By David Nagel
Kooweerup has once again earned the unwanted title of ‘best loser of the week’ in the West Gippsland Football Netball Competition after the brave Demons pushed Phillip Island to its limit at Denhams Road on Saturday.
The Demons – coming off the back off strong performances against Kilcunda-Bass and Tooradin-Dalmore in recent weeks – led by nine points at three-quarter time and kicked the opening goal of the last term to be on the verge of the biggest upset of the season.
But the Doggies steadied, kicking six of the last seven goals to record a 16.6(102) to 13.6(84) victory.
Kooweerup led at every change; building an 11-point advantage to 13 points at half time, before the Bulldogs kicked 4.0 to 3.2 to narrow the margin slightly in the third.
Bulldogs coach Cam Pedersen said his team then clicked into gear; just in the nick of time.
“They kicked the first goal and then the boys decided it was time to switch on and started to gain some ascendency in the midfield,” Pedersen said.
“We caused some good turnovers with our defensive running and pressure, and we’re very fit so we ran over the top of them in the end.
“It was a pleasing finish; but now we need to do it for four quarters, not one quarter and doing it when we feel like it.
“A little bit of a rev-up at three-quarter time worked wonders; better than the one at half time that’s for sure.”
Pedersen said the Demons had obviously done their homework heading in.
“There was a lot of congestion around the ball, they clogged it up well, and when they got it they played a chipping-around game which forced us to defend,” Pedersen said.
“We were a bit off, and they were fully switched on which made it difficult to separate ourselves.”
Pedersen would accept no excuses for the slow start, not even a last start thumping of Korumburra-Bena by 128 points that may have led to complacency.
“Not really, we knew they’ve been playing pretty good footy of late, but our guys were relying on talent instead of relying on pure hard work,” he said.
“We kicked six goals to two in the last quarter, through working harder, and that gave the game the sort of tone that it should have had from our point of view.
“It just took our boys a while to get their backsides into gear.
“The message after the game was about hard work, but also about not getting ahead of ourselves.
“When you get told to do things, and you’re equipped to do it, but you don’t do it; that’s the sort of thing that if we do again this week, we’ll get pumped by Inverloch.”
Pedersen praised the efforts of Zac Walker for leading the last-quarter charge, while youngsters Charlie Bruce and Max Walton lifted their rating through the midfield.
Billy Taylor ended the day with four-important goals for the winners, while two each to Jack Taylor and Walton were just enough for the Bulldogs to squeeze across the line.
Kooweerup coach Dale Alanis will be thrilled with his team’s ability to stay in the contest against high-class opposition over the last three weeks, but the season is slipping away quickly.
The Demons have now lost five in a row – against five of the top-six teams in the comp – with a round-one win over Dalyston their only reward for effort.
Matt Voss was simply outstanding for the Demons, kicking four goals in a dominant midfield display, while Luke McMaster chipped in with a couple to keep the home side in the hunt.
Blake Peach, Nick Prowd and Liam Pirotta were others players to hold their heads high in defeat.
The Bulldogs host Inverloch-Kongwak this week, while the Demons will fancy their chances of getting win number-two on the board when they travel to Western Park to take on Warragul Industrials.
In great news for Phillip Island, Pedersen is back training after sustaining an ACL injury in last year’s grand final.
He is expected to return to the Bulldogs’ line up in late June; with a plan to qualify for finals.
All other games were pretty much one-sided on the weekend.
Tooradin-Dalmore kicked a remarkable 14.1 in the third quarter on the way to a 34.16(220) to 0.2(2) win over Bunyip, with a great spread of goal-kickers getting the job done.
Brad Butler and livewire Panos Papas kicked five each for the Gulls, while Jesse Craven snuck in with four.
Cooper Shipp and Luke McKenna were also instrumental figures, while Alex Dijkstra and Jason Williams battled things out for the Bulldogs.
Nar Nar Goon also spread the load nicely in its 17.20(122) to 1.4(10) thumping of Dalyston at Spencer Street.
Recruits Harry Brain and Matt Gentile snagged three each for the Goon, who were without Dermott Yawney after he rolled his ankle against Warragul Industrials last week.
Aidan Pipicelli and Trent Armour once again controlled the midfield for the home side, while Brad Monson kicked the Magpies’ only goal in the third term.
Goon coach Justin Stanton said the new recruits had provided the impetus for a great start to the season.
“The new additions to our list have certainly strengthened us; and that was an area that we identified at the end of last year that we needed to address,” he said.
“We’ve had Max McGreal, Jacob Keysers Ryan Bromley and Ethan Douglas, those four have joined our list from Berwick, and then we’ve added Harry Brain and Matt Gentile from Narre Warren; and they’ve all complemented our list really well at this stage.
“We’re obviously satisfied with the way we’ve started the season; when the fixture was released we identified that it was an opportunity for us to start strong…and we’ve ticked that box.
“We’ve basically broken down the season into blocks, and the first block was a successful one and we’re one game into our next block of four games.
“We want to maintain that position we’re in at the moment to give ourselves the best chance of ideally finishing top two at the end of the year.”
In other games this week, Cora Lynn star Nathan Gardiner kicked 12 goals to lead the Cobras to a commanding 24.25(169) to 5.4(34) victory over Korumburra-Bena.
Gardiner kicked goal number 700 for his career on the day, as the Cobras kicked eight goals in the third quarter to rubber-stamp their authority.
The under-rated Gus Da Costa continued his fine form for the Cobras, while Jimmy Munro, Luke Ryan, Heath Briggs and Nathan Villella tuned up nicely for this week’s blockbuster clash against the Goon.
Hugh Gordon kicked two for the Giants; who will be eying off their first victory of the season when they welcome Bunyip to the Showgrounds on Saturday.
Inverloch-Kongwak was at its suffocating best for three quarters against Kilcunda-Bass, leading to a 10.12(72) to 4.7(31) success.
The Sea Eagles allowed just one goal through in the opening three terms before the Panthers rattled on 3.2 to 1.1 in the final stanza.
Paul Pattison was once again dynamite for the Sea Eagles, while Oscar Toussaint showed his class with three goals.
Sam Watson was best for the Panthers, while Anthony Daraio chimed in with two goals.
And Warragul Industrials were far too strong for a disappointing Garfield at Beswick Street, winning 18.16(124) to 5.7(37) in very convincing fashion.
The Dusties had five on the board before the Stars could trouble the scorers, with Lachie Bambridge contributing three of those; and skipper Shane Brewster running riot.
Nic Visser played an important role for the Dusties as an undersized, but strong, second ruck; finishing the day with three goals, one short of Bambridge, who contributed four.
Kyan Willis, Sam Russell and Travis Ogden were also sturdy for the Dusties in defence.
The Dusties moved the ball well, but we’ll find out soon whether that was through a lack of pressure from the Stars; or whether the Dusties have started to find their groove in 2024.
