By David Nagel
Tooradin-Dalmore may have lost by five points to Phillip Island in a classic contest at Cowes on Saturday; but another close tussle with a genuine premiership contender has further strengthened the Seagulls claims in 2024.
Phillip Island won a cliff-hanger 11.11(77) to 11.6(72) on the weekend, making it seven-straight wins for Cam Pedersen’s Bulldogs.
But the real story to emerge from Saturday’s contest was Tooradin’s ability to once again clog up scoring; producing its fifth single-digit result against teams that currently sit in the top six.
Jordan Kelly’s Seagulls have only been on the right side of the ledger once – against Inverloch-Kongwak (76-70) in round eight – but their record against the top teams in the competition makes for fascinating reading.
The Seagulls have lost four games this year, by margins of nine (Cora Lynn), four (Kilcunda-Bass), one (Nar Nar Goon) and now five points to the Bulldogs.
With an ounce of luck, the fifth-placed Seagulls could be perched at the pointy end of the ladder.
Phillip Island started well against the Gulls, with Billy Taylor kicking two, and his brother Jack one, in a rugged first term that saw the Bulldogs take a 20-point lead to quarter time.
Stewie Scanlon got the Gulls on the board at the start of the second term, but replies from Zac Walker and Yianni Caffieri had the Bulldogs 28 points to the good and looking the better team.
The Seagulls kept their chances alive heading towards half time, with Cooper Shipp and Xavier Shinners cutting the margin to 16 points at the major interval.
The third quarter played witness to the most expansive football of the match, with two early goals to Jesse Patullo kicking the Bulldogs back out to a 29-point lead.
But the Gulls refused to buckle, and consecutive goals to Shipp, Piva Wright, Panos Papas and Johnny Duff cut the deficit to just six points.
Travis Woodfield extended that slightly for the Doggies, but when Wright kicked his second for the term the Bulldogs were just six points ahead at the final break.
Two early goals to Shipp then gave the Seagulls their first lead since kicking the opening point of the match, before the talented Walker answered mid-way through the final term.
Shipp then kicked his third for the final quarter, and when Brad Butler and Scanlon kicked points the Seagull were seven up heading towards time on.
Billy Taylor then leveled the scores for the Doggies, before Patullo kicked the eventual match-winner in the dying stages.
Six points adrift, Xavier Shinners had the chance to level the scores; but his miss gave the home side a nail-biting five-point victory.
Patullo and Billy Taylor ended the day with three for the winners, who had Charlie Bruce, Max Walton and Hayden Bruce in fine form through the midfield.
The move of Shipp forward proved a master-stroke from Kelly and his coaching team, with the regular intercept defender causing all sorts of headaches when moved inside 50.
Shipp ended with five, and Wright two, while former AFL players Adam Oxley and Matt Buntine showed their class when the Seagulls needed it most.
After a character-building run of tough matches, the Gulls can take a deep breath now with a home game against Korumburra-Bena, while the Doggies can similarly unwind on an away trip to Bunyip.
One thing is for certain; this year’s premiership race is a classy five-strong field.
Nar Nar Goon’s rejigged forward line has shown promising signs of being effective during the Goon’s 16.18(114) to 6.1(37) defeat of Garfield at Spencer Street.
The Goon was missing 56 goals from its season on the weekend, with its two leading goal-scorers Dermott Yawney (35) and Matt Gentile (21) both missing through injury.
Yawney’s absence will be extensive after tearing his left hamstring, while Gentile should return from a corky this week for the massive game against Inverloch.
In Yawney and Gentile’s absence; two classy left-footers stepped up to the plate by kicking their biggest returns for the season.
Key tall Nate Pipicelli put his size and marking power to good use, slotting five majors, while the experienced Troy McDermott ended the day with four.
McDermott is no stranger to carrying the load up forward, being the number-one target at Beaconsfield and Nar Nar Goon at different stages of his career.
He looms as a really key figure in the next month of footy.
Trent Armour was once again a powerhouse for the Goon through the midfield, while intercept-defender James Cairns went about his work with his usual class.
Consistent types Zac Soutar, Angus Emery and Will Cole were once again serviceable for the Stars, who host Kooweerup this week in a near flip-of-the-coin job.
The Goon’s highly-anticipated clash with Inverloch should produce one of the games of the season.
Kooweerup’s ‘mid-season ball’ continues to provide relief from reality with the Demons winning 14.17(101) to 3.3(21) against bottom-side Bunyip at Denhams Road.
This one was a really hard watch early, with a desperate Bunyip outfit scragging and scratching at the Demons and only trailing by nine points at quarter time.
But the Demons, coming off a drought-breaking win over Korumburra-Bena last week, soon kicked into gear; banging home five goals to one in the second term to take a stranglehold on the contest.
Kooweerup then basically duplicated its first-half efforts to race away with an 80-point win.
Missing their best player in Matt Voss, the Demons welcomed back Noble Park-recruit Tom Glen for his first game since round five; and he was super-effective.
Nathan Muratore, Travis Bindley and Tyson Twite were others to land blows, while Nathan Voss and Mitch Alderson got the job done up forward.
Voss slotted five, making it 14 over the last month, while Alderson’s three was his best return for the season.
For the Bulldogs, Alex Dijkstra added more votes to an expected runaway victory in this year’s best and fairest award, while Matt O’Halloran, Tahj Murphy and James Pryor all stuck to their guns well.
Bunyip hosts a free-scoring Phillip Island this week, while the Demons ‘mid-season ball’ comes to an end at Garfield.
The Demons following three matches are against Inverloch-Kongwak, Phillip Island and Nar Nar Goon.
Inverloch-Kongwak welcomed back some key pillars of its 2023 premiership success on Saturday as the Sea Eagles pumped Korumburra-Bena by 94 points.
A visit to the Showgrounds became all the more special for the reigning champions with 2023 Team of the Year members – Tom Hams and Jarvis Pryor – both returning from long stints on the sidelines.
Senior coach Hams was a welcome addition after six games in the coach’s box, while lock-down defender Pryor made his first appearance since last year’s grand final win over Phillip Island.
The Sea Eagles took their time to find their feet on the weekend as Josh Hopkins and his Giants limited the damage in the first quarter.
The Giants trailed by just 16 points at the first break, but then dodged some serious bullets during the middle stages of the match.
Inverloch created 24 scoring shots across the second and third quarters; but could only manage a return of 8.16.
They tidied things up with a 4.4 to 0.0 final term.
Nick Baltas and Toby Mahoney kicked three goals each for the winners, while Tate Short slotted two as he continues his transition from a Team of the Year centre half back to a key figure forward of centre.
Short has now kicked five goals in his last three games of footy.
The experienced Dylan Clark was once again rock-solid for the Eagles, while defender Luke Johnson continued his great season, now in the best in six of the last seven games.
Joel Cuman provided the only highlights for the Giants, kicking both of their goals during a competitive patch in the second term.
The Sea Eagles host Nar Nar Goon this week in one of the matches of the season, while the Giants make the trip to Tooradin.
Kilcunda-Bass has narrowly kept its finals hopes alive with a 7.13(55) to 7.5(47) victory over arch-rivals Dalyston.
The Panthers were keen to bounce back after consecutive thrashings at the hands of Nar Nar Goon (120 points) and Cora Lynn (75 points); but couldn’t shake the home side for the majority of the match.
The visitors held a tenuous eight-point lead at quarter time, but Dalyston bounced back with a 3.2 to 1.1 second term to take a five-point lead to the major interval.
Missing gun-fielder Nathan Foote the Panthers were seriously challenged, but fine games from quality players such as Travis Tuck, Dale Gawley and Jo West got the Panthers across the line.
Anthony Daraio was the only multiple goal-kicker for the Panthers with two, a total matched by Blake Carew and Brad Monson for the Magpies.
We will know more about the Panthers finals hopes this week when they host their main challenger in Warragul Industrials, while the Magpies are in for a tough one when they head to an in-form Cora Lynn.
