By Lachlan Mitchell
Cranbourne and Springvale were the main event in a fresh round-one.
The Eagles were flying into the new Southern League, meanwhile Springvale Districts were looking to make a name for themselves in Division 1.
Conditions were perfect for a traditionalist, with gloomy and wet conditions the main feature at Springvale Reserve on Saturday afternoon.
The Demons went into the match missing boom-recruit Ty Vickery, as well as head-coach Kris Thompson.
The first quarter provided fans with a slog-fest of wet-weather football.
Demons new recruit Shakore Bragg-Taylor was the first to hit the scoreboard.
Cranbourne was on the board early through cult-figure Marc Holt.
The Eagles holding sway going into the quarter-time break,
The second-quarter saw the cobwebs swept away as Holt steered through his second for the afternoon, Kirk Dickson was also on the score-sheet early.
A sickening clash between Cranbourne’s Matthew Alister and Demons Mark Griffiths saw the game come to a stop.
Both men were out and played no further part in the game,
Two late second-quarter goals by the Demons saw Cranbourne ahead by two points leading into the main break.
A stern half-time spray by Cranbourne coach Steve O’Brien clicked his side back-into action.
The third-quarter provided another key injury with Eagle’s Mitchell Tharle being stretchered off after clinching his right-knee.
Tyson Barry kicked his first of the day and Holt kicked his fourth to give his side a 16-point lead going into the final break.
The final-quarter started with a bang, Holt kicking his fifth with his side kicking five goals in the last to run out 50-point winners.
Cranbourne coach O’Brien was full of praise for his side but is ruing the injuries in the game.
“It was a tough game,” he said.
“We copped quite a few injuries; we pretty much had no bench after half-time.
“They were really well organised, and we weren’t playing too smart for the first two and a bit quarters.
“We showed we were at a pretty good fitness level and we were able to run right over the top of them.”
Cranbourne kicked a very inaccurate 13.19 (97)
“We work on our goal-kicking,” O’Brien said.
“There was a bit of a wind out there, it was pretty strong, we probably just didn’t adjust to it quite well.
“But when the whips were cracking in the last quarter, we kicked straight which was most important.”
Meanwhile in other round one fixtures across Division 1, St. Paul’s McKinnon had an emphatic win over Bentleigh by 87 points.
St. Kilda City ran out 52-point winners under the guidance of Brownlow Medallist Dane Swan.
The Saints had to also contend with a power-outage as they accounted for the Port Melbourne Colts.
The Dingley Dingoes also proved too strong for the Cheltenham Rosellas away from home. The Dingoes running out 26 point winners.
Finally Mordialloc got the job done in a low-scoring affair over East Malvern at Dunlop Reserve.
The Blood Hounds winning by five goals.
