defence suffocating with the pressure, and at three quarter time the margin was sat at 94-points, with 30 scoring shots to six highlighting just how one sided the contest was.
Rather than take the foot and potentially rest up some players, the Wickers simply electrified, slamming on eight final quarter goals to finish almost 150-points up, with 43 scoring shots to seven at the final siren an extraordinary difference.
One particular bit of play really caught the eye.
With so much run, Luke Sheppard burst through a Seagull tackler at half-back after a turnover, taking three bounces before putting the ball in front of Thomas, who used all of his skill to kick a superb goal from a tight angle. It was the Wickers at their breathtaking best.
Only seconds later, Sheppard streamed through the ground and Thomas marked unopposed to kick yet another major.
It was the tale of the day for the Wickers, and a sign that the Seagulls still have a mountain of work to do if they want to compete with the best.
Lachie Gillespie’s men will look to bounce back when they face Narre Warren at home after the interleague break, while Berwick face great rivals Cranbourne in what looms as a blockbuster.
Berwick 24.19 (163)
Tooradin-Dalmore 2.5 (17)
