By Jason Barbin
@JBarbin10
Listen back to this week’s The 5th Quarter podcast, featuring Ashwood President Daniel Egan as the special guest, in the player above.
ROUND 10 REVIEW
Round 10 of the Southern Football Netball League Division 2 competition was choc-full of highlights with my prediction for game of the week turning into an absolute ripper with Highett taking home a six-point win.
Highett 10.12 (72) def East Brighton 10.6 (66)
A late goal from Ed Turner has given Highett the edge in a thrilling affair at Turner Road Reserve and kept Highett in the race for a top three spot.
After only five points separated the two sides going into the final quarter, neither side could be separated late in the game with the scores locked at 66.
Enter Turner, who booted his second goal of the day to be the hero for the Dogs.
Tom Brown finished with three goals for Highett in the win, while Jordan Thompson, Sam Jackson and Joel Jones were influential.
East Brighton took the game’s first advantage, with three goals in the opening term giving it a seven-point lead, before extending the lead to 12 points during the second term.
Highett bounced back in the third, holding the Vampires to one behind, while kicking 2.6 to go ahead by five points at the final change.
The Dogs booted the first two goals of the quarter through Brown and Mitchell Hoar before the Vampires responded to level the score, only for Turner to boot his second major and win it for the home side.
Kai Love-Linay booted four majors for East Brighton, while Liam McKay was named its best.
Caulfield 10.8 (68) def Skye 7.11 (53)
Another entertaining contest, Caulfield was able to hold off a gallant Skye outfit, thanks to a best on ground performance from Chris Dove.
Dove was influential across the game, booting three goals, while Chris Lewis, Travis Rowley and debutant Mitchell Hurley were also impressive.
The Bombers got off to a strong start with three goals in the first term to lead by eight, before the Bears hit back with four goals in the second to take a 10-point buffer into half time.
From there Caulfield was able to control large portions of the game, booting four goals in the second half, but Skye pushed it to the limit with three goals to eventually go down by 15.
Inaccuracy played its part for the Bombers however, and a more accurate second half could’ve led to an upset win.
Joel and Nathan McConville were among the best for Skye alongside Michael Kelly.
Keysborough 20.14 (134) def Mount Waverley 8.8 (56)
The Burra’s lethal forward combination was back to its best on the weekend, combining for 13 goals in a 78-point trouncing of Mount Waverley.
Chris Bryan put together a best on ground performance with eight goals, while Matthew Carnelley was also impressive with five goals.
The likes of Jake D’Atri and Bryce Sutton also played a key role in the win.
Apart from a closely contested opening quarter, Keysborough rarely looked troubled, turning a seven-point quarter time lead into a 59-point buffer by half time.
The second half was more closely contested and although the Burra were able to win the half, they didn’t have it all their own way as they piled on seven goals to four to claim the victory.
Matthew Tighello was best on ground for the Lions, with Alex Mullucks booting three goals.
Murrumbeena 18.11 (119) def Hampton 9.4 (58)
For the second week in a row gun forward Luke James was lethal in front of the big sticks, booting nine goals in a best on ground effort for Murrumbeena.
James booted five of his nine goals in the first half of the 61-point win with Alaster Bradley contributing four across the game.
Midfield jet Jay Bruno played one of his best games for the club since joining at the start of the season, while Nathan MacDonald was also impressive.
Murrumbeena enjoyed control of the game for the majority of the four quarter, but Hampton was able to put together several impressive passages of play to hit the scoreboard.
The Beena booted nine goals to five in the first half to lead by 27 points, before piling on another nine goals, to just four from the Hammers, in the second half.
David West was impressive for the Hammers as best afield, while Mark Devereaux continued his good form with three goals.
Doveton Eagles 25.11 (161) def Clayton 6.5 (41)
A 15-goal second half from Doveton has pushed it back into top spot on the ladder and resulted in a 120-point win against bottom ranked Clayton.
A margin of just 34 points separated the two sides at half time, with the Clays booting five goals in the opening half, only to concede 15 in the second and only boot 1.5 themselves.
Six played finished with multiple goals for the Eagles, led by Darren Sheen with seven and Peter Dye with four, while Corrie Wilson (three goals) and Nick Battle were best afield.
A tight opening quarter saw Doveton take just a 14-point lead into the first change, before it was able to extend it to 34 points with six goals in the second.
A decisive third quarter put any thought of an unlikely upset out of the question, as the Eagles booted eight goals to one, before finishing with a further seven goals in the final term.
Dean Evangelista put together his best game of the season for the Magpies with four goals.
