By DAVID NAGEL
CASEY Cardinia football is set for a thrilling finale this Saturday after the penultimate round of matches produced an early taste of September on the weekend.
Up for grabs for both Cranbourne and Pakenham was a double chance, important enough for the two clubs to produce an absolute epic contest at Casey Fields.
The Eagles rose from the dead – twice – to win a thriller by nine points, to lock up second place and condemn the Lions to a last-round showdown against Beaconsfield for the remaining safety blanket.
What a game this was!
The Lions kicked nine unanswered goals, to race out to a 40-point lead early in the third term, before the Eagles raised their effort and began a courageous fight back. When skipper Marc Holt put the Eagles a goal in front – at the 17-minute mark of the final term – the home side looked poised to run away with a magnificent victory.
But the Lions weren’t done yet, with goals to Steve O’Bryan, Cory Lenders, and two to Russ Lehman, giving the visitors a 17-point lead … with 25 minutes on the clock.
Surely they’d done enough, but no, goals to Tim Smith, Holt, the final lead-changer by Brad Hermans, and another to Holt after the final siren sent the home crowd into raucous celebration.
Cranbourne’s back line held firm through a heavy storm in the first half, but the impact of ruckman Michael Boland, centreman Curtis Barker, and Holt in the dying stages of the final term had to be seen to be believed.
Daniel Fry, four goals, and Troy Toussaint, three, were effective in the first half for the vanquished, while Lehman, Anthony Young and skipper Dean Blake were the best of a heart-broken lot.
Narre Warren full-forward Kerem Baskaya is just one goal away from his third consecutive century after a magnificent 15-goal haul against Doveton at Robinson Oval.
Baskaya kicked 10 second-half goals as the Magpies ran rampant, piling on 17 goals to one after the break to thrash the Doves by 169 points.
Baskaya has now kicked 38 goals in his last three games, 54 in his last five; as the Magpies raise the bar even higher in their quest for three titles on the trot.
The champ was salivating on the weekend as class acts like Dylan Quirk, Josh Tonna and Liam Myatt rammed the ball down his throat with almost surgical precision.
Beaconsfield will head into this week’s battle for third place with Pakenham with its tail up, the Eagles making it six consecutive wins with a 59-point win over Tooradin.
The Eagles gradually pulled away from the Seagulls over the first three quarters, before taking the foot off the pedal in the final term. Kris Fletcher kicked four for the winners, while Scott Meyer and Troy McDermott were other effective forwards with three.
Tooradin struggled to reproduce its winning form from seven days earlier against Berwick, but Matt Wade, Jimmy Cottrell and Adam Galea did their best to lift a young group.
Berwick’s lethal young forward line stole the show at Edwin Flack Reserve on Saturday as the Wickers finished well to secure an 11-goal victory over Hampton Park.
Mitch Johnson kicked seven, and Jordy Andrews five for the winners, who were unimpressive until a 7.4 to 1.1 final term put a gap between the two sides. Running half backs, Luke Sheppard, Daniel Harrison and Shaun Barnes created plenty of drive for the Wickers, while young ruckman Jake Gains and the emerging Jake Yields were once again outstanding.
Luke O’Brien returned from a long-term shoulder injury to slot three for the Redbacks, while Nathan Allen, Peter Bastin and Nathan Dawes never stopped trying all day.
ROC claimed the Ian McLean Memorial Shield and looks set to finish the season as the best team outside the top five after a 97-point trouncing of Keysborough.
With Matty Clarke on fire with six goals, and Blair Allan also challenging the Burra defence with three, the Kangas were just far too good, rounding out the procession with a seven-goal-to-one final term.
The Burra has just one more game to play in the CCFL – before transferring to the Southern Football League – and players like Tim Werner, Danny Morland and Michael Downie will go in confident of success against Hampton Park this week after impressive displays.
