The Mornington Peninsula Division 2 competition is heating up with just one round to go before finals and there is still plenty to play out.
Pearcedale has lost three of its past four matches after going down against Somerville in a seven-point thriller on the weekend.
After starting the season 2-5, the Eagles have incredibly won nine out of their past 10 matches – the only loss coming against the formidable Frankston Bombers (22 points).
“Somerville’s season was on the line in more ways than one, so they certainly brought the pressure,” Pearcedale coach Peter Bastinac said.
“We weren’t at our absolute best … we know our best footy is good enough and we will be trying to find that in the next couple of weeks.”
It was a tight first quarter as both sides kicked five goals, and by half time, Somerville had established a 13-point lead.
While the Dales won the second half by six points, the Eagles stormed home to their sixth consecutive win thanks to captain Mason De Wit and Kai Suparta (three goals each).
Callum Culton was strong in defence for the Dales, while Cruiz West also starred with four goals.
After kicking four goals against the Eagles earlier in the year, leading goalkicker Brett Eddy was nullified, managing just one for the day – which went a long way to winning the game.
After boosting its percentage with a 103-point win over Rye last week, the loss to Somerville wasn’t part of Pearcedale’s plans.
“When you look at our season as a whole, we have put ourselves in a really strong position with our early-season form,” Basrtinac said.
“We have beaten everyone in the competition apart from Frankston … so the aim now is to get players back, get them fresh and attack the finals.”
The Dales will charge into the finals, but they will do so without David Hussey, who broke his leg on Saturday.
In other matches, Devon Meadows won a crucial match against Chelsea by 10 points as both teams look to retain their spots inside the top five.
The Panthers were in front by 17 points at three-quarter time and limped to the line as the Seagulls, led by Brett O’Hanlon (three goals) challenged them in the final term.
Jack Wilson (22 disposals, one goal) continued his heroics from last week, while Joel Hillis (24 disposals, one goal) and Arnold Kirby (20 disposals, 38 hitouts) were clinical in the midfield – Zane Carter (27 disposals, one goal) was Chelsea’s best.
Defence was nonexistent in the clash between Rye and Tyabb as the Demons won in a shootout, 21.11 (137) to 17.14 (116), with Ed Greene (nine goals) and Matthew Clark (four goals) dominating at each end of the ground.
The Yabbies were on track for their third win of the season, before Rye kicked 10 goals in the final quarter to secure a come-from-behind win by 21 points.
Rye’s guns stuffed the stat sheet as Peter Hampton (40 disposals), Justin Barnes (39 disposals, one goal, 12 tackles) and Campbell Robbins (38 disposals, eight tackles) had the ball on a string.
A 45-9 first term saw Frankston Bombers bounce back and thump Seaford by 89 points, as Jai Block (six goals), Tyson Barry and Khan Haretuku (four goals each) gave the Tigers’ defenders nightmares.
The fourth term was also a bloodbath as the Bombers scored 44-0, boosting their percentage even higher as the midfield moved the ball with ease.
Crib Point star Jett Bauer had 38 disposals and 15 marks in a best-on-ground performance as the Magpies made light work of struggling Hastings by 44 points.
Bonbeach won its ninth game of the year defeating bottom-placed Karingal by 44 points thanks to six goals from Ben McLean.
MORNINGTON PENINSULA DIVISION 2
Results – R17: Bonbeach 13.5 (83) def Karingal 5.9 (39), Devon Meadows 13.11 (89) def Chelsea 11.13 (79), Crib Point 17.8 (110) def Hastings 10.6 (66), Somerville 13.6 (84) def Pearcedale 12.5 (77), Rye 21.11 (137) def Tyabb 17.14 (116), Frankston Bombers 23.8 (146) def Seaford 9.3 (57).
Ladder: Frankston Bombers 64, Pearcedale 52, Crib Point 48, Devon Meadows, Chelsea, Somerville 44, Bonbeach 36, Rye 28, Seaford 24, Hastings 12, Tyabb 8, Karingal 4.
Fixture – R18: Bonbeach (7) v Seaford (9), Crib Point (3) v Chelsea (5), Karingal (12) v Rye (8), Pearcedale (2) v Devon Meadows (4), Somerville (6) v Frankston Bombers (1), Tyabb (11) v Hastings (10).
