By Paul Pickering
DINGLEY waited 18 months for another crack at Springvale Districts, but it took the Dingoes just 30 minutes on Saturday to turn the tables on their 2007 grand final nemesis.
The visitors stunned an expectant crowd at Springvale Reserve by kicking the first six goals of Saturday’s Division One grudge match, before limping to the line to win by 22 points.
The stakes were high with fifth place up for grabs, but the long-awaited tussle failed to live up to the hype.
The Dingoes were unstoppable in the first 40-odd minutes, dominating the stoppages and providing great service to forwards Tim Ford (five goals), Steve Vinen (two) and Andrew Frost.
But they needed every bit of their 45-point halftime lead to hold off a resurgent Springvale Districts in the last quarter.
Ford’s was the eye-catching performance of the afternoon, but he owed much of his success to the work of Josh Boyle, Clinton Brooks and Cameron Maine further up the ground.
Darren Andrews was again solid at centre-half-back for Dingley, while Luke Bartholomew provided the grunt to complement the early brilliance of on-ballers Daniel Turcarelli and Tony Lavars.
Gavin Vassallo provided the impetus for the Demons’ revival when he began to burn off a rotating tag from Dingoes Jake Mullen, James Farrugia and Bartholomew.
Josh Pierpoint kicked Springvale Districts’ first goal – midway through the second term – and finished with three alongside Trevor Kumetaitis.
The end result pleased neither camp. Dingley’s fadeout left a bitter taste in Adam Quinn’s mouth, while Demons boss Steve Hughes was rightly disappointed with his team’s start.
“We considered it to be a bit of an eight-point game, but they took it away from us pretty early,” Hughes lamented, before looking ahead to this weekend’s clash with second-placed Chelsea Heights.
“After halftime we showed that we’re capable of being competitive with good sides. That’s the brand of footy we need to bring every week from the beginning, rather than at 3pm.”
In Division Two, Lyndale was smashed by 107 points at South Yarra after going goalless in the second and third terms.
The Pumas received handy contributions from Sean Paynter, Anthony Lowry and Darrren Fellows, but had no answer for Lions forward Matt Crawley (seven).
Meanwhile, Sandown held off local Division Three rival Dandenong to win by 16 points at Edinburgh Reserve.
Clint Sheedy (six) and Shane Cosstick (three) were again prominent for the Cobras, while Adrian Kelly and Brad Rae (four) led the visitors.
Over at Power Reserve, the Doveton Eagles overcame an inaccurate Mount Waverley to win by three points.
The Eagles set the victory up with a five-goal second term and held strong in a tense second half, thanks largely to the performances of Matt Fristad, Paul Rees and Brayden Keown.
