By Nick Creely
SOUTH EAST FOOTBALL NETBALL LEAGUE
REVIEW – FIRST SEMI FINAL
Sunday was a challenge on many fronts.
The rain, intensity of the contest and the cut-throat nature of the occasion.
And it was the perfect time for Cranbourne – inspired by many of its youngest players – to find some much needed form, and to breathe life into its season.
The 23-point win against Beaconsfield was much closer than the final scoreboard suggests – Leigh McQuillen’s side looked like they could have run over the top and stolen the win at any stage.
But, the Eagles – who lost a key pillar in Troy Tharle early in the contest – dug deep and were gusty to the final siren, and put in an even performance across the board.
Cranbourne coach Steve O’Brien is the first to admit his side hasn’t re-captured its early season form in the last month, but was proud that his side could overcome another injury so early into a match to find their groove.
“It’s been a feature of us all year, it’s been pretty common for us having injuries early in games – it obviously impacted, we weren’t able to rotate our backs and forwards anywhere near as much as would,” he said.
“We weren’t playing great footy leading in, and we had an open and honest week in review, and everyone took it on board, and their response was fantastic.
“We just had 22 contributors, so it was really pleasing.”
The blockbuster clash at Toomuc Reserve was a hard grind for both sides, and finding free space was a tough task.
Returning Beacy champ Scott Meyer started forward at the opening bounce, and within minutes, the classy young Bailey Morrish had found a small window to weave some magic and kick off the match with a major.
But the Eagles quickly settled into the contest, with champion spearhead Marc Holt using his goal nous to slot two goals within minutes, and despite butchering some chances going forward, they took in a 15 point quarter time lead.
The pressure was extreme in the early exchanges of the second quarter, but McQuillen’s side reversed the momentum, and after Riley Verbi powered through to kick a sublime goal from absolutely nowhere, they began to assert some control, but crucially couldn’t make it count on the scoreboard as they reduced the deficit to just eight at half time.
With the likes of leaders in Shaun Marusic, Luke Bee-Hugo and Ryan Davey lifting their rating in the third term, as well as big man Michael Wenn who played a terrific second half, the Eagles made the most of their chances going forward, and staved off plenty of attacking thrusts by their youthful opposition to score seven goals to four after half time and advance through to a preliminary final.
O’Brien said that the injury of Tharle forced his side to re-think but was pleased with how some of his young stars – such as Corey Ellison, Kyle Nunn, Bailey Buntine and Aaron Bower – managed to handle the occasion and rise to the challenge.
Nunn was particularly eye-catching, and kicked one of the sealing goals in a dramatic final term that could have very easily gone either way.
“We were forced to throw young Corey Ellison back and forward, and into the ruck, to give Wenny (Michael Wenn) a chop out, and he was sensational for a young kid – it did impact us, but the boys were able to overcome it,” he said.
“It was a really good sign – we looked a bit shaky at times in the second quarter, and that’s probably partially to do with rotations, but we missed some gettable goals.
“We’ve made no secret that we’re in a bit of a transition and introducing some young players, and we had another two debutants on the weekend (Nunn and Anthony Burr), and they played their role.”
While the general feeling was that McQuillen’s side was about to overrun the depleted Eagles at certain stages, O’Brien praised his group once more for not wavering from their system.
“We knew Beacy were going to stick at it, they’re a really good young side who were going to keep coming,” he said.
“A lot of people might have thought we were going to get overrun in the last quarter, and they had the advantage of the breeze, and I thought we were just outstanding. Our structures really stood up when it counted.”
And the forward line duo – according to O’Brien – was another major positive, with Holt and Nathan Gardiner looking ominous and combining for seven majors between them.
“We did some specific work with our forward set up throughout the week, and they got the reward,” he said.
“We put a bit of a challenge to Gards (Nathan Gardiner) to stand up for us this week, and he did, and was really strong at the contest.”
While Beacy couldn’t find enough run to get over the top, they were brave, and were well served once again by the likes of Riley Verbi, Josh Dodsworth, Ryan Bromley and Jake Bowd.
Cranbourne will now tackle Narre Warren in a preliminary final on Saturday, with the winner to take on reigning premier Berwick in the decider on 15 September.
Cranbourne 12.8 (80)
Beaconsfield 8.9 (57)
