By Matt Fotia
A trio of marks from East Burwood swingman Max Wills have helped the Rams to an all-important four point away win over finals rivals Ringwood, in an enthralling Division Two clash, 11.12 (78) to 11.8 (74).
The win moves East Burwood to a 7-2 record, two games clear in third and just once game behind competition front runners South Belgrave.
Wills, who had been relatively quiet in the first half, was flung forward during the third quarter as East Burwood looked to take advantage of a strong, yet unpredictable wind, a move which paid off for East Burwood coach Stuart Wynd, with Wills marking and goaling from a tough angle to extend the Rams three quarter time lead out past 20 points.
His second all important mark came midway through the high stakes final term, after the home side had cut the margin from 23 points to nine, thanks to goals from Nathan Cairns and Lachlan MacDonald.
Ringwood had just won possession back on the half back flank with space ahead of them for a patented Redback’s counterattack. With his opponent streaming back towards goal, Wills read the flight of the ball better than his Ringwood counterpart and swooped in to put a halt to another Redbacks attack.
His third and most significant mark came 24 minutes into the 27-minute fourth quarter. Trailing by just four points and with all the momentum, Ringwood worked their way through another pack of East Burwood tacklers to open up the corridor and in turn the far pocket of their forward 50, with a long direct ball seemingly weighted perfectly for the leading Nathan Cairns.
But Wills, this time using a burst of speed, took front spot from Cairns and marked on his chest, saving a certain set shot on goal and possibly the four points for the resurgent Rams.
Whilst Wills played one of the bigger roles in saving the win for East Burwood – alongside back pocket Kodey Logan – it was the likes of Jaymie Kempson, who kicked three majors and provided the Rams a marking option all day, ruckman Zac Hanlen, midfielders Matthew Martini, Andre Angemi, and forwards Braeden Barlow, Yianni Griffiths and James Reddy, who set up the win.
Hanlen and his midfield brigade dominated the clearances, especially in the first half, with East Burwood’s speed by both hand and foot too much for Ringwood to handle, as the away side took full advantage of the ‘six-six-six’ rule in the first half, creating numerous scoring opportunities from the centre clearances.
For all their clearance dominance East Burwood were never comfortable, with Ringwood’s defensive system coming to the fore during the second and fourth quarters, as the Redbacks kicked downhill with the breeze and made it almost impossible for East Burwood to escape, let alone score.
Ringwood themselves sweat on opposition mistakes, with the aforementioned system designed to create turnovers in dangerous positions.
The biggest beneficiary of this by far today was Mitchell Jackson, who kicked a goal in each quarter. The pick of the bunch coming in the 19th minute of the last quarter, with the Ringwood number three converting a check side on the run, after some good work from debutant Tom Murfett.
Jackson, along with Daniel Collier and boom recruit Sam Wadley, almost willed the reigning minor premiers over the line in the last quarter. Collier and Wadley threw their weight around and swung the stoppage differential into the Redbacks favour, as they surged home in front of vocal crowd at Jubilee Park.
But it was the type of clearance that was the difference between the two midfields over the course of the day. When Ringwood got their hands on the ball first, they were rushed, no look kicks which more often than not lead to more congestion.
When East Burwood got their mits on the sherrin first, it was fast hands, clean exits, and good looks inside 50, with none more telling than the clearance that led to the Rams only last quarter major.
Following the goal from Cairns – an absolute floater from the pocket – Matthew Martini set a teammate clear into space with a brilliant handball, giving his fellow Ram the time to find Braeden Barlow on the lead.
Barlow, who had been inaccurate across the day, made no mistake and pushed the margin back out to 16 points.
For all their hard work, East Burwood could easily have lost this game in the last few seconds.
With less than 15 seconds left, Matthew Jenkins handballed to space in his defensive 50, wary of being caught in possession, and was beaten to the follow up ball by Daniel Collier. Collier thinking quickly handballed beneath the Jenkins smother to Charlie George, whose snapshot beat the siren but missed the lot.
To be fair to George it may not have mattered. Because had his shot been on target, Max Wills was standing there, ready and waiting to take yet another game changing grab.