By Will Jeffares
All images by Tim Bowman
A second-quarter surge from the Dolphins has set up an important 27-point win over the Casey Demons at Kinetic Stadium on Saturday afternoon, with the side remaining in 10th position on the ladder and keeping their finals hopes alive.
In wild, wintery conditions, the home side took the wind advantage in the second term, kicking seven goals to one to blow the game wide open before the heavens opened in the second half as Frankston cruised to the 10.8 (68) to 5.11 (41) result.
With the conditions creating a contested scrap, it took nearly 10 minutes for the first major of the contest, with Blake O’Leary using his smarts to cleverly tap the ball in front of Matt Johnson, who ran into the open goal to kick his, and the game’s, first.
Casey would get one back minutes later before the visitors added a second late to hold a seven-point lead at the first break.
Frankston took full advantage of the strong wind in the second, putting Casey to the sword with seven majors in the term, including the first six consecutive in a game where goals were otherwise difficult to come by.
Taine Barlow found Tom Murphy inside 50, who kicked truly from the set shot before Johnson kicked his second with a superb finish from a tight angle in the pocket.
Noah Gown also slotted one, with Johnson launching home a set shot from outside the arc for his third of the game.
A great end-to-end move saw Johnson snap home his fourth as Murphy continued the flurry of goals, absolutely flushing one from way beyond 50 for his second and to extend the margin to 29 points.
The Demons would get one back late, which was quickly cancelled out by a great finish from Nick Burke, as Frankston entered the main break 29-point leaders, capping off a superb term for Jackson Kornberg’s side.
Heavy rain began to pour as play resumed in the second half with the contest becoming much more of a slippery scrap. Casey would have several early chances to cut into the margin before kicking the first of the term to get the Dolphins’ lead back to 20 points.
The Frankston defence held strong throughout the term, with Jack Newnes soccering through a goal to extend the lead back beyond four goals and keep the quarter at one goal apiece as they lead by 25 points at the final break.
It was much more of the same in the last quarter, with Casey getting the first major of the term 19 minutes in as the tough encounter began to take its toll on the players.
Seb Quirk got on the end of a smothered Trent Mynott set shot, converting quick snap to have the margin back to beyond four goals as the Dolphins ran away with the strong, workmanlike result.
Tom Murphy was superb all afternoon, with the midfielder looking clean and composed in the wet as he finished with 27 disposals, seven tackles, five clearances and two majors. Seb Quirk was similarly as strong, throwing his body around in the stoppages and winning the football as he racked up a game-high 29 touches, nine clearances and eight tackles to go with his late goal.
Jackson Voss (26 disposals, six tackles)was great down back for the Dolphins, frequently using the ball well to find teammates coming out of defence, with Lachie Riley (23 disposals, six tackles, five clearances) also lively as he was a strong contributor both in the midfield and up forward.
Taj Campbell-Farrell returned to the side to continue where he left off as an important presence in the midfield, laying an impressive 13 tackles to go along with 15 touches and five clearances.
Matt Johnson’s four-goal haul continued his hot streak in front of the big sticks, as he now sits outright third on the ‘Frosty’ Miller Medal tally with 35 goals, sitting just one goal behind the top spot.
Taine Barlow (18 disposals, six marks) and Joe Lloyd (nine disposals, four marks) were fantastic in defence, with both able to regularly intercept play and push the Dolphins forward while also shutting down their opponents with great defensive displays.
Frankston will now face Coburg at Piranha Park on Sunday afternoon at 1:05 pm (AEST) as they look to make it four in a row and further cement themselves inside the top 10.
FRANKSTON 1.0 8.2 9.4 10.8 (68)
CASEY 2.1 3.3 4.9 5.11 (41)
GOALS
Johnson 4, Murphy 2, Quirk, Gown, Burke, Newnes
BEST
Murphy, Quirk, Voss, Johnson, Riley, Barlow, Lloyd
