Eagle rumours ‘ridiculous’

By Glen Atwell
RUMOURS that the Southern Football League (SFL) Division Three Doveton Eagles are ready to close the club’s doors have been labelled ‘ridiculous’ by coach Paul Davis.
After four rounds the Eagles are winless, but talk of closing the club is far from the truth, according to Davis.
“It’s been a tough year. We have been dogged by injuries and are short of numbers here and there,” he said.
“But off-field the club is going well. We are financially secure.”
After last year’s coach Paul Wilson was controversially sacked at the end of the season, things have gone from good to bad at Power Reserve.
“It’s been tough. We’re getting kicked while we’re down, but as blokes come back from injury things will turn around,” Davis said.
Davis is suffering from a broken finger and will miss another three weeks.
Last weekend the Eagles travelled to Cerberus and were thumped by 88 points.
Cerberus full-forward Simon Horner again slipped under the radar of his opposition and booted five goals.
Ben Hughes was best on ground for the Eagles, who return to Power Reserve to take on top-of-the-ladder Black Rock this Saturday.

Demons set for a cracking encounter

DANDENONG Demons coach Mick Hawken expects a classic Division Three encounter against the Parkmore Pirates at Wachter Reserve on Saturday.
But will the ball come before the biff?
That’s the question that is on everyone’s lips, including the SFL.
Hawken said the game was definitely the match of the round.
“We’re looking forward to the challenge, it should be a cracking game” he said.
“It would be naive to think the match won’t be more physical than usual. It will be and we expect that.
“But we’re out there to play football and have a beer afterwards.”
On Saturday, a sloppy first quarter cost the Demons four premiership points.
Their eight-point loss to Mount Waverley at Greaves Reserve has turned this weekend’s match into a must-win for the club.
After Mount Waverley booted four goals to one in the first quarter, the Demons lifted and played a superior standard of football for the remainder of the match.
Trailing by 15 points at three-quarter time, Dandenong launched a final assault but could only narrow the margin to eight points before the siren sounded.
Hawken said the win would have been monumental, but he was still happy with the performance.
“Aside from the first quarter, we played good football,” he said.

Too little too late for Cobras

THE Sandown Cobras fell 18 points short of victory against Black Rock at McDonald Reserve on Saturday.
Not even an eight goal to two last quarter could bring the Cobras within striking distance of the undefeated Black Rock side.
It was an up and down game for Sandown.
The visitors led by four points at quarter-time, trailed by eight at the main break and 49 points at three-quarter time before surging towards victory.
But it was too little too late.
The Cobras remain winless this season, but if coach Stephen Jasiak can find a way to recreate the team’s last quarter brilliance, the Cobras are slowly slithering towards a victory.
The team returns to Edinburgh Reserve this Saturday to play Skye.

Springvale Districts jumped by Kangaroos

TOO fast and too strong.
The Moorabbin Kangaroos made a statement to their SFL Division Two opponents after belting the Springvale Districts by 46 points at Springvale Reserve on Saturday.
After winning the Division Three premiership and progressing to Division Two, the Kangaroos have showed no signs of slowing down as they race undefeated towards the finals.
The Demons failed to match the midfield speed of their opponents and could not stop star Kangaroo full-forward Mimo Dimashki from bagging eight goals and putting on a best-on-ground performance.
At quarter-time, Springvale trailed by 11 points and Demons coach Stephen Hughes urged his players to keep a promise made before the game.
“We made a promise to each other and at the moment it’s not happening,” he said.
That promise referred to a pact made between players to amend the Demons’ loss to Heatherton in club legend Rob Burns’ 300th game two weeks ago.
But the Kangaroos treated the promise as though it had been made with crossed fingers.
Veteran Moorabbin defender Fia Tootoo restricted the Springvale goal kickers to singles.
Brad Heuvel was the shining light for the Demons, crashing the packs with his head over the ball and hitting forward targets on several occasions.
After losing to Heatherton, the Demons must prove they can win the big games required to break into the top four and remain a benchmark in the Division Two competition.
Expect the Demons to bounce back ferociously against Murrumbeena at Murrumbeena Park this Saturday.

Debut fails to inspire win

NOT event the debut of Roger Lumanovski could prevent the Lyndale Pumas from being smashed by Hampton by 38 points at Peterson Street Reserve on Saturday.
It was the Hammers’ first win of the Division Two season, and leaves both sides with one win and three losses.
Lumanovski booted two goals for the Pumas in his debut after leaving the Doveton Eagles’ nest.
Two goals represented a third of the Pumas’ six-goal tally.
Matt Caples booted three and star Russell Weeding snared a goal on a day in which six-pointers were scarce.
Brett Colbert was the shining light on a dark day for the Pumas, who are no doubt eager to bounce back against Heatherton this weekend.
But escaping from Heatherton with a win could prove to be mission impossible.
Heatherton thumped Oakleigh Districts by 100 points on Saturday and sit in second position on the ladder.