By DAVID NAGEL
BEACONSFIELD’S premiership defence seemed to reignite on Saturday with a best-of-the-season 35-point victory over Pakenham in the South East Football Netball League (SEFNL) match-of-the-day at Toomuc Reserve.
All the traits that exemplified the Eagles’ 10-game charge to last year’s premiership were there, with white-hot pressure, a champion ruckman, and the exuberance of youth standing out above all else.
The Eagles rattle the Lions early, kicking 5.3 to 0.3 in the opening term to take a firm grip on the contest.
The Lions responded, kicking seven goals to four during the middle stages of the match, before a 4.1 to 0.2 final stanza banked the Eagles a crucial four points.
Beacy’s sacrifice for each other was back to the levels of last year; Scott Meyer was magnificent in the ruck while youngsters Jordan Stewart and Lachlan Modica showed poise beyond their years.
Taylor Joyce kicked five for the winners with Beau Dowler and Troy McDermott chipping in with three apiece.
The Lions, who were brave during their comeback, had Damien Holmes play a blinder, but he’ll be missing for the remainder of the season after fracturing his collarbone. Nicholas Verleg and skipper Dean Blake were other Lions to fire.
Narre Warren was in a mean-mood on the weekend, keeping ROC scoreless for the first 50-minutes of footy on its way to a 55-point win at Starling Road.
Matt Ford, who kicked three for the Kangas, broke the ice at the 20-minute of the second term to give the home-crowd something to cheer about.
But it was all the Magpies, who had Kerem Baskaya slot five, and Ben Wragg and George Angelopoulos three each, while Dylan Quirk, Jake Richardson and Michael Collins were consistent all afternoon.
Anthony Vanin and James Sloothaak, who did well on Baskaya, were the Kangaroos’ best.
Cranbourne started like a house on fire on its way to a 41-point victory over Doveton at Robinson Oval.
The Eagles cracked open the Doves with a 6.1 to 0.4 opening burst that effectively ended the game as a contest.
Doveton threw numbers behind the ball after the first break, turning things into an arm-wrestle after the knock-out punch had already been delivered.
Ryan Jones kicked three and Marc Holt and Tim Smith two for the Eagles, who had Max Gearon and the competition’s best defender Brandon Osborne in red-hot form.
For the Doves, Michael Rodriquez did a great job on Holt while centre-half-back Jake Dermott continues to shine.
And finally, persistence has paid for Tooradin, the Seagulls claiming their first scalp of the season with a 69-point victory over Hampton Park at Robert Booth Reserve.
The Seagulls were quick to start, kicking four goals before the Redbacks could blink and that opening onslaught set the scene for the day.
Julian Suarez was magnificent for the Seagulls, returning to his 2013 best with seven goals for the afternoon while Matt Wade (3 goals), Kyle Van Der Pluym (2 goals) and Cameron Brown (2 goals) made multiple contributions.
Adam Galea was superb for the Seagulls down back, while Nathan Allen, Luke O’Brien and Andrew Shipp were best for the Redbacks.
Berwick had the bye.
