The Crocodiles continued their unbeaten start to the 2010 season with a hard-fought 40 point win over newcomers to Section 1, Monash Blues.
The Diles welcomed three debutants to the team and they made an immediate impact, with Justin Arnold kick starting the afternoon with a 50 metre bomb. The contest was willing, with both teams prepared to put their bodies on the line and the Crocs held a slender lead at the first change. The backline once again held firm ably led by Nick Hulett and Ryan Pedler and Duncan Parry providing silver service to the midfielders in Barrett, Corcoran and Browne.
The Diles held control on the game for the majority of the second quarter, however were not able to convert this dominance on the scoreboard. Monash were aided by some poor disposal by the Crocs through the midfield and with a few lucky bounces were able to get a few goals on the board. Our midfield were aggressive around the contest but needed to work harder defensively and this was a key focus after the halftime break.
With a 16 point lead at halftime the Diles knew they had another few gears to engage and came out strongly in the third term with our on-ballers, in particular Nick Corcoran and Craig Marsh, in his first game for the Diles, able to exert greater influence around the contest and give our forwards greater opportunities. We banged on 6 goals 5 behinds and from then on were able to dictate the game and play on our terms. The final quarter continued in much the same fashion, with Monash continuing to provide a great contest around the ground but the overall talent of the Crocs was able to hold off their charge and extended the final margin to 40 points.
With the windy conditions making scoring difficult it was pleasing to find some new avenues to goal with our small forwards and midfielders contributing 10 of the 17 goals, with key forward Nick Quinn returning for his first game landing 3 majors. The first three weeks have been very promising for the Diles, with our new players making a great contribution, our leaders standing up and with several players to return in the coming weeks it lays a really good platform to continue our assault on the Club 18 flag for 2010, and with the week off it gives us the chance to recharge the batteries and look to maintain the rage as we move forward.