By Justin Schwarze
Saturday’s rain and cold weather did nothing to spoil Emerald’s celebrations as the Bombers put together a fantastic performance to down Officer in round 6 of the Outer East Premier Division.
Jake Pedder got the hosts away at Chandler Reserve, snapping through a great goal to get off the mark.
Just a few minutes later, Mark Seedsman slotted a beauty from long range on an angle to give the Kangaroos their first.
Following that, Joshua Webb emerged from a pack deep in Emerald’s 50 and was able to find space to bend it home.
Once again, Officer responded when a set shot from Jackson Honey didn’t quite make the distance and the ball was brought to ground.
On the ensuing crumb, Antonio Quach was able to collect the footy in the goal square and brush off a tackle to sneak it home.
Both teams then missed some opportunities, leaving the Bombers with a slim 2.4 (16) to 2.3 (15) buffer at the first change.
To open the second, key forward David Johnson used his reliable marking ability to sky for a big contested mark.
Johnson subsequently went back and nailed his set shot.
Pedder then utilised great physicality to muscle his way to advantageous positioning, before marking and goaling for his second of the afternoon.
For the rest of the quarter, Emerald started send the ball inside 50 repeatedly as it dominated around the ground with significant tackling pressure allowing the hosts to win the footy back.
After a few more entries, the ball was tapped down to a streaking Dale Karacsonyi who snapped a major to give the Bombers three consecutive goals.
The streak became four when Pedder timed a handball to perfection, catching young-gun Isaac Seskis in stride to run in and kick another.
Just before halftime, Kye Davies pulled out a remarkable trick from his bag, grabbing the ball out of a rucking contest and placing it straight onto his boot for five unanswered goals.
As the rain started to pelt down at halftime, Emerald headed back to the rooms with a 7.6 (48) to 2.7 (19) advantage.
In the second half, the Bombers continued their recipe for success from the second quarter.
Jordan Donadel became the latest Emerald name on the goalkicker’s list after he drilled home his set shot, followed by Pedder claiming his third.
The Kangaroos finally brought the onslaught to an end when Josh Westra found the goals after he snapped around his body.
After Pedder got his fourth, Nathan Allen capitalised with space by launching an accurate kick from long range between the big sticks.
Seedsman then marked deep in the quarter before kicking truly as the siren sounded for the final intermission.
At that point, the hosts led 10.11 (71) to 5.9 (39).
The Bombers ensured they put together a four-quarter effort, booting three goals to one in the final period to notch a 13.11(89) to 6.12(48) much-needed scalp.
“It was a great bounce back game from the boys,” Emerald playing coach Johnson said.
“We’ve certainly gained some belief from this one.
“With such a young team, confidence is a big thing for us.
“Some of the young guys stepped up, especially Oscar Dempsey and Kye Davies who had really good games.
“To bounce back and get that win, the young guys will get a lot out of that game.”
After being smashed by Mount Evelyn last week, changes were needed quickly for Johnson’s men to rebound into the next contest.
He cited a number of tactical changes that fuelled the result over Officer.
“I asked the boys for a bit more pressure and to hold our tackles to make our presence more known while we were out there and I reckon the boys did that,” Johnson said.
“We wanted to get the ball forward more.
“Especially with the conditions, if we could send it forward we were likely to score and we kept our forwards nice and deep which helped a lot.
“We’ve had a bit of a forward rotation where the mids and wingers come in, but we scrapped that this week and went with permanent forwards.
“We had a different gameplan, we had more of a man-on gameplan rather than setting up a press.
“We trained it on Thursday night and the boys brought it out and it seemed to work really well because it seemed like it confused Officer a little bit.
“We tried something new and the boys listened which was great.”
Moving Pedder to the forward line was another change that worked marvels for the Emerald lineup.
Pedder finished the game with a bag of four goals to go along with 18 disposals.
“Jake Pedder is a jet, I think he’s arguably the best forward in the team but he’s also up there with our best on-ballers,” Johnson said of Pedder.
“We needed to change something up so we put Jake forward and it worked really well for us.”
Just down the road at Gembrook Recreation Reserve, the Brookers lost another heartbreaker, this time against Upwey Tecoma.
After Gembrook Cockatoo led 6.3 (39) to 3.2 (20) at halftime, the visitors kicked four goals to one in the third term to bring it back to a one-point deficit.
Despite the fact the Brookers had led at every change, a late rushed behind punched through by Jackson Waters proved to be the match winner for the Tigers.
The final score was 9.6 (60) to 9.7 (61).
Michael Firrito and Caleb Marshall both booted a pair of goals for Gembrook, while Spencer Richards-West continued his fabulous form with three majors for the visitors.
The loss was the second heart-wrenching defeat this season for the Brookers after losing via a kick after the siren against Emerald just three weeks beforehand.
In an impressive result, Monbulk dug deep to pull out an 8.7 (55) to 7.6 (48) upset against Woori Yallock at home.
Zach Monkhorst booted four goals for the Tigers, while Lochie Beecroft starred for the hosts with 19 disposals, nine tackles and a goal.
Wandin’s dominance over the competition doesn’t seem to be coming to a stop anytime soon as the Bulldogs smashed Healesville 18.19 (127) to 5.4 (34).
Aaron Mullett is running away with the league-leading goalkicking title, booting six for the afternoon.
But it was Joel Garner who stole the show, collecting 25 disposals, 10 marks and an unbelievable eight goals.
An incredibly rough opening frame was detrimental to Mount Evelyn as it fell to Olinda Ferny Creek 7.10 (52) to 12.9 (81) at home.
The Rovers were swarmed to start the match, being overrun with eight goals to zip to have the game at 0.4 (4) to 8.7 (55) at quarter time.
From there, the hosts fought uphill bravely to get back on track by outscoring the Bloods 7.6 (48) to 4.2 (26) for the rest of the game, but unfortunately the damage was already done.
Lachlan Kennedy was magnificent again for the visitors, posting 23 touches and three goals.
In round 7, Olinda Ferny Creek hosts Healesville, Mount Evelyn visits Upwey Tecoma, Woori Yallock travels to face Gembrook Cockatoo, Officer welcomes Wandin to Rob Porter Reserve and Emerald and Monbulk clash in the Hawks’ backyard.
