By Jonty Ralphsmith
Cranbourne recorded a thumping 159-point win over the winless East Malvern.
Coming off their second loss of the season, to St Kilda City, the Eagles showed no mercy in a ruthless four-quarter performance.
Up by 100 points at three-quarter time, Cranbourne kept its foot down, kicking nine fourth-quarter goals, boosting its percentage to an enviable 187 per cent.
“We made sure that we didn’t worry about the scoreboard but are still doing the things that are creating the scoring opportunities, and the boys were really diligent at doing that for four quarters on Saturday,” Cranbourne coach Steve O’Brien said.
Star goal kicker Marc Holt kicked nine goals in a dominant performance of marking, scoring and pressure, but it was another forward, Kirk Dickson, who captured O’Brien’s attention.
Dickson also finished with nine goals, to go with three last week.
“He’s been playing really good footy and (he) got his rewards on Saturday,” O’Brien said.
“He’s just got an exceptional work rate and plays a pretty important role in our team and system.”
O’Brien also highlighted the individual effort of Cam Angus, who is in a confidence-instilling patch of form, highlighted by what O’Brien described as ‘his best game of senior footy’ on the weekend.
There was no shortage of talent at the Peanut Farm Reserve on Saturday, as St Kilda City rolled out the welcome mat to Dingley.
The Dingoes (fifth) were unable to close the ladder gap on the Saints (fourth), despite the inclusion of former top ten AFL Draft pick Nathan Freeman.
Dingley was Freeman’s junior club but Saturday’s 34-point loss was his senior debut.
After coming off St Kilda’s AFL list in 2018, Freeman has been an automatic selection for Frankston’s VFL side when fit, and played some footy for Adelaide’s SANFL side earlier in 2022 as he chased another the shot at AFL level.
Despite suffering defeat, that experience and his ball-winning ability shone through from the outset as he added style to the Dingoes’ engine room.
Springvale Districts won by 68 points against Mordialloc courtesy of a last quarter explosion.
The match was in the balance at three quarter time with Springvale up by 10 points in a low scoring arm-wrestle, before the floodgates opened for Springy, who scored 11 goals to one in the final quarter.
In other results; Port Melbourne Colts was almost made to pay by Bentleigh, but held on to win by five points – aided by five goals from Bailey Thomas.
Cheltenham won by 57 points against St. Pauls McKinnon, which now opens up an eight-point buffer between the top two sides and the rest of the competition.
LADDER: Cranbourne 44, Cheltenham 44, St. Pauls McKinnon 36, St Kilda City 36, Dingley 28, Springvale 24, Port Melbourne Colts 20, Mordialloc 20, Bentleigh 8, East Malvern 0.
FIXTURE: Mordialloc v St Kilda City, Bentleigh v Springvale, East Malvern v Cheltenham, Cranbourne v Dingley, St Pauls McKinnon v Port Melbourne Colts.
