DIVISION ONE
MORNINGTON put on their most complete display of football for the year, claiming a convincing victory over Rosebud at Alexandra Park on Saturday.
The two sides, placed 8th and 9th on the ladder coming into the game, looked evenly matched in the first quarter, with the margin only standing at one point Mornington’s way at the first break.
Mornington went on to kick ahead in the second quarter but only went into half-time with a 14-point lead on what was a cold and blustery day.
Although the game looked alive up until the main break, things got off to a very bad start for Rosebud in the second half, as their star player Greg Bentley was forced off with a muscle strain.
Playing a man down on the interchange bench, Rosebud provided little fight in the second half as Mornington put together their most impressive performance for the year.
Holding Rosebud goalless in the second half, Mornington eventually ran out with an encouraging 11.22 (88) to 5.7 (37) win.
Head coach Simon Goosey said after the game that he was delighted with how his team had performed.
“I was happy with how things panned out today. We’ve been pretty good all year and I’ve been reasonably happy with how we’re going. The big positive today was that we didn’t get any injuries. We had to bring in a couple blokes that were a little bit underdone today, so for us to finish off the game as strong as we did today was really pleasing,” he said.
Mornington will travel to take on Frankston Bombers at Baxter Park next Saturday.
There were only two other matches for the round in MPNFL Division One, with Sorrento, Frankston YCW, Frankston Bombers, and Mt Eliza enjoying a bye.
One of those matches saw Seaford host Pines at Belvedere Reserve in what would prove to be another difficult day for the bottom-placed Seaford side.
All eyes were on Pines’ Aaron Edwards who booted an astonishing 12 goals last time he pulled on the boots for his side. While he only managed to score one goal of his own for the game, his team performed admirably to secure a comfortable victory.
Pines stamped their authority on the game with a dominant first quarter and never looked like losing, eventually running out winners over Seaford 8.5 (53) to 12.15 (87).
Tim Bongetti scored three goals for Pines and was best on ground in his team’s big win.
Seaford will travel to take on Frankston YCW next Saturday, who are also struggling for form having lost four consecutive games. Frankston YCW have now shockingly slipped to 5th on the ladder after Saturday’s results.
The final game of the split round pitted 4th place Edithvale-Aspendale against Bonbeach at Regent Park.
Bonbeach were the underdog side in this clash but started strong to take a three-goal lead into the first break.
Edithvale-Aspendale had been poor in front of goal and quickly recovered to regain control of the contest in the second term.
Momentum swung back and forth throughout the day, and with the margin standing at less than two goals Edithvale-Aspendale’s way going into the last quarter, the game looked set to go down to the wire.
Despite their continued inaccuracy in front of goal, Edithvale-Aspendale were able to just hold on to claim the win, with the final scoreboard reading Edithvale-Aspendale 10.21 (81) to 11.7 (73)
Michael Bussey was among the best for Edithvale-Aspendale’s, booting three goals in a win that sees them jump up to 3rd place on the ladder going into Round 11.
First published in the Mornington News – 19 June 2018
