By DAVID NAGEL
THERE’s still plenty of football to be played in the Casey Cardinia league this season but Pakenham can virtually lock away a finals berth if it can get over the top of Doveton in Saturday’s match-of-the-day at Toomuc Reserve.
The Lions, who have clawed their way to third on the ladder, face a massive challenge against the fourth-placed Doves, who conquered Steve O’Bryan’s men by 38 points at Robinson Oval earlier in the year.
O’Bryan has his team playing a better brand of footy now so the contest should be a beauty as the Lions look to skip two games clear of the Doves with just five rounds remaining.
Key duels involve Lions’ defender Nathan Brown on ex-Hawthorn player Jarrad Boumann and O’Bryan himself will look to shake the shackles of one of the league’s leading defenders in Daniel Zajac. It’s the Lions to win a classic by five points.
ROUND 12 REVIEW
CRANBOURNE is till licking its wounds after the second-placed Eagles went down to Keysborough by three-points in a stunning upset in the Casey Cardinia league on the weekend.
Goals to Tyson King, Ben Hoskin and Geoff Humphreys saw the Burra take command in the last quarter before Ryan Jones kicked truly to cut the margin to two at the 18-minute mark. The Burra fought hard to hold on for a famous victory.
NARRE Warren continued its dominance over all opposition, the Magpies skipping three-and-a-half games clear at the top of the table after a 41-point win over Berwick.
Berwick fought the game out well, but the Magpies remain unbeaten and look to stay that way.
TOORADIN produced a terrific first-half of football to lead Hampton Park by 53 points before settling for a 49-point win at Robert Booth Reserve.
The Seagulls had an even spread up forward, with Julian Suarez’s five goals the pick of a goal-kicking list that numbered 10, while Jamie Morrow, Scott Szucs, James Martin and Jake O’Donnell were all valuable contributors.