Right: Keysborough spearhead Luke McGuinness lines up for his 100th goal in Saturday’s game against Berwick.By Brad Kingsbury
VETERAN Keysborough full forward Luke McGuinness was at his accurate best in his side’s big win over Berwick on Saturday, kicking 13 goals to make his 2006 tally exactly 100.
McGuinness, 34, is no stranger to the ton, with the milestone his third career 100, adding to those in 2000 and 2003 with the Burra.
His 100th goal came late in the last quarter of the final five-sealing win over the Wickers in their Casey-Cardinia League match at the Edwin Flack Reserve and made it 13.1 for the day in an amazing exhibition of accuracy.
McGuinness said the milestone was a great thrill and the best of his three tons to date.
“Standard-wise this is the best 100 I’ve got because this is much better football than Nepean division, where I kicked the other two 100s,” he said.
“Most of my shots were pretty close, and with the ball coming down so often this year it has been easier to get an opportunity.
“It was a good day all round and even better that we made the finals.”
A fairly unflustered and laid-back character, McGuinness played junior football until he was 13 and then decided to play tennis until he was 21, before returning to football at Mornington because he “felt like it”.
He played in two premierships with the Bulldogs and then transferred to Keysborough in 2000 and booted his first 100 in that season.
Two years of beltings in 2004 and 2005 saw McGuinness reassess his future during pre-season and flirt with another move before the club landed several star recruits and enticed him to stay on.
“I was pretty much gone to Tooradin,” he said.
“I’d gone through two 18 (loss) seasons and just didn’t want to go through that again.
“I never wanted to leave Keysborough but I just couldn’t face more 30-goal beltings.
“I was about to sign when they recruited Clinton (King) and then it all started to happen and I stayed. I was happy with the way it worked out.”
McGuinness is tall and a strong mark but also surprisingly agile for his size, and he said he had no thoughts of retirement just yet.
“I’d like to keep playing until my two-and-half-year-old boy can remember his dad getting a kick, so maybe another two or three more years,” he said.
Despite his weekend feat, McGuinness was pipped for the Casey-Cardinia League goal-kicking award by Narre Warren spearhead Lee Clark, who was busy slotting through 10 goals against Beaconsfield at Fox Road to reach 101 for the year.
