By Marc McGowan
THE Dandenong Demons juggernaut rolls on after a third-straight victory, its victim this time being third-placed Black Rock at the weekend.
The Demons appeared to be cruising to their sixth win of the season, after kicking six goals to two in the first half, but had to withstand a withering final-quarter comeback by Black Rock before hanging on for a six-point win.
Playing coach Mick Hawken welcomed his team’s recent hot form.
“It’s been a long time coming. Injuries took their toll early in the season, but everything is getting on track now,” he said.
Black Rock eroded the Demons’ lead by a goal in the third quarter, but stormed home with three-goals-to-none in the final term to fall just short.
“I think the guys hadn’t been in that position often and didn’t know what to do. They just need to realise not to go into panic mode,” Hawken explained.
The Demons still find themselves two points adrift of the top four, but Hawken thinks that could change as early as this week.
“If the cards fall as expected this week, we should be in the top four after the weekend,” he said.
THE Doveton Eagles’ woes continued after an 85-point walloping at the hands of second-placed North Kew at the weekend.
Despite the magnitude of the loss, playing coach Paul Davis felt it was an improvement on the previous week’s effort.
“The intensity was up, it’s just that the skill level was not there. A lack of training is hurting a few players,” he said.
Just two points separated the teams at quarter-time, but the floodgates opened in the second term as North Kew slammed on six goals to one to effectively end the match as a contest.
Davis claimed his side gave up in the final term the previous week and a six-goal-to-none last quarter in favour of North Kew evoked similar memories, but Davis said this was not the case.
“This week we kept coming, but they had the wind in the last quarter. It was a pretty strong wind,” he said.
Scott Lovell and Stephen Wright were the best players for Doveton.
SANDOWN Cobras fell short once again – this time against Cerberus, but showed some promising signs in a strong last quarter, before failing by 29 points.
The Cobras had managed only three goals to three-quarter-time and were staring down the barrel at another demoralising defeat.
Despite never being a chance for their first victory of the season, Sandown kicked three-goals-to-one in the final stanza to put some respectability on the scoreboard and possibly for their reputation.
Daniel Gargano kicked two goals for the Cobras and the Mulvogues – Chris and Daniel – were Sandown’s best.
Pumas look to the future
LYNDALE recorded its fourth win of the season with a 36-point win over bottom-placed Canterbury at the weekend.
An eight-goal-to-two first half was the catalyst for a much-improved performance from the Pumas.
Pumas’ coach Danny Scott described it as a good result.
“It was a bit disappointing last week; we thought we had an opportunity,” he said.
“We looked really hungry from the outset and wanted to redeem ourselves.”
The second half was a different story though, as a reformed Canterbury unit showed up and made the game much more competitive.
Scott said credit must go to Canterbury.
“They had a fair crack and served it up to us,” he said.
“We started to finesse; there was a bit of lairising, but it’s hard to find any negatives.
“At this stage we’re looking to next year. We want to find some players who will play senior football.”
SPRINGVALE Districts suffered a dramatic collapse after half-time, losing by 70 points to third-placed Heatherton at the weekend.
Springvale faced a two-goal deficit going into the second quarter, but rattled off a four-goal-to-one term to go into the long-break with a seven-point lead.
Heatherton had different ideas though, booting nine goals to one in the third quarter to end Springvale’s hopes of victory.
Springvale coach Stephen Hughes said he couldn’t have been prouder of the team at half-time.
“I guess all credit goes to Heatherton. They smashed us in the clearances. We showed no resistance out of the centre and good sides make you pay,” he said.
The major turning point in the game came five minutes into the third quarter when full-back Dean Kovacic was reported and sent-off for mouthing off at the umpire.
Kovacic had held Heatherton full-forward Marcus Wilson to just two goals to half-time, but after he went off, Wilson – receiving endless supply from a dominant midfield – kicked another eight goals to be a major thorn in Springvale’s side.
Another nine goals to five in the last stanza sealed Springvale’s fate.
