Dingoes avoid the drop

By Gavin Staindl
DIVISION One Southern Football League side Dingley has escaped relegation with a win over Cheltenham but its win comes at the expense of Springvale Districts, which will finish last.
Dingley narrowly held off Cheltenham by eight points at Jack Barker Oval to move three games clear of Springvale with three games remaining.
After holding a one-point lead at the first change, Dingley found itself trailing by 13 points midway through the second quarter but a few late goals to best-on-ground Clinton Brooks (three goals) and Daniel Turacelli (also three) returned the visitors to a one-point lead at half-time.
The Dingoes made hard work out of extending their lead in the third quarter but by the final change they had moved to a two-point lead and were good enough to maintain possession throughout the dying minutes to keep the Rosellas scoreless.
“Both teams tried their best to lose it with poor decision making and errors but we stood tall,” Dingoes coach Adam Quinn said.
“It was an exciting and nerve-racking final few moments but our experienced players took control of the match and we had a lot of the footy in the final few minutes,” Quinn said.
With no chance of being relegated and the prospect of playing finals a distant memory among the playing group, Quinn will use the final three weeks to promote his future stars to the idea of senior football.
“It is what you have to do,” he said.
“The club is looking towards next year and the future and you have to see what potential senior footballers you have in the juniors.”
As for Springvale Districts, it will be eyeing a successful year next year in Division Two after it lost to St Pauls/East Bentleigh by 74 points at McKinnon Reserve.
The Redlegs incredibly held a brief lead in the second quarter and trailed by only two goals at half-time but the runaway win to the home side binds Springvale to the bottom of the ladder.
In Division Two Lyndale was beaten by 130 points to Ashwood at Barry Powell Reserve.
Division Three sides Dandenong and Sandown were both defeated on the weekend but battled valiantly.
Dandenong kicked five goals to two in the final quarter against Moorabbin to miss out on snatching an unlikely away victory by nine points.
Sandown was beaten but not disgraced in its 43-point loss to second-placed Hampton at Edinburgh Reserve.