By Blair Burns
Cranbourne is now 0-4 and is the only team yet to win a game in Southern Division 1 after falling to Murrumbeena by 15 points on Saturday night.
The Eagles were jumped by Murrumbeena in the first quarter as the Lions controlled the play under lights at Murrumbeena Park.
Despite Cranbourne surging to outscore the home side in the third and fourth quarters, it wasn’t enough, and the Lions were deserving of their first win of the year.
Prior to the match, both teams were winless as Murrumbeena had also lost its first three matches, but that was to change.
The home crowd cheered the players off and a stirring rendition of the club song followed as the players belted it out at the top of their lungs.
In the other rooms, things were very different, and a silence followed as the players walked from the ground, with a feeling of disappointment.
A season record of 0-4 looks dire, and perhaps feels it too, but Cranbourne hasn’t been as bad as the results have reflected.
In Round 1 against Narre Warren, the Eagles were right in the contest and the Magpies’ first quarter ultimately proved the difference, while the next match against St Pauls McKinnon was the one that got away.
The clash against East Brighton a couple of weeks ago had some positives as Cranbourne pressured the Vampires but kicking 5.12 and getting outscored 44-0 in the third quarter were costly as they lost by 48 points.
Cranbourne coach Angelo Soldatos was disappointed with the performance against Murrumbeena which he said was the worst of the season so far.
“Murrumbeena were way too good for us on the night, I thought they completely outplayed us,” he said.
“I thought we’ve been okay before the weekend, but I thought we were pretty average.
“It was a 15-point game in the end, and I thought the scoreboard really flattered us to be honest.”
Cranbourne suffered a blow before the game even began as the side lost key defender Jake Cowburn after he sustained a quad injury in the warmup.
This meant Tom Clappers, who had just finished his reserves match, had to double up as he made his senior debut in interesting circumstances.
Murrumbeena started the contest well and seemed to play its smaller ground better than the visitors and Soldatos put the Lions’ first half ascendancy down to his team’s poor defence.
“We didn’t defend the ground well at all, their midfield got on top of us, and we gave them territory and some really good looks as well,” he said.
“In the periods when we’ve dropped off throughout the year, it has always been the same thing, defensively we just drop off and that was what I said to the players at half time.”
The Eagles were only trailing by one point halfway through the first term, but they conceded two late goals to Murrumbeena which extended the quarter time margin to 19 points.
The Lions kicked the opening goal of the second term and the margin was out to 25 points and the home side was running away.
Key forward Ed Standish (six goals) was a nightmare for the Cranbourne defenders as the big target looked like marking the ball every time he went near it, kicking some crucial goals.
But just when it looked like the Eagles’ wings had been clipped, the visitors responded through Nicholas Darbyshire who nailed a set shot from long range, and Kyle Lanham who kicked a nice snap around the body.
But two late-quarter goals to Murrumbeena and Cranbourne was back to square one, as the Lions took a healthy 27-point lead into the main break.
The ball went back and forth for the first five minutes of the third quarter before Lions’ Byron Wright kicked a goal from beyond 50 metres and the home side was threatening a big victory once again.
Cranbourne responded and kicked three of the next four goals in the third term with the final one through skipper Zak Roscoe who collected a handball from Callum Pola, straightened up and put it through.
“I felt like we sort of got trapped in the first couple of quarters and were going side to side too much, which isn’t how we want to play,” Soldatos said.
“At three-quarter time, the message was basically just to get the ball forward, let’s surge forward and try to turn the game around a bit, territory is important on a ground of that size.
“When we give the forwards an opportunity, they go alright, and we probably gave them more opportunity in that last quarter.”
The shining light for the Eagles was Darbyshire (17 disposals, six marks), the young deputy vice-captain who put the team on his back and single-handedly almost helped them pinch victory, kicking two majors in the last quarter to finish with 5.2.
“I didn’t think that sort of game (for him) was too far off, last week against East Brighton he kicked 0.4 and two out on the full but had been the best player on the ground at half time,” Soldatos said.
“I was really happy for him to be honest, he kicked 5.2 from pretty limited opportunities so that’s a good reward for him and probably the only real positive of the night.
“Prior to this season, he played all of his footy on the wing, but we needed some forwards, so he and I had a chat in the pre-season about playing forward and he really embraced it and works hard.”
Despite Cranbourne outscoring Murrumbeena in the third and fourth quarters, the visitors had left their run too late, and the Lions recorded a 15-point victory to kickstart their season.
Murrumbeena’s Nathan Scollo (27 disposals, seven marks) continued his fine form and played a crucial role in defence, while Tom Buckley (25 disposals, one goal) was influential through the middle of the ground.
Dillan Bass (26 disposals, 11 marks) was the major ball winner for the Eagles, while Glenn Osborne (13 disposals, one goal), Tom Freyer (11 disposals, 13 hitouts) and Roscoe (15 disposals, one goal) all fought hard.
The winless Eagles will host Bentleigh this weekend as they search for their elusive first win of 2025 while Murrumbeena will look to continue its momentum against Springvale Districts.
“They (Bentleigh) are young, they’re quick and they apply pressure really well … the competition is just so even this year and if you’re not at your best, you will get beaten,” Soldatos said.
In other games across Southern Division 1, Cheltenham has now won three games in a row after defeating Narre Warren by 24 points.
The Magpies were well and truly in the contest and had a 17-point lead at the main break, but the Rosellas flexed their muscle and came home strong thanks to brothers Jack and Sam Lonie, who combined for seven goals.
Kurt Mutimer and Trent Papworth were welcome inclusions for the Magpies, while Will Howe and Jake Richardson kicked three goals each.
One of the big upsets of the round was Springvale Districts, who defeated St Pauls McKinnon by 34 points.
The Bulldogs were previously undefeated while the Demons were yet to win a game, but a 56-1 first quarter blitz in favour of Springvale Districts was the difference, as well as straight kicking in front of goal – Kyle Hendy was the leading scorer with four goals in the victory.
Dingley is now the only undefeated team in the competition as the Dingoes recorded an important victory against East Brighton by 26 points.
Tom Morecroft kicked five goals for Dingley while Jackson Peet (30 disposals, eight tackles) was also influential, Tom Bracher worked hard for the Vampires with three goals and 23 disposals, but it wasn’t enough.
Meanwhile, Bentleigh handed Port Melbourne its third successive loss as it managed to get over the line in a two-point thriller, after leading at every break.
Bentleigh has now jumped the Colts on the ladder to sit sixth with a 2-2 record while Port Melbourne has started the season 1-3.
SOUTHERN DIVISION 1
MURRUMBEENA 5.3 8.7 10.13 11.17(83)
CRANBOURNE 2.2 4.4 7.5 10.8(68)
Murrumbeena Goals: Ed Standish 6, Pat Bannister, Tom Buckley, Julian Callahan, Harrison Lagastes, Byron Wright.
Best: Ed Standish, Mitch Virtue, Julian Callahan, Harrison Lagastes, Pat Bannister, Will Smith.
Cranbourne Goals: Nicholas Darbyshire 5, Luke Bee-Hugo, Ryan Jones, Kyle Lanham, Glenn Osborne, Zak Roscoe.
Best: Nicholas Darbyshire, Glenn Osborne, Kyle Lanham, Ryan Jones, Tom Freyer, Zak Roscoe.
CHELTENHAM 1.2 4.4 8.9 12.12(84)
NARRE WARREN 1.2 7.3 9.3 9.6(60)
Cheltenham Goals: Sam Lonie 4, Luke Garnaut, Jack Lonie 3, Jack Davis, Luke Verma.
Best: Sam Hayes, Rex Kilburn, Jack Lonie, Sam Lonie, Daniel Rendell, Luke Garnaut.
Narre Warren Goals: Will Howe, Jake Richardson 3, Jesse Davies, Jett Kearney, Dylan Mutimer.
Best: Kurt Mutimer, Joel Zietsman, Jake Richardson, Hayden Dwyer, Trent Papworth, Hayden Johnson.
Other Games – Rd 4: Dingley 14.13 (97) def East Brighton 11.5 (71), Bentleigh 8.16 (64) def Port Melbourne 9.8 (62), Springvale Districts 15.6 (96) def St Pauls McKinnon 9.8 (62).
Ladder: Dingley 16, East Brighton, Cheltenham, St Pauls McKinnon 12, Narre Warren, Bentleigh 8, Port Melbourne, Springvale Districts, Murrumbeena 4, Cranbourne 0.
Fixture – Rd 4: Cranbourne (10) v Bentleigh (6), East Brighton (2) v Cheltenham (3), Springvale Districts (8) v Murrumbeena (9), Port Melbourne (7) v St Pauls McKinnon (4), Narre Warren (5) v Dingley (1).
