The Crocs travelled out to the Snakepit for what on paper, appeared to be a lopsided match up against the undefeated Diles and a St Bernards outfit that was 0-4 and holding up the Club XVIII Ladder. The game began in earnest and was a willing contest with both sides prepared to put their head over the ball at every opportunity. The Diles controlled the majority of possession and with the backline continuing their fine form were able to repel the early forward thrusts from the Snowdogs. Mark Davies and Will Ireland provided plenty of run from half-back and set-up our attack, however we were unable to convert on the scoreboard. Poor kicking in front of goal enabled St Bernards to stay in the contest and continued to put a great deal of pressure on our key players.

A greater effort around stoppages was emphasised and the need to lift our intensity at the contest resulted in a few quick goals. Nick Corcoran again provided plenty of drive through the middle of the ground and Tim Silk was again the Croc’s most dangerous player, continually breaking the lines with his run and long kicking. Our forward set-up continues to be a work in progress, but good signs were there from Will Martin, Nick Quinn and Matt O’Kane who were all presenting strongly.

A three goal lead at half-time provided little breathing room as we were convincingly pants in the third quarter by a far more committed St Bernards outfit. Their ability to play close-checking, man-on-man football across the ground frustrated many players and we were unable to find any space to work in. They were more desperate and worked harder in both directions, banging on three unanswered goals. We were now one point down, but appeared to be a hell of a long way out of the contest.

With our commitment to our game style clearly being tested the Diles were able to respond well with two quick goals to Nick Quinn who played a great game, with his defensive pressure finally bearing fruit. Will Martin, in consultation with Coach Nolen moved to Centre Half Back and this proved to be pivotal with his ability to take several contested marks and control the air in the defensive fifty, ably supported by Roger Larkins, Tim Roache and Ryan Pedler the Diles where able to weather the storm in the last ten minutes to hang on for a hard fought and well deserved victory. With our onballers having to run the majority of the day unchanged due to a lack of suitable rotations, credit must be given to Duncan Parry, Andrew Barrett, Nick Corcoran, Craig Marsh and Nick Perrone who did a power of work around the ground and really kept us in contest for much of the day. It was discovered after the fact that St Bernards had tried to pull a the wool over the eyes of the Crocodiles by switching their Club XVIII team with the Third XVIII team for the game, a fact that I find a little disappointing and not particularly within the spirit of the game, however this adds weight to the victory and should hold us in good stead as we move forward in the season.   

We are now 5-0 and face De La Salle this week. Our history against De La tells us that this will be another closely contested match with both teams having plenty to play for to set up the remainder of our season. This weekend is also a significant event on the Diles Social Calendar as we have the annual Crocodile Open – Pub Golf teeing off from the Orrong Hotel at 3.00pm and continuing to another eight of the finest water holes Melbourne has to offer, so let’s make sure we have something to celebrate on the day with a big win against DLS! Till next time…