By Blair Burns
Cranbourne fell just two points short in a thriller against St Pauls McKinnon on Saturday in the Southern Football Netball League Division 1 competition as the Eagles start the season 0-2 while consecutive two-point victories see the Dogs sitting at 2-0.
After dominating from the outset to lead by 36 points at quarter time, Cranbourne looked like it was cruising to its first win of the season, before St Pauls McKinnon bounced back to win 12.8 (80) to 12.6 (78).
Narre Warren suffered its first loss of the 2025 season against a strong East Brighton side who are firming to be one of the sides to beat, as they won by 25 points despite kicking 14.20.
The Magpies were completely outclassed by the Vampires who will pose a serious challenge to any team in the competition this season, and had 34 scoring shots to the Magpies’ 19.
Cheltenham bounced back from last week’s 61-point loss against Dingley as the Rosellas thumped Springvale Districts by 71 points at Jack Barker Oval to get on the winners’ list.
Dingley survived a bit of a scare against Port Melbourne as the Colts came home strong in the fourth quarter and threatened to pinch the four points, but the Dingoes held on to win by 21 points.
An 11-goal second half from Bentleigh saw them come from a 16-point deficit to defeat Murrumbeena by eight points in a shootout, 16.13 (109) to 15.11 (101).
Hampton Park continued its brilliance in Division 2 with another huge win as it destroyed Caulfield by 72 points in the Round 2 clash.
Keysborough challenged Frankston and put together a good half of football which culminated in a 22-point lead at half time, but the Dolphins kicked six in the third and ran away to win by 39 points.
East Malvern had another strong victory defeating Chelsea Heights by 46 points and continue their hot start to the season as one of the best sides in the competition.
Meanwhile, the two other games in the Division 2 are set to go ahead this Friday as Mordialloc and Highett battle it out at Ben Kavanagh Reserve starting at 1.45pm, while Endeavour Hills takes on Doveton at Barry Simon Reserve from 2pm.
In a stark contrast to Round 1, there was only one Division 3 football match decided by more than 16 points which was a 38-point win to Carrum Patterson Lakes as it made light work of Heatherton.
Ashwood got its first win on the board defeating Lyndhurst by just two points as the sides battled in a tight second half, Lyndhurst is now 0-2.
Skye defeated South Mornington (five points), while Berwick Springs was too strong for Black Rock (11 points) and St Kilda defeated Hampton by 16 points.
In Division 4, Hallam pumped Narre South by 165 points while Clayton also recorded a huge 69-point win over Doveton.
Lyndale was too strong for Dandenong West (26 points) while Moorabbin did enough to get over the line against South Yarra (seven points).
