By Nick Creely
SOUTH EAST FOOTBALL NETBALL LEAGUE
REVIEW – ROUND 10
Beaconsfield coach Leigh McQuillen is comfortable with where his side sits in the SEFNL pecking order this season despite sitting fourth on the table.
The Eagles bounced back from two consecutive losses against Cranbourne and Berwick, to register a 53-point win over Officer at Starling Road on Saturday, 13.11 (89) to 5.6 (36).
Now with a 6-4 record, McQuillen said that despite the previous two weeks, he believes his young side are well placed.
“Yeah, we’re happy (with how the season is going) – we should have probably beaten Cranbourne a couple of weeks ago, but Berwick ran all over us last week after Scott Meyer went down,” he said.
The Eagles were determined to bounce back and make a statement with Meyer, the competition’s premier ruckman out with a leg injury, as well as an injury to star spearhead Nathan Langley early in the game, giving the Roos a sniff.
“Against Officer, I said to the boys that if we put our heads down and treat it like any other game, you’re going to get results, and that’s what we did on the weekend,” McQuillen said.
“Minus Scotty (Meyer), and (Nathan) Langley getting injured early in the game, we still had a good performance.”
McQuillen admits that they struggled to adjust early to the conditions, and could only boot the one major in the first term to take in a five-point lead, but managed to take hold of the midfield battle despite not having their star big man.
“We brought in young Lachy Morrish to ruck, and he’s played senior footy before, and we knew we had Riley Welsh there too – we spent a lot of time at training through the week on getting things right in the midfield,” he said.
“We watched a lot of the big fella (Sean) Roach, and how they were setting up, and tried to negate that, and being a wet day, we knew it would fall into their hands a little bit.
“But we think we won the midfield battle, and credit to Lachy; I think he won 43 hit-outs, which is fantastic.”
After quarter time, the Eagles slammed on 12-goals to five in the wet and slippery conditions, with young gun Riley Verbi starring with four majors himself.
McQuillen sang the praises of Verbi, who is starting to put together a brilliant season as a midfield/forward.
“He’s (Verbi) a good young kid to coach – he’s smart, up and about with the boys, and one of those guys that loves being around the club,” he said.
“He’s a real jovial fella that has got so much upside – he was on Northern Bullants’ list last year, and unfortunately didn’t get a game, but he’s super talented.
“We’ve been working on his midfield craft this year; he’s played a bit as a small forward, but through the midfield too.”
With some crunch games against Pakenham and Berwick to come in coming weeks, McQuillen is hopeful his star forward will be available this week, but admits the club is unsure of a timeframe.
“We’re hopeful he’ll (Langley) be ok – we’re unsure whether he’ll play this week, or the week after, but we’re not 100 per cent sure of the extent of it.”
Others to impress for the Eagles was Bailey Morrish, Taylor Joyce (two goals) and Tylah Stokoe, while Kangaroo trio James Waldon, Tyler Clark and Will Hanson gave their all.
Down at AJ Robinson Reserve, a frightening first half under lights by Narre Warren inflicted Doveton with a massive 143-point loss, 26.15 (171) to 4.4 (28).
It was a special occasion for the annual Indigenous senior match, and Matt Shinners’ side proved they were up for the fight from the outset after being inflicted with their first loss of the season last week against Cranbourne, with Aaron Wilson converting the first major of the game in the opening minutes.
The Doves were jumped by a side on the complete opposite end of the ladder, conceding nine first quarter goals while being unable to score a point.
The dominance of the Magpies’ glittering forward line in Wilson, Trent Shinners, Nick Scanlon and Stewart Scanlon proved too much for the young Doves to contain, piling on another nine goals to take an astonishing 102-point half time lead.
Further up the ground, champions Col McNamara and Michael Collins were picking up stacks of the footy, while for the Doves, experienced heads in Matthew Boyd and Matt Stapleton did their best to stem the bleeding with some important moments.
The top-of-the-ladder Magpies did slow down once the fizz came out of the game, booting eight second-half goals, with the Doves showing some great signs with a couple of goals themselves.
Once again, the Magpies spread the load in the forward half, with 13-individual goalkickers, including a bag of five by Wilson, and multiple goals to Shinners (three), Tom Miller (three), Nick Scanlon (three), Mitch Cox (two), Stew Scanlon (two) and Collins (two).
Tooradin-Dalmore, meanwhile, still has a heartbeat in the 2018 season, with a gritty 19-point win over Pakenham in blustery conditions on the Westernport leaving them within striking distance of fifth spot, 10.9 (69) to 6.14 (50).
The crucial four points leaves the Seagulls just one game and 13 per cent behind Officer in fifth spot, breathing life into a season that looked buried after having just one win on the board only two weeks ago.
But a draw in Round 9 against Officer and a 56-point win against Doveton has kept the Seagulls in the hunt.
Off the back of polished displays – particularly in the last quarter – by the likes of Dylan Wilson, Julian Suarez and one of their genuine stars in Andrew Dean, the Seagulls saved their best for last.
The home side piled on five last quarter goals to run away with the win, in a performance that is indicative of their turnaround in the season.
In what was a potentially defining win for the club, Suarez proved vital with four majors next to his name, while big man Ryan Kitchin controlled the ruck in a game tailor made for the bigger bodies.
For Ash Green’s side, Jordan Stewart battled manfully, while Steven O’Bryan, Stephen Morey and Liam Tyrrell were all solid.
