By Jonty Ralphsmith
Cranbourne led for just 196 seconds in its elimination final clash with Springvale Districts on Sunday at RSEA Park, but it was enough to secure victory in Division 1 of the Southern Football Netball League.
As Steve O’Brien’s time at the helm of Cranbourne appeared set to come to a close on Sunday, it was the trait which has defined his tenure which dragged Cranbourne from the doldrums of defeat.
“They’re such a resilient mob,” O’Brien said.
“We’ve probably been dead in the water five times this year and this group won’t give up, they keep finding a way.”
The Eagles were forced to kick the last four goals of the game to overpower Springvale Districts, continuing their undefeated streak against them in 2024 with an 8.8 56 to 6.14 50 victory.
The celebration when Paul Delaroche ran into an open goal was emphatic, but the Eagles played out the minutes and ran the clock down masterfully.
“We know we run games out well and we thought that would be one advantage we would have over Springy,” O’Brien said.
“We thought a few of their boys looked tired at three-quarter-time, so we wanted to keep the ball moving and make it a test of endurance and after the first couple of minutes of the final quarter, we owned the quarter and we were able to get over the line.”
The players involved in the play leading to the match-winner told a collective story of Cranbourne’s season.
Veteran Ryan Jones was a pillar of coolness in the do-or-die contest, and he passed to co-captain Zak Roscoe whose form has lifted with the teams across the last six weeks.
Roscoe found Tyson Barry inside 50, who has adapted to a slightly different role in in a transitioning Cranbourne forward line in 2024, before the ball spilled to Delaroche, himself a hard-worker who has grabbed his opportunity while others have been unavailable.
That play unfolded at the 26-minute-mark and followed a clutch Matt Alister goal from 20 metres out in traffic early in stoppage time.
Trailing by as much as 20 points early in the last quarter, the Eagles seized their moments and capitalised on their last quarter wind advantage.
“When (Springvale Districts) kicked the first (goal of the last quarter), I thought ‘there’s a bit of pressure on now’ but we just stayed in the moment and kept our composure which was really importan,” O’Brien said.
“We’ve learned over a long period of time what it takes to win finals and to hit the front reasonably late in the game and then have the composure to play it out and be smart.”
A deficient first half in blustery conditions was a result of the Eagles playing too aggressively, which was turned around in a two-goal-to-one third quarter against the wind.
“We were struggling a little bit to get our game going and I gave the boys a bake at halftime because they were probably just expecting it to flow on a little bit from the previous week even though we warned them (it wouldn’t),” O’Brien explained.
“But as these boys always do, they responded.
“In the third quarter, we started to get the game played on our terms and controlled the footy a bit.
“We had to get our hands dirty – that was pretty much the message at halftime, we were getting killed at contested footy, they were beating us up in contested ball so we had to get to work and that’s what they did.
“It enabled us to control the ball a bit better and use it better too, so it started to look more like a ‘Cranny’ game.
“She was tight but these boys won’t lay down so I’m pretty proud.”
O’Brien was full of praise for Jake Stephens, forced to ruck one-out for most of the game due to an injury sustained to veteran Michael Boland.
Opposing emerging superstar Toby Arms, Stephens neutralised him with the game on the line after Arms did as he pleased in the first three quarters.
Cranbourne will look to continue its run this Sunday against St Paul’s McKinnon, an opponent which has defeated the Eagles by 43 and 64 points in 2024.
