Peak performers

By Mark Gullick
ARCH rivals Berwick and Narre Warren meet in the qualifying final at a healthy looking Edwin Flack Reserve on Saturday – with the winner meeting Cranbourne for a grand final berth.
The Wickers are peaking at the right time and will be highly confident following four straight wins, including a 134-point thumping of Pakenham and a 95-point rout of Hampton Park, both finalists.
The Magpies have stumbled in the past two weeks, with a 10-goal loss to Beaconsfield and an unimpressive seven-point defeat of wooden spooners Devon Meadows.
However, it would be a brave man to write off Narre Warren’s chances, especially in the finals.
“They’ve obviously got a fantastic history over the last few years in the finals,” Berwick coach Dean Rice said.
“They’ll be pretty confident and pretty proud and it’s going to be a fairly hard battle for us. They beat us pretty easy last time.”
During the year, the teams split their matches with Berwick winning by four goals in round one before Narre Warren reversed the result in round 12, with the Magpies winning by 27 points.
Narre Warren coach Chris Toner is keen to put last weekend behind him and focus on the final.
“I’m looking forward to it – I’m sure it will be a good game,” he said.
“The last time we played (Berwick), from our perspective, it was probably game of the season.
“We played very well against a very good opposition and we were fortunate to come out in front. This weekend, the weather’s going to be good, terrific crowds and finals atmosphere.”
While Narre Warren’s top-three position has been secure for the last month, Toner believes the motivation of his players has waned, but expects they will be switched-on come game time.
Last Saturday, 11 goals between Beaconsfield’s duo Troy McDermott and Andrew Williams upset Narre at Kalora Park.
The Magpie defence had few answers for the duo, who rocketed Beaconsfield to a 63-point win.
Beaconsfield kicked eight goals to two in the opening term to lead by 42 points, a margin that should have been more considering the Eagles missed several achievable chances.
The contest evened during the middle two quarters, but Beaconsfield was able to kick important goals to hold a 32-point lead at the final change.
McDermott, who has put together a strong five-week period, was the most influential player on the field.
Damien Szwaja, Jesse Linkins and Daniel Mislicki were crucial running players for the Eagles.
Young gun Ben King worked hard in defence, while Col McNamara and Michael McGill were tough in the contest for the black and white.
Berwick stole Hampton Park’s double chance with an emphatic 95-point thumping at Edwin Flack Reserve last Saturday.
The Wickers’ prospects of rising from fourth-place into the top-three and the double-chance appeared slim pre-game.
However, with Beaconsfield trouncing Narre Warren and the Wickers piling on 20 goals against the Redbacks, Berwick lifted its percentage by seven, as the Magpies and Redbacks percentage took a massive hit.
Come 5pm and Berwick had leapt above Narre and taken second-place off Hampton Park.
Berwick took control after quarter-time in a brilliant running display. “It was a really good result,” Rice said.
“Their game style is to try and congest it up and make it a contest, which they did to their credit in the first quarter, but once we got our running game up, it was hard for them to hold us off.”
Brett Robinson and Nathan Page tore through Hampton Park’s midfield with brilliant skill and class, while David Van Diemen held Baskaya to two goals and brilliantly trod the fine line between defence and attack.