Dandy sneaks a desperate victory

By Gavin Staindl
DIVISION Three side Dandenong pulled back a six-goal deficit in the first break to upset Sandown by a point in a frantic final quarter at Greaves Reserve.
Dandenong pinned back Sandown’s 15-point final break lead, and took the lead for the first time with five minutes remaining in the match.
With the slightest of leads Dandenong vigorously defended its goal square, with full-back Damien Bush blasting off a 40-metre bomb to the boundary when the ball was only metres away from the goal line.
The game-saving kick capped off a topsy-turvy game that was at the mercy of the breeze for most of the day.
Sandown kicked out to a six-goal lead in the first quarter and, according to Dandenong coach Brendan Allen, the game seemed all but over.
“I thought we had done our chances. We were timid and our build-up (to the game) was lacklustre,” Allen said.
Dandenong waited until the second quarter before it kicked its first goal but with a three-goal breeze at its back the Redlegs quickly reduced the margin to two points at half time.
Centre-half forward Dave McKean began crashing packs and Allen found himself loose after the first quarter and was able to dictate the Sandown forward line for the remainder of the game.
“They (Sandown) sent a man back to defend their six-goal lead which meant I was able to play loose for most of the match,” Allen said.
Heading down-wind in the third quarter, Sandown again broke out to a 15-point lead that set the scene for an intriguing final quarter.
“The last few minutes were frantic. We tried setting up a wall but they broke the lines, got a few kicks over our wall then everyone was diving on the footy and trying to get the bloody thing clear and luckily we got a few kicks out,” Allen said.
While Sandown slumped to their fourth straight loss, Dandenong improved to 2-2.
“Both teams have a young list and you can’t disregard the confidence that they get from winning games,” Allen said.
Remaining in Division Three, Doveton Eagles went down convincingly to league-leaders Mount Waverley by 81 points at Power Reserve.
Also suffering harsh losses was Dingley which went down to Mordialloc by 134 points at Souter Oval in Division One.
Poor kicking cost Springvale a chance to win its first Division One game of the season when it went down to Tooronga Malvern by 64 points at Springvale VFA.
Lyndale continues to struggle in Division Two, as was highlighted by its 216-point loss to Murrumbeena at Murrumbeena Park.
Remarkably, the loss increased its percentage from nine points to 10.