By Jonty Ralphsmith
A six goal opening quarter has lifted Hampton Park to victory over Skye by 31 points in a high-scoring clash.
Kicking with the wind in the first quarter, the Redbacks went into the first break with a 37-point lead and held on to sing the song in veteran Luke O’Brien’s 150th game.
Full forward Nathan Carver kicked 2.9 as no one could match his aerial impact, but he will be ruing inaccuracy.
Carver has 18 goals for the season and in a team bereft of height, he offers physicality but could be the leading goalscorer in the competition if not for a couple of wayward afternoons.
Trent Thomas kicked five goals and gathered 32 disposals to lead the victory while five others scored multiples as Makaio Haywood ran rampant in the midfield.
With Kyle Hendy and Dylan Morris both missing, along with Jesse Naylor, having a bank of contributors to the scoreboard would have been a pleasing result.
The primary concern for Hampton Park was the leaky defence which gave up 15 goals in the last three quarters, including a host of rebounding slingshots from the kick-in.
Joel McConville was typically strong for Skye while Brett Dawson played the best game of his season.
Doveton got its third consecutive victory and fourth of the season, completing the tough assignment of beating Caulfield on their deck.
Cam Williamson kicked five of his team’s 15 goals while Jake Basa was hard-nosed as Dylan Chapman fed it down the midfielders’ throats.
Player-coach Michael Cardamone has been coaching from the bench in recent weeks to steady the ship and give him a greater look at the state of play.
It’s led to better results as the team seems to be building into form after admitting there may have been some sense of complacency in a 1-3 first month of the season.
As well as Chapman, the return of Dylan Bowman has given them a winger that holds their shape and plays the role well with his return crucial to the turning of the tide.
Cardamone is expected to rejoin the brigade of small forwards inside 50 in the coming weeks which will be a welcome addition for a side that has just two players in the top 40 goal kickers of the competition.
James Pattinson, a player capable of contributing more than a goal a game, has also been missing recently with a syndesmosis injury.
It’s contributed to an average score of 66 this season – exactly 30 points fewer than last year’s average.
East Brighton was kept to its lowest score of the year by Keysborough.
It was an impressive outing by the Burra in the toughest test in Southern Division Two footy, with the inexperienced senior lineup coming as close as anyone has to beating East Brighton.
It was a low-scoring scrap for much of the day, before six goals in the second part of the last quarter blew the margin out by 46 points.
“We weren’t beaten by points, we were beaten by minutes,” said coach Chris Smith.
The visitors stuck to a simple game plan, getting numbers into the middle of the ground to stymie the Vampires’ ball movement.
That allowed them to flood the defence
When going the other way, Keysborough targeted repeat stoppages and backed their forwards to make a contest long.
Going in with lots of seconds and thirds players gave Keysborough a wide-eyed innocence in the clash as they were oblivious to their opponents’ reputations.
Highlighting Keysborough’s dominance for large parts was a 26-8 inside 50 count in the second quarter, but they just couldn’t put it on the scoreboard.
But the late fadeout can also be attributed to the stretched lineup.
Cooper Shepard played an important role inside 50, while the coach’s son, Lachie Smith, brought pressure and aerial presence on debut and big boy Nathan Paine did his job.
Matthew Beer is another who has stood up in recent weeks.
Results R7: Skye 15.10 100 v Hampton Park 19.17 131, East Malvern 20.17 137 v Black Rock 5.8 38, East Brighton 10.6 66 v Keysborough 3.2 20, Caulfield 8.4 52 v Doveton Doves 15.9 99, Murrumbeena 20.16 136 v Highett 11.15 81.
Ladder: East Brighton 28, Murrumbeena 24, Hampton Park 20, Doveton Doves 16, East Malvern 12, Highett 12, Caulfield 12, Skye 12, Keysborough 4, Black Rock 0.
Fixture R8: Black Rock v East Brighton, Skye v Highett, East Malvern v Murrumbeena, Caulfield v Hampton Park, Keysborough v Doveton.
