By Jonty Ralphsmith
A victory over top-placed Cranbourne puts Dingley in a powerful position heading into the last month of the home and away season.
The Dingoes started the game with what coach Danny Ades described as a 10-goal gust and, after conceding the first goal, they virtually held the lead for the rest of the contest.
That goal was the only goal kicked against the wind for the entire four quarters of footy.
The 13-point win was a scrap to watch, as wind wreaked havoc on the skill-level of the contest, but Ades said it was an important win for the club.
“The win gives us confidence in those high pressure moments so I think it is important that we establish ourselves as a finals team and a win today helps that cause,” Ades said.
“We expect to play finals and once we get there, we back our systems and have trust we will get it done in the pressure moments again.”
Although Ades emphasised that his side would not be taking the next month lightly, they play the bottom-three teams in division one in the four matches to round out the home and away season.
Win those and fifth spot should be sewn up, and they will have momentum heading into finals.
On the weekend, Nathan Freeman’s class shone through from the first bounce, as he got five touches, two tackles and two goals early in the contest. The ex-AFL player would have finished with about 30 touches and contributed to a slight midfield win for the visitors.
The Eagles, however, looked ominous at different times, particularly when they moved the ball quickly to give their esteemed forward line a look at some one-on-ones.
Returning from injury, Casey-listed George Grey was one who got several clearances and looked to take territory.
Casey’s VFL bye allowed Mitch White and Corey Ellison to also play, bolstering the Eagles’ forward line, yet the team finished with only six goals.
Ades was pleased with that result, as he said defence was a focus given the conditions.
“Fall into a trap with a windy day of capitalising on two quarters, we like to look at it from our defence – generally the team that defends the wind the best goes a long way to getting the result so we were fortunate enough that was the case.”
Although it was not a day suited to big marking forwards such as Marc Holt, the coaching staff gave Alex Windhager best-on-ground for keeping Holt to just one goal.
“He’s improving every week, we’ve given him some pretty big assignments in the last six weeks since he has come back from injury – we have had trust in him to play on the key forwards and there is quite a few in this league, so it is important he gets the job done and I thought he won his position really well.”
Leading by 23-points at three-quarter time, he implored his side to bring effort and intensity to defend their lead against the wind, and they ran it out, conceding three goals in the final quarter.
Rory Goldsmith’s pressure and hunt was rewarded with three goals and Lochie Benton, who has played VFL and NAB League footy this year, was also among the better players as a clean half-forward/winger.
Meanwhile, Springvale’s win over Bentleigh keeps its pulse for finals action alive.
The Demons sit a game and percentage behind Dingley so would be reliant on results to fall their way and to record some upsets.
But on Saturday they overcame a slow start, reversing a 17-point quarter-time deficit to get up by 35 points after a six-goal-to-zero final quarter.
St Kilda City was also made to work, but eventually got on top of Mordialloc, winning by 14 points.
After trailing by 16-points at halftime, the Saints came out firing in the third team, kicking 6.7 and keeping the home side scoreless. Aaron Edwards finished with four goals.
Cheltenham’s 128-point annihilation of East Malvern puts them back in top-position.
Given Cranbourne’s loss, the Rosellas now sit a game and percentage clear in top-spot, but Cranbourne will be able to draw level when the sides clash this weekend.
In the weekend’s other match, five goals to Mitchell Clarke was not enough to lift Port Melbourne to victory over St Pauls McKinnon.
Like Springvale and St Kilda, St Pauls McKinnon also trailed at halftime, before an eight-goal-to-four second half got them over the line by nine points.
RESULTS
Mordialloc 8.12 60 def by St Kilda City 10.14 74, Bentleigh 8.6 54 def by Springvale Districts 13.11 89, East Malvern 2.4 16 def by 21.18 144, Cranbourne Eagles 6.9 45 def by Dingley 8.10 58, St Pauls McKinnon 11.13 79 def Port Melbourne 11.2 68.
LADDER
Cheltenham 48, Cranbourne 44, St Pauls McKinnon 40, St Kilda City 40, Dingley 32, Springvale 28, Port Melbourne 20, Mordialloc, Bentleigh 8, East Malvern 0.
FIXTURE
Port Melbourne v East Malvern, Cranbourne v Cheltenham, Dingley v Mordialloc, Springvale v St Pauls McKinnon, St Kilda City v Bentleigh.
