Doveton Eagles star Russell Weeding strides away from his Cerberus opponent. Both teams will feature in the Southern Football League Division Three finals this year.By Glen Atwell
A 79-POINT Doveton Eagles thrashing of main rivals Kangaroos has left the Moorabbin boys wondering how they can be beaten.
And unless the Kangaroos can improve out of sight before the second semi-final, the solution may be hard to find.
The Division Three Southern Football League grand final preview at Widdop Reserve last Saturday was billed as an arm-wrestle, but turned out to be an old-fashioned belting.
In the battle for the minor premiership, the powerhouse Eagles team swooped on the hapless Kangaroos, who barely managed a hop, skip or jump all day.
Many expected a close contest, but that vision was soon blurred.
After all the hype, the boys from Power Reserve had the match sewn up at quarter-time after piling on 10 goals to one before the first break.
There was no better way to dispel doubt over the team’s ability than with a 56-point lead at quarter-time.
Playing smooth, silky football, not one Eagle player was beaten by his opponent on the day, a problem the Kangaroos coaching staff will need to address before grand-final day.
Travis Gardner kicked six goals for the Eagles, Todd Humphries and Nick Karalis chipped in with three each.
Kangaroo forward Mimo Dimashki, who has destroyed opposition teams with his own boot this season, was held to just one goal by Eagles’ defender Adam Matthews.
Eagles coach Paul Wilson said Matthews did a great job.
“He put his hand up, took on the task and carried it out,” he said.
The Eagles backline is soaring after finishing the season conceding the lowest number of points in the Southern Football League’s senior divisions.
It was business as usual on Saturday, restricting the Kangaroo forwards to just three goals after half-time and just nine for the game.
Geoff O’Neill was inspirational in his back-flank role.
And despite the bullet-proof defence, the Eagles were full of run out of the backline, driving the ball to leading forwards who were charging up the ground.
A 79-point victory over the team tipped to knock the Eagles off their perch was the strongest possible way for the team to finish an impressive home-and-away season.
Wilson was not worried that the Eagles had shown their full hand before the finals.
“We had a close to full strength team and that’s what we wanted to play with,” he said.
“Moorabbin had a number of players out who will probably be back for the second semi.”
North Kew and Cerberus are the other two finalists and will be in action this weekend.
Division Three finals will be held at Ben Kavanagh Reserve in Mordialloc.
The Eagles enjoy a rest this week, as do the Kangaroos who will be looking to completely overhaul their plans before taking them on again in two weeks.
A lot will need to change before 27 August if the Kangaroos are to have a chance of beating the likely premiers.
