By Blair Burns
SOUTHERN DIVISION 1
The task doesn’t get any easier for Cranbourne this weekend when it takes on St Pauls McKinnon in round two of the Southern Football Netball League Division 1 competition.
The Eagles will be looking to bounce back from their loss against Narre Warren while the Bulldogs are coming off a morale-boosting victory over Bentleigh and the confidence will be high to make it two from two in front of their home crowd at McKinnon Reserve.
Cranbourne coach Angelo Soldatos would’ve been pleased with some patches of play last weekend and promising signs from young guns like Ethan Campbell, but they need to put it all together to get the job done.
Narre Warren will also have another big challenge when it takes on East Brighton at Hurlingham Park with Steven Kidd’s men looking to get another early win on the board.
The Magpies’ defence was strong last Saturday night repelling any inside 50s from Cranbourne but the Bloods’ forward line will be much bigger than they were accustomed to last week with players like Ben Reid demanding the footy.
The Bloods took their chances in front of goal last week and the Magpies will have to make every shot on goal count this week if they are to get over the line, stakes are high and both teams are desperate to start the season 2-0.
Port Melbourne will face arguably its biggest test for the year as it faces up against Dingley who is a scary proposition after its dominance last weekend against the reigning premiers.
The Colts limped to the line last week to win by nine points but will have to bring some more firepower this week if they are to tame the Dingoes at JL Murphy Reserve.
It will be a big weekend for Cheltenham and an important opportunity to bounce back from last week’s 10 goal loss against Dingley, and they must beat Springvale Districts this weekend at Jack Barker Oval to avoid a 0-2 start.
Springvale Districts is coming off a loss but will not be a walkover as the team looks to challenge again in 2025 after finishing fourth last season.
Murrumbeena and Bentleigh are two sides searching for their first win and only one of them will achieve that when they battle it out at Murrumbeena Park on Saturday.
Bentleigh will be hungry after its heartbreaking two point loss last week while the Lions are a bit of a wildcard and will look to guys like Nathan Scollo to lead them to victory.
