Calder Cannons vs Oakleigh Chargers – Round 2
Written by Jarryd Barca
The Oakleigh Chargers overcame a half time deficit to record a 23-point win against the Calder Cannons under inclement skies on Sunday.
The overcast conditions – which turned the Round 2 contest at times into a regressive slog – meant champagne football was a far cry to what was required on the day.
Joshua Kemp looked a match winner up forward kicking three of the team’s seven goals in the 10.9 (69) to 7.4 (46) result at Highgate Recreation Reserve.
Harrison Minton-Connell’s 22 touches was the most for the Cannons on the day, with captain Brodie Newman again impressing for the second successive week in defence.
The home team will again be left lamenting a slow start after being held scoreless at quarter time.
The Chargers looked a superior outfit and it was their clinical ball use going forward that saw them make the most of their opportunities to head into quarter time with a 28-point buffer.
But the tide suddenly turned.
Nineteen-year-old Tye Browning converted his set shot in the nine-minute mark to put through the Cannons’ first major, before Kemp asserted himself on the contest to convert two more goals in a three-and-a-half minute span.
The momentum had shifted the Cannons’ way and the match took an unexpected but deserved turn, Ned Gentile and Sam Ramsay adding themselves to the goal-kickers list and handing their side a one-goal half time advantage.
There was a noticeable increase in intensity in the third quarter as the first half rain soaked the oval, with the four points truly up for grabs.
Finlay Macrae’s goal for the Chargers was cancelled out just seconds later by Cannons forward Jake Sutton, who was awarded a down-the-field free kick from close range.
Chargers ball-winner Noah Anderson stepped up to the plate and converted from a free kick to wrestle back his side’s two-point lead, before a 12-minute dry patch to end the term meant the scores remained 40-42 heading into the last quarter.
Kemp converted the Cannons’ only goal and scoring shot of a final term that could have gone either way, with his nine-minute snap on the counter-attack sandwiched by two Chargers goals before and after.
The result puts the Cannons on the bottom of the ladder after two matches, with their chance of kick-starting their season coming this Saturday at Highgate Recreation Reserve against the Western Jets.
Goal kickers: J. Kemp 3, S. Ramsay, N. Gentile, T. Browning, J. Sutton
Best players: H. Minton-Connell, B. Newman, J. Kemp, S. Ramsay, J. Sutton, D. Mott
Stats leaders: H. Minton-Connell (22 disposals), C. Brown (five marks), D. Mott (four tackles), M. Fletcher (five rebound 50s)J