Skye’s Mark Mussared contests with Dandy Demons’ Brad Rae in Saturday’s match.By Marc McGowan
DANDENONG Demons suffered an upset 15-point loss to Skye at Greaves Reserve on Saturday in their division-three Southern Football League match, putting their finals spot in serious jeopardy in the process.
It was the Demons’ sixth home loss out of eight matches and they head to Stradbroke Park this weekend to take on the high-flying North Kew Bears in a do-or-die battle after Mount Waverley stole their spot in the top four.
“Nothing else matters; we have to win this week,” Dandenong playing coach Mick Hawken said.
Skye leapt out to 41-point break by the first change, keeping the Demons goalless. It was an embarrassing start by Dandenong and Hawken was at a loss to explain.
“They caught us napping; I guess we thought it would be easier,” he said. “They came out firing.”
The woeful opening came back to haunt the Demons, despite a supreme recovery during the middle stages.
The comeback started in earnest in the second term, Dandenong booting five goals to one to cut the margin to 17 points by the long break. The trend continued in the third quarter, when the Demons slammed on four goals from eight scoring shots while restricting the Bombers to a behind, carrying a 10-point lead into the final stanza.
Then the miracle recovery came crashing down as Dandenong reverted to their first quarter form.
In the last quarter Skye broke the goal drought of the previous two terms to put through seven goals to three and run out deserved winners.
“To be honest, I think if you give up a seven-goal lead it’s hard to keep coming back all day,” Hawken said.
“Our attitude let us down.”
Injury is always a barometer for success and the loss of three defenders from the game against South Mornington the week before was a major hindrance to the Demons.
One, Sam Fus, will miss the rest of the season, even if Dandenong does manage to get off the canvas to make the finals.
Chris Hawken and Shaun Smith are expected to play this week.
Mick Hawken was philosophical about the loss, though.
“If we’re not good enough to beat North Kew this week we’d just be making up the numbers (in the finals) anyway,” he said.
