By David Nagel
The ‘classy midfielder floating forward’ might be the trendiest tactic in West Gippsland football right now after Tooradin-Dalmore survived a three-goal last quarter from Max Walton to edge out Phillip Island by two points on Saturday.
Just a week after Lewis Hill kicked four final-quarter goals to give the Seagulls a comfortable victory over Inverloch-Kongwak; the home side almost suffered from the same play book as the Bulldogs surged in a wet and windy final term.
The Seagulls held on; not kicking a goal in the final 35 minutes of play…eventually prevailing 11.4(70) to 9.14(68) in a tough and contested game of football.
The Seagulls dominated the opening exchanges, with Piva Wright setting the scene with a massive long bomb from outside the forward-50 arc.
Xavier Shinners then nailed a classy goal on the run, and when Andrew Dean proved too strong for Coby Olarenshaw the Gulls were up 18-0 after 12 minutes of play.
Shane Savage then kicked another from the goalline, and when Wright took a magnificent contested mark in the goal-square, the Seagulls led 31-0 as 20 minutes ticked by.
A left-foot snap from skipper Jack Taylor opened the scoring for the Bulldogs, but when Savage strolled into an open goal the Seagulls had kicked out to an even five-goal break at the first change.
Hill and Liam Adams had the better of the midfield battles, while the Bulldogs almost looked disinterested at times and made many frustrating mistakes.
Phillip Island coach Cam Pedersen got his message to penetrate more at quarter time with his Bulldogs a far more competitive outfit during the middle stages of the match.
The Seagulls extended their 30-point lead to 33 at half time, but the Bulldogs were creating more chances and were proving wasteful in front of goal.
It was a trend that would continue in the second half, with the Bulldogs not making the most of their 16 created chances after the break.
The Bulldogs limited the Seagulls to just five scoring shots in the second half to give themselves a shot at one of the potentially great comebacks of the season.
Hitting the ground with a 33-point lead at the main break, the Gulls were soon a game-high 39 points ahead after Dean kicked his third for the afternoon just a minute into the third.
But Phillip Island gradually gained a foothold, with leaders such as Pedersen, Jaymie Youle, Hayden Bruce, Daniel Pearce and Charlie Bruce starting to win some crucial one-on-one battles.
After Dean’s early goal, the Bulldogs dominated play in the third quarter but just couldn’t relay the pressure to the scoreboard.
They had nine scoring shots to two, but a return of 3.6 to 2.0 left them 27 points adrift at the final change of ends.
Brady Ross, Hayden Bruce and Walton kicked the third-quarter goals for the Doggies, while the strength of Wright and the classy finishing of Dean had Phillip Island at arm’s length heading into the final term.
Captain Jack Taylor and coach Pedersen were guilty of easy misses in the third; but still had time for redemption with a quarter left to play.
No-one knew it at the time, but Dean’s fourth goal, at the 23-minute mark of the third, would be Tooradin’s last six-pointer for the contest.
The siren to begin the last quarter not only brought the footy action back to life, but triggered a steady downpour that turned the last quarter into a slick and greasy affair.
Walton popped himself in the goalsquare, one-on-one with Rory Neate, and became the focal point of the Bulldogs’ last-quarter surge.
The first two of his three last-quarter goals were free kicks, both against Neate in marking contests, deep in the forward line, providing the classy mid with easy conversion opportunities.
The 27-point deficit had been cut to 14 points with just eight minutes taken off the clock.
The Seagulls tightened things up for the next 10 minutes of play, and appeared to have the Bulldogs measure as 22 minutes ticked by.
But Walton had other ideas, and when Hill downed Pedersen in the midfield – relaying a down the field free kick – the Bulldogs number-2 had the chance to narrow the margin.
He kicked truly, cutting the gap to a gettable nine points with seven minutes of game time remaining.
Billy Taylor, who had been well-held all day, then grabbed his chance to have an impact; nailing a clever right-foot snap with 28 minutes off the clock.
The Bulldogs surged from the last centre clearance, but the Gulls held firm for the final 90 seconds of play to send the Bulldogs toppling from the top six.
The Bulldogs will be rueing two important things from this contest.
They looked slow and lazy ion the opening term, which basically cost them victory, while failing to capitalise on 23 scoring shots to 15 will be another great source of frustration.
But the most important scoreboard during the home-and-away season is the ladder; and the Bulldogs now sit in seventh place with two wins and three losses from their five outings.
The Bulldogs have no choice but to straighten up the ship fast, with a visit to Inverloch-Kongwak this week providing an opportunity to square away their season ledger.
Another loss; and we might have to re-evaluate where the Doggies sit in the pecking order.
The Seagulls on the other hand are cruising along nicely in second place, after back-to-back home wins that were highlighted by classy midfielders running rampant in the final term.
Hill, Wright, Adams, Cooper Shipp, and Jehi Esler will take rock-solid form into this week’s visit to Kooweerup; while Dean’s clinical finishing was the perfect juxtaposition of the Bulldogs troubles up forward.
TOORADIN-DALMORE 6.1 8.2 11.2 11.4(70)
PHILLIP ISLAND 1.1 2.5 5.11 9.14(68)
Tooradin-Dalmore Goals: Andrew Dean 4, Piva Wright 3, Shane Savage 2, Logan Downe, Xavier Shinners. Best: Lewis Hill, Cooper Shipp, Piva Wright, Liam Adams, Cooper Bassett, Jehi Esler.
Phillip Island Goals: Max Walton 4, Charlie Bruce, Hayden Bruce, Brady Ross, Billy Taylor, Jack Taylor. Best: Charlie Bruce, Max Walton, Daniel Pearce, Hayden Bruce, Jaymie Youle, Cameron Pedersen.
