Berwick shocks league’s best

By Gavin Staindl
BERWICK coach Tom O’Halloran was quietly pumping his fist after he predicted the shock outcome of Saturday’s match with league-leaders Mornington.
Preparing to take on Division 3’s best team, O’Halloran declared in the News last week that his lowly-ranked side “will cause a shock”.
And a shock they achieved, departing Jack Thomas Reserve with a 1-1 draw.
Down a goal at half time, the Berwick coaching staff landed “a few home truths” to its players … and in the second half, Berwick responded accordingly.
“We really pinned them back in the second half,” O’Halloran said. “The first half we were a bit under the pump and paid them too much respect in our structures.
“Our coaches gave them a lashing at half time and the boys came out and worked much harder … they just wanted it more. The opposition coach even said to me this was the first time they (Mornington) had been outworked this season.”
After a series of shots and ricochets, James Ashby fired a shot from beyond 20 metres that – with the help of lady luck – took a deft deflection and floated past the goalkeeper.
Berwick held onto the 1-1 scoreline and judging by the reactions from both camps, it wasn’t hard to tell which team was happy with the result.
“It’s good to get two in a row (without a loss),” O’Halloran said. “People expect Berwick to just roll over, but it’s not going to happen.”
Berwick ventures to Frankston Pines on Saturday in what is tipped to be an engaging encounter.
O’Halloran, who left the Pines last year to take over at Berwick, returns to Monterey Reserve, where only last week a spectator jumped the fence and started throwing punches.
While the spectator was found to be from the opposing camp, O’Halloran understands Saturday’s match will be a passionate affair.
“They’ve only won one game and if they lose this they’ll be mathematically relegated, so they’ll be looking to cause a shock of their own,” O’Halloran said.
“It won’t be easy.”
IN the other Division 3 match, Doveton went down to Peninsula Strikers 2-1 at Waratah Reserve.
It was the same scoreline at Comet Stadium, where Casey was beaten 2-1 by the Eastern Lions in Division 2.
In Provisional 2, Endeavour United took its first game in nearly a month with a 2-0 win over University of Melbourne at Reema Reserve, while the Casey Kings suffered a 2-3 home loss to Bayside Argonauts.