By Jonty Ralphsmith
Heading into the final round of the DDCA Turf 2 season, Star News journalist Jonty Ralphsmith takes a look at what different results would mean for each club.
FIXTURE – ROUND 14
Lyndale (4) v Doveton (8), Keysborough (7) v Parkfield (6), Cranbourne (3) v Beaconsfield (1), Narre Warren (5) v Heinz Southern Districts (2).
PROSPECTS – CLUB BY CLUB
Beaconsfield: The Tigers have led the competition all season so it would seem unjust if they fell to second at the last hurdle, but last time they lost one, they lost two. HSD sit half-a-game behind them, meaning a loss to Cranbourne, a team they’ll likely face again in finals, and a win for HSD would see Beaconsfield drop to second. If only one of the above happens, Mark Cooper’s men remain safe in first.
Heinz Southern Districts: The Cobras will host a final. Win, and they finish first if Beaconsfield lose. Lose, and they remain in second.
Cranbourne: The Eagles’ current seeding, third, is as high as they can finish while they could still, mathematically, fall out of the four. Realistically, that isn’t going to happen. It would require a very heavy Cranbourne defeat and equally heavy win for Narre. Pen Mick Sweeney’s men in for finals, in third place if they beat Beaconsfield. The Eagles would face Beacy twice in two weeks if HSD also won, otherwise would face HSD first up. If Cranbourne lose, it would fall to fourth and face Mark Cooper’s men if Lyndale won. If Lyndale lose, Cranbourne remain in third, regardless of other results.
Lyndale: The free-faller since Christmas, a win against Doveton and Cranbourne loss would see them rise to third and play away against HSD first up. It would be the same result if Lyndale, Cranbourne and HSD win; if Lyndale and Cranbourne win but HSD lose, it has Beaconsfield first up. Should Lyndale lose, it would need both of Narre Warren and Parkfield to lose in order to qualify.
Narre Warren: Beat HSD, and Narre is in if Lyndale lose. If Lyndale win, Narre is out. If Narre lose the ground won’t be made up and a heavy enough defeat and win for Keysborough could see it realistically fall as low as seventh.
Parkfield: The finals wildcard. It was only two weeks ago that the Bandits played off seemingly to avoid relegation. Parkfield needs to beat Keysborough which has won the last two. Then it needs Narre to lose to HSD, which is expected, and Doveton to find fight against Lyndale. In that case they finish fourth and face Beaconsfield in week one of finals if Beaconsfield win next week. If Beaconsfield lose next week, they’ll see HSD in week one.
Keysborough: Out of finals contention, Keysborough will be searching for its third win in three weeks to control its relegation destiny. Beat Parkfield and not only would they avoid relegation, they would rise to sixth, potentially fifth. But lose, and it relies on the Doves losing – or not making up a gettable percentage gap – to avoid relegation.
Doveton: The big loss on the weekend not only spoiled Ryan Hendy’s fairytale, but also put Doveton squarely in line to be relegated. It needs to beat Lyndale, in a game which is essentially between the two most out-of-form sides in the competition, and then hope Keysborough lose. If those two results occur, it is more likely than unlikely that the cumulative percentage would be made up and it would avoid relegation.
THE BATTLES
Minor premiership contenders: Beaconsfield, HSD.
Should be safe; Cranbourne.
Finals hopefuls: Lyndale, Narre Warren, Parkfield.
The relegation fight: Keysborough, Doveton.
