Above: Rival captains faced off at the coin toss on Saturday with Doveton Eagles Geoff O’Neill and his Dandy Demons counterpart Bradley Rae meeting before the game.By Marc McGowan
THE Dandenong Demons have broken into the Southern Football League Division Three top four on the back of a fourth-straight victory, this time at the expense of the Doveton Eagles.
The Demons won by 31 points, bankrolled by a six-goal-to-two second term with the wind.
Their playing coach Mick Hawken was pleased to finally crack the four.
“It’s a good reward for the work we’ve put in,” he said. “I wasn’t that impressed with the win, we probably should have won by more.
“We just did what we had to do. It’s hard for the guys to get up week after week.”
The first quarter was an evenly fought affair, with the Demons holding a four-point lead at quarter-time before the second term broke the contest open, giving the Demons a 31-point lead at half-time.
The margin was the same at the end, with Doveton controlling the third term and Dandenong winning the fourth.
Doveton playing coach Paul Davis was pleased with his side’s improved performance.
“It was a good game. They got out to a four or five-goal lead and we kept on coming at them,” he said. “It was just a 10-minute period late in the second quarter that hurt us. Dandy kicked a few goals with the wind.
“That’s what’s been costing us in games. Lapses in patches have hurt us against the top sides and we’ve dropped off the pace.”
Hawken was also impressed by the Eagles’ effort.
“Doveton will win games on the way home. It’ll just depend on how much they want to apply themselves,” he said.
The Demons’ streak will be tested by Mount Waverley – the team Dandenong replaced in the top four – this week.
Hawken said it would be a big game, like every game for the past three or four weeks.
“It’s Mount Waverley this week and they’re coming off a big loss so they’ll be keen to atone for their effort,” he said.
The Demons will be boosted by the addition of several key players, including last week’s best-on-ground Chris Hawken, for the Mount Waverley showdown.
Doveton welcomed Steven Tobin back from a knee injury for the Dandenong game and he made a big difference.
Stephen Wright has been a lone hand up forward for the Eagles, but Tobin’s inclusion eased the pressure off Wright and the duo managed four goals apiece coming out of the goal square.
