By Tyler Lewis
History made.
Frankston further etched itself into the VFL/VFA history books on Saturday night when it recorded the sixth greatest three-quarter time comeback against Carlton at Skybus Stadium.
The Dolphins trailed by 48 points at the final change, with a meek three goals on the board.
But in the final term, the Dolphins stormed home, firing 10 majors to secure an exhilarating 13.8 (86) to 12.7 (79) victory.
With such an enchanting final quarter, one burning question surfaced… what on earth did coach Danny Ryan say to his chargers at the final break?
“Everyone is asking the same question,” he laughed.
“We wanted to win the last game of the four games in the match, there was a bit more to it than that obviously.
“It was a howling wind, in the first quarter (against the wind) we didn’t play well, but they could’ve hurt us more and didn’t.
“At the three-quarter time break, there was a couple of key indicators around Carlton’s possession and turnover that I wanted to address… in all honesty, the expectation for us was to win the last quarter and repair some of the damage to percentage, because three goals to 11 looks pretty bad.
“It was a combination of things I suppose that led to a perfect storm, the boys became irresistible… it is explainable, but it is still just extraordinary”
While Ryan truthfully revealed he and his coaching staff has put the chance of winning to bed, aiming to win the final quarter, he admitted that desire for the four-points re-emerged quite swiftly with each goal his side kicked.
“I think after two or three goals after five minutes we felt anything could happen,” he said.
“There were a few big things that changed from last week in the Saints game, we took some learning (out of it) and this group has been really good at taking learnings and implementing them.
“We actually changed our entire defensive method from Sandringham to Carlton, not for Carlton, for us.
“It was an experiment to see if they could do it and that was one of the things in the second quarter with the wind, it wasn’t our ball use, it was our defence that was getting it wrong… and in the last quarter they got it right.
“They allowed us to keep the ball where we wanted it and get the score opportunities.”
Will Fordham was exceptional yet again, gathering 27 disposals, kicking three goals and also applying 11 tackles in the slippery conditions.
The win has Frankston in the log jam that sits one win outside the eight, but faces a struggling Williamstown outfit this Saturday night.
Casey, meanwhile, is proving more and more difficult to overcome as the season progresses.
Coming into Sunday’s clash with Southport, the Sharks were 4-1 and fresh off the bye.
However the Demons just outclassed the Sharks, hardly getting out of first gear.
Mitch Brown kicked another five majors, as the Casey side went 7-0 with a 13.11 (89) to 8.11 (59) victory.
8-0 ahead of the bye seems extremely achievable for the Demons, who have North Melbourne at Arden Street this Saturday.
