It was scrappy and lacked the conviction shown spasmodically across the first two months of the season, but Hampton Park had a 9.9 63 to 7.10 52 victory over local rivals Keysborough at Robert Booth Reserve.
Missing Trent Thomas, Dylan Morris and skipper Liam Myatt, left footer Tanner Stanton steered the ship in the first half, his ball use and composure helping the hosts to a seven point halftime lead.
Underlining the pressure and untidy skills, there were just five goals scored between the teams in the first half, despite both peppering the goal face at different times.
Led by ball magnet Joseph Bekierz, Keysy came hard in the third quarter, to level the scores going into the last quarter.
The Redbacks ultimately won a series of crunch moments, with the efforts of Jayden Weichard and Josh Craig in the midfield noteworthy in the victory.
Weichard was particularly influential after halftime, helping setup numerous forward thrusts as Declan Brunell got busy up forward.
Craig, a defender in his first 149 games before being put on the ball in his 150th, added some accountability to the midfield mix, limiting the impact of Keysy star Jamie Plumridge.
“We’ve got a very offensive midfield so even though Plumridge had his touches, he didn’t get a lot of free time with the ball and wasn’t as effective,” coach Hayden Stanton said, explaining the move.
“We wanted to stop him from bursting through the front of stoppage and hitting up a forward so that was done knowing we’ve got Murrumbeena coming up who have gun mids we’ll need to nullify.”
Brian Plapp also halved some crucial aerial contests for an undersized Redbacks unit.
It lifts Hampton Park to a 6-2 record – equal on points with Doveton, East Malvern and Caulfield, and three games inside the top five.
“It was a game where both teams had ascendancy at times and we needed some different guys to have moments, win some key balls, or halving a contest so that was important for us,” Stanton said.
“We’re still easy to score against on turnover – that’s where we have to improve.
The consistency around being cleaner and taking the ball at first possession and emphasising team-first mentality.”
Elsewhere, Cranbourne had a 58-point victory over Chelsea, led by star mid Jarryd Barker.
