Cranbourne has lost control of its destiny and blown a golden opportunity to move into the top five, with a second half fadeout denying them victory against East Brighton, going down 17.6 108 to 13.6 84.
The result puts them two games and 11 percentage points outside the top five, with matches against Bentleigh, Chelsea Heights and Springvale Districts to come.
Positively for Cranbourne, East Brighton and Port Melbourne, also jostling for the last finals spots, have tougher runs home, but they’ve handicapped themselves by relying on everything to go right, including other results.
The Eagles kicked six of the last seven goals before halftime to open up a 21-point lead at the half, with Zak Roscoe and Tyson Barry each kicking multiples before halftime, while Ryan Jones was also important on offence.
But the story of the day was what happened after halftime, with Cranbourne conceding nine goals in a third quarter they could come to rue come season’s end.
The first two goals were conceded via holds in marking contests for a defence missing leader Brandon Osborne to injury – something coach Steve O’Brien refused to use as an excuse.
The third was via a 50-metre penalty, and from there the Vampires clicked into gear and were hard to stop.
They skipped out to a 16-point lead at the 20-minute-mark of the quarter before Roscoe stabilised, but those forward entries proved too fleeting in the second half.
“It’s happened to us a couple of times this year where we’ve been undisciplined with free kicks and haven’t been able to arrest control of the game which is unlike us and it’s a bit disappointing that has happened to us a couple of times in big games,” O’Brien said.
“It’s never been us but it’s something we need to identify and address moving forward.
“He was nice and dangerous inside 50 which was good to see.
“The first quarter was a bit of a shootout and then we were able to gain the ascendancy and get things on our terms in the second quarter which was pleasing.
“It was just frustrating that in the third quarter they were a bit harder at the pill than us and that turned the game.
“They started winning the clearances and that was the end of it.
“We made a few changes at three quarter time but the result says they didn’t work even though they showed some promising signs.”
Meanwhile, in Division 2, Doveton had its second consecutive 100-point win, 20.16 136 to 4.9 33, this time over St Kilda City.
The scoreboard blew out in the fourth quarter, with Matthew Rogers, Matt Clarke, Brodie Howie, Max Sheppard, Hayden Waters and Ash Brown all finishing with multiples.
After a rugged first half, Endeavour Hills broke Skye’s fight, getting up 14.14 98 to 7.8 50, with Alex Cann, Sam Delosa and John Rafferty leading the way.
Hampton Park, meanwhile, was upstaged by a Highett side bolstered by the inclusion of Richmond VFL gun Tom McCarthy.
The Redbacks recovered well from a 21-point quarter-time deficit, to take the lead at the half, but conceded four goals in the last quarter to go down 11.13 79 to 10.9 69.
In just his second senior game of the season, Kyle Brooks kicked two important goals, while Tanner Stanton, Jackson Dalton and Aaron Holden were all influential.
The result almost certainly positions the Spiders to face Caulfield in the elimination final, with East Malvern now a game and percentage clear in third spot with two rounds left of the regular season.
Doveton faces East Malvern on Saturday, Endeavour Hills will give itself a chance against the top-placed Murrumbeena side they pushed for three quarters earlier in the season and Hampton Park will hope to respond against Keysborough.
