NARRE Warren overcame Beaconsfield by 55 points at the Perc Allison oval, showing ominous glimpses of its 2006 premiership form on Saturday.

The Magpies’ efforts to date have been spasmodic this year, but there were signs that the expected step up in intensity was set to come in the second half of the season.

Key forwards Lee Clark and Brett Evans booted 11 goals between them on the weekend and, added to the previous week’s tally, the pair have now shared in 28 goals in two games.

That in itself is enough to send opposing brains trusts into panic mode, but when there are players like Shane Brewster, Daniel Field, Ricky Clark and Michael Collins to contend with in the middle, the task of holding the Magpies to a beatable score is daunting.

That was the case on the weekend with Narre Warren hitting the ground running and booting five goals to none in the first term, with the result as good as decided by quarter time.

Even with the late withdrawals of coach Aussie Jones and Casey Scorpion Brad Scalzo, the Magpies held sway from that point on, although the young Eagles tried hard and managed to keep the pressure on the visitors for most of the day.

The margin grew significantly with a rush of Magpie goals in the final few minutes, however Narre Warren assistant coach Steven Kidd said that there were good signs for the Eagles.

“We jumped them in the first quarter and then they slowed us up a bit after that,” he said.

“We broke away in the last few minutes of the game and that was pleasing, but it was fairly competitive before that. They have got some very good kids and they will be alright in the next few years.”

Narre Warren under-18 ruckman Cameron Bell made a successful debut in the game and Kidd said the Magpies would continue to adjust their line-up to suit as the business end of the season approached.

“We played pretty well, but there’s still improvement needed,” he said.

“We don’t think we’ve been going that well and we really wanted to set ourselves up for the next few weeks. The players have committed to putting in and (Saturday’s game) was a good start in that effort.

“We just want to get some consistency into our game.”

The Eagles were well served by captain Robbie Taylor, Glenn Penglase, Tim Musgrove and youngsters Damien Szwaja and Andrew Hunter.

Lions lacerate Panthers



PAKENHAM overcame the disruption of the bye and some ordinary luck with injuries to defeat Devon Meadows by 42 points at the Glover Reserve.

It was a costly afternoon for the Lions with Daniel Fry, Cory Lenders and coach Michael Holland all incurring bad injuries.

The worst off was big, burly forward Fry who was taken to hospital by ambulance early in the second term after snapping his lower leg.

Lenders also ended up in hospital with a suspected broken thumb, while Holland pulled a hamstring.

The game was a pressure-cooker from the start with Devon Meadows positioning two extra players behind the ball for most of the day, forcing Pakenham to adjust their tactics and find ways to score.

Inaccuracy dogged the visitors with the scores at half-time reading 4.12 to 4.2, however Holland said that the Panthers pressure had forced many of those behinds.

After the main break Pakenham edged further ahead to take a 14-point advantage into the last quarter, before dominating the final term and cruising away to another solid victory.

Jared Goldsack, David Sheahan and Glen Wouters were outstanding for the winners and Holland was happy with his team’s response under duress.

“We played some ordinary football at times, but to Devon Meadows’ credit, they didn’t allow us to play great footy. They put us under a fair bit of pressure and it was a physical contest,” he said.

“I give the boys credit because after half-time when we really didn’t have a bench, we showed character and got the job done. That was pleasing.”

Devon Meadows’ coach Wayne Briggs conceded that his list had not performed up to his pre-season expectations and several players he had hoped would dominate this year simply were not as good as he thought.

However Briggs said that the efforts over the past two games against top-quality opponents demonstrated that there was some resolve within the playing group and a win was close.

The Panthers have the bye this weekend.



Redbacks climb over ROC

HAMPTON Park played as close to four quarters of football as they have for the whole season on Saturday, downing ROC by 74 points at the Starling Road ground.

After being jumped in the first quarter by a pumped-up home side, the Redbacks settled into their work with assuredness and only trailed by three points at the first break.

With Kevin McLean and Matt Shorey creating good targets in attack, the Redbacks always looked more potent as they went forward and moved further away from their struggling opponents at each break.

New inclusion Tim Robinson impressed with some big marks and heavy bodywork, while Josh Taylor returned to his devastating best, along with Shorey and youngster Dean Jamieson.

For ROC Darren DeJong booted four goals in a lone hand up forward and experienced pair Ben Tivendale and Mick Moylan led from the front.

The Kangaroos managed only three goals after quarter-time and are struggling to compete with its rivals in what is turning out to be a very tough debut season for coach Ben Delarue.

Hampton Park coach Jason Chapple was relieved to get back on to the winners’ list and expected further improvement over the next few weeks.

“They came out really hard and I was happy with the way we responded to that,” he said.

“I’m very happy of course, but it was really down to the players this week and they knew that all week.

“We can’t even look at the ladder at the moment. We’ve got ourselves in this position (outside the top five) and we just have to win every game now.

“We should have Kerem Baskaya and Linden Fredericks back this week and we’ll be as close as we’ve been all year to full strength at last.”