By Jonty Ralphsmith
Highett came to Ben Kavanagh Reserve, Mordialloc, on Sunday to play proverbial September footy, exposing Hampton Park’s lack of recent finals experience in a 42-point demolition.
It may have taken Highett until midway through the last quarter to slam the door shut on the Redbacks, but the fourth-placed side never seriously challenged.
All year, the success of the Spiders’ outfit has been dependent on the performances of their gun midfielders and wingers.
Only Makaio Haywood, in his first senior final, stood up to the test but his moments of flair and elegance were interspersed with too many poor periods from the on-ball brigade.
Highett’s spread from the stoppage was supreme as they were repeatedly able to break tackles and step through traffic easily to get it forward with purpose.
The Bulldogs’ achilles heel is their defensive stocks, but Hampton Park’s lack of height and fight denied them the opportunity to expose that.
A month ago Hampton Park appeared dead and buried against Highett, before a resounding comeback with the breeze, which coach Hayden Stanton drew on as they trailed by 29 points at the last break.
But the pleas from players and clubmen to stay up and about were words of desperation rather than optimism, as this time, the Spiders would have to buck both momentum and the wind.
Stanton’s side, which won both its encounters with Highett this season, got it back to within four goals before conceding two quick ones which sapped the energy out of the contest.
Ten of the game’s 24 goals came in what turned into a bruise-free last quarter, but it was lost in the first half.
The Redbacks were out-hunted, out-skilled and out-marked.
Ryan Hillard, Josh Stow and others in defence held up well on taller opponents, doing reasonably to bring the ball to ground.
It was moreso the forward bursts of midfielders and halfbacks which hit the scoreboard.
Only two opportunistic Kyle Hendy goals kept Hampton Park in it in the first quarter as Highett had the running.
When it mattered, the Bulldogs either won it in the clinches, won it back on turnover or forced Hampton Park into slow ball movement down the line.
Highett’s Tom McCarthy got off the chain from the get-go and didn’t stop running all day, but Hampton Park elected not to send negator Cory Phillips to him.
Stanton did throw the magnets around after halftime, though, with the well-performed Haywood the only mid who stayed in there virtually all day.
Trying to get speed into the game, Jack Wilson, Trent Downe, Declan Brunnell and Trent Thomas were all run through there after Lionel Benoit and Liam Myatt struggled to impact.
Stow was thrown forward to provide more presence ahead of the footy and Stanton had to get creative with his defensive rotations after Luke O’Brien suffered a nasty third quarter head knock.
But nothing worked.
The one Spider who clearly won their position was Kyle Hendy.
He kicked Hampton Park’s first three goals and finished with 4.1 on the day as the main man targeted going into attack.
He used his spring to do what he could to create an aerial contest and had a hand in nine of his team’s 18 scores, running it out until the very end.
He got up high and provided bubble, finishing the year with 38 goals, equal most for his club, alongside Thomas.
