By Jonty Ralphsmith
Cranbourne and Dingley both recorded straightforward wins to close out the home and away season.
The Eagles defeated Bentleigh by 82 points, extending their lead at every break.
Ryan Jones kicked five goals, and Marc Holt finished with three for the second consecutive week.
“We’ve continued to build over the last month and we’re starting to get some things right,” Cranbourne coach Steve O’Brien said.
“We’ve gotten our ball movement going the way we wanted it to again, and that took a bit of time, and we’ve had some injuries so getting the side settled has been the key.”
“One of the challenges was just getting the job done on Saturday and not looking too far ahead because it is always easy to do that with finals around the corner.
“So it was all about not playing safe and playing the game right out which we did – so it was good.”
Glenn Osborne and Bailey Buntine were named the best players, O’Brien pleased with their resistance in the back half.
“They defend really well which we rate highly – they nullified their opponents but also gave us important drive,” O’Brien said.
The last time Cranbourne met this week’s qualifying final opponent, St Pauls McKinnon, the Eagles came out on top by two points.
“We know they’ll come well prepared and we’ll have to be at our best to beat them, it’ll be a tough game,” O’Brien said.
“That game was probably when we started to fade off a little bit – we weren’t at our best at that point – so it is just about us playing our brand.”
The Dingoes, meanwhile, had East Malvern and won by 59 points.
After being held goalless in the first quarter and leading by just 15 points at halftime, a six-goal-to-one third quarter was sufficient to seal the result.
Rory Goldsmith and Lachie Lamble continued their strong form, with Goldsmith scoring three goals and Lamble named Dingley’s best.
The result means Dingley jump St Kilda City to fourth position on the ladder at the end of the home and away season, perhaps giving the Dingoes the mental edge going into the elimination final – but the Saints won their most recent encounter.
The Saints’ loss this week was to table-topping Cheltenham by 17 points but they took it up to the Rosellas, with former AFL players Aaron Edwards, Brendan Fevola and Dane Swan combining for nine of their side’s 12 goals.
In other results: St Pauls McKinnon defeated Mordialloc by 66 points; and Port Melbourne defeated Springvale Districts by four points.
FINAL DIVISION ONE LADDER: Cheltenham 64, Cranbourne 56, St Pauls McKinnon 52, Dingley 48, St Kilda City 48, Springvale Districts 32, Port Melbourne Colts 28, Mordialloc 20, Bentleigh 12, East Malvern 0
FINALS FIXTURE
QUALIFYING FINAL: Cranbourne v St Pauls McKinnon
ELIMINATION FINAL: Dingley v St Kilda City
