By Trent Kniese
After a bye in the VFL last week the Dolphins returned in style with a 44-point thrashing of North Melbourne on ANZAC Day eve.
It was a ‘Super Sunday’ at SkyBus Stadium, with the women’s opening their season earlier in the afternoon, defeating Tyabb 6.5.41 to 4.5.29. The women’s squad had a tremendous start to the season given they were down at three-quarter time and held Tyabb scoreless in the fourth quarter, to complete the comeback.
Early on, the men’s team dominated. Four and a half minutes in, Josh Begley scored Frankston’s first goal of the night with a bizarre strike from the grandstand boundary, somehow missing the hand of the North Melbourne defender who urgently shot a fist at the bouncing ball. The Dolphins scored the opening goal after a superb string of handballs.
Will Walker hit his first goal shortly after Begley’s, smothering a Roos kick in to earn an easy look at the goals.
Frankston led 6.5.41 to 1.1.7 at the first interval.
Frankston’s second quarter was a letdown after their first-quarter onslaught, with only one goal and two behinds. Tom Murphy scored a goal and a behind, in the opening seven minutes of the quarter.
The score at halftime was 7.7.49 to 4.4.28.
Frankston responded with some remarkable scoreboard pressure in the third quarter, with Josh Stern hitting both of his two goals. Stern’s first goal came on a dribble kick from the point post.
Jeremy Burton scored the quarter’s last goal with a fantastic run, assisted by teammates all around him, and the Dolphins, as they had all game, appeared to be in command. Scores at the three-quarter mark were 11.11.77 to 6.7.43.
Frankston showed the opposition what they are capable of with a fourth-quarter pile on, kicking away easily to knock off the Roos. Walker took a superb early mark, after which he ran back and kicked his fourth to start the final quarter. Walker, who was delisted by North Melbourne at the conclusion of last year, had an impressive game against his former side.
Burton scored two goals in as many minutes to complete the game with three. His third came from 50 metres away, quite near to the man on the mark, yet he managed to cleanly float it past.
Frankston is currently ranked tenth out of 21 teams in the VFL after five matches. The best eight teams at the end of the season will compete in the finals.
Final Score:
Frankston 15.14.104
North Melbourne 8.12.60
KEY STATISTICS:
- Josh Newman had 34 disposals, seven marks, and four clearances.
- Connor Riley had 29 disposals, eight tackles and nine clearances.
- Trent Mynott had 21 disposals, 10 marks and six clearances.
- Will Walker had four goals and four tackles.
- Liam Reidy had 27 hit outs and three tackles.
GOALS:
- Will Walker – 4
- Josh Begley – 3
- Jeremy Burton – 3
- Tom Murphy – 2
- Josh Stern – 2
- Angus Grant – 1
For those who couldn’t make it to the game on Sunday, a complete replay of the game may be viewed online here.
Round 6 action sees Frankston playing the Sandringham Zebras at Trevor Barker Beach Oval on Sunday the 1st of May at 2.05pm.
