By David Nagel
Beaconsfield is locked firmly inside the top-five of the Eastern Division One ladder after the Eagles rode a fast-start to a 10.9.69 to 0.5.5 victory over Lilydale at Holm Park Reserve on Saturday.
The Eagles sit a game and percentage inside the top-half of the 10-team competittion – at the mid-way point of the season – after some terrific forward pressure forced the bottom-place Falcons to cough the ball up in their back half.
The Eagles took control of the contest with a 5.3 to no-score opening salvo…with three of those goals the direct result of forward-half turnovers.
Jake Porta, Ethan Harris and Casey Wassylko came into the side on Saturday at the expense of Michael Cameron, Myles Currie and skipper Jake Bowd…and it was the versatile Wassylko who had the first significant say in proceedings.
After just a minute of play, Wassylko took an intercept mark at true centre-half-forward before moving the ball on quickly and finding Michael Misso loose inside-50.
Misso converted…and the Eagles were off to the races!
Devon Smith and Kye Rowland were busy contributors in the early stages of the match, and it was Smith who found Brandon White for the Eagles’ second.
White, who was moved forward to cover the void, left by Bowd, out-pointed Falcons defender Jake Clements at the seven-minute of the term to make it a bright start for the hosts.
Rowland then took another intercept mark after 11 minutes as the Falcons defence became rattled under the intense pressure.
Rowland kicked truly, before Smith opened up a four-goal lead – just 15 minutes in – after some quick inside hands from Rowland.
Smith’s right-foot snap was then followed by a great piece of play from experienced midfielder Damien Johnston to cap off the first-quarter dominance.
Johnston pounced on a loose kick-in from Falcons’ full-back Patrick Kelp and drilled his set shot, right on the first-break siren…before being mobbed by appreciative teammates.
It was a great start for the Eagles, who were coming off back-to-losses to Montrose and a heartbreaker against North Ringwood.
The Montrose loss was the only sub-standard performance from the Eagles, so far this season, as their consistency takes a giant-leap forward from their inaugural season in Eastern last year.
The Eagles were frugal in defence on the weekend, not conceding a major, with Harrison Coe and Trent Stokoe proving valuable allies.
White was the only multiple contributor on the ground, with three goals, while loyal-servant Nick McPherson started on the wing and had a major influence on the contest in his 100th game for the club.
Round nine will be completed this week when Mooroolbark host Montrose at Heights Reserve.
For all other teams it’s a week off, with Beaconsfield returning to battle on June 17 with a block-buster top-five clash against Mitcham at Holm Park Reserve.
BEACONSFIELD 5.3 7.4 8.5 10.9(69)
LILYDALE 0.0 0.3 0.4 0.5(5)
Beaconsfield Goals: B. White 3, D. Johnston, K. Rowland, M. Wilson, D. Smith, H. Brough, M. Misso, J. Porta. Best: N. McPherson, H. Coe, T. Stokoe, E. Harris, K. Rowland, D. Johnston.
Lilydale Best: B. Hickleton, A. Camp, B. Bateman, R. Clausen, J. Depace, M. Massarotti.
Other Results R9: South Belgrave 14.16(100) def Croydon 9.9(63), Mitcham 15.12(102) def Bayswater 5.20(50), Wantirna South 10.10(70) def North Ringwood 8.9(57), Mooroolbark v Montrose (Saturday June 10).
Ladder: South Belgrave 36, Mitcham 28, Wantirna South 24, Montrose 20, Beaconsfield 20, North Ringwood 16, Mooroolbark 12, Bayswater 12, Croydon 8, Lilydale 0.
Fixture R10 (Saturday 17 June): Croydon (9) v Lilydale (10), Beaconsfield (5) v Mitcham (2), Montrose (4) v Bayswater (8), North Ringwood (6) v South Belgrave (1), Wantirna South (3) v Mooroolbark (7).
