THE FINAL unbeaten streak in the Northern Football League came to an end in Round 8, with the big movers of the round coming in the form of Lalor and Hurstbridge.
Lalor – now with a full head of steam – this week hosts Mernda at Lalor Reserve having moved into second place on the ladder following its 25-point victory over Thomastown.
The win was achieved after fighting back from 39 points down early in the second quarter. However, the efforts of best-on-ground Jason Dowell, Jarrod King, and four-goal hauls from Nick Mafilovski – playing his first game since Round 2 – and Todd Hughes ensured the Bloods would take victory.
They can consolidate their hold on the double chance with a victory over Mernda – who they have lost their past three encounters to at home.
Mernda, for its part, slumped to a ninth consecutive loss stemming back to last year’s preliminary final – and its 16th from its past 20 games, with a 55-point defeat to Diamond Creek.
Mernda was never really in the hunt after conceding the opening four goals of the game, and despite its best efforts in the second quarter to play catch-up footy, failed in its quest for a breakthrough victory in season 2015. Marcus Saddington, Krys Douglas and Nick Avenoso were valiant in defeat.
Should the Demons upset Lalor, it can pave the way for Hurstbridge to move into second at the halfway point of the year if it prevails over Fitzroy Stars at Ben Frilay Oval.
The Bridges took an important victory over Whittlesea in Round 8, having to regain momentum after almost blowing a 28-point half time lead. Tom Grimes was best on ground for the Bridges, while Brett Woodhouse kicked three goals.
The Bridges now take on a Stars outfit nipping at the heels of Whittlesea for a spot in the top four, now sitting only percentage behind the Eagles.
The Stars returned to their scintillating – and accurate – best against Panton Hill a fortnight ago, blowing the game apart with a seven-goal to one second quarter to lead by 58 points at the main break.
A number of injuries after half time saw that margin ease into a 32-point victory at Sir Douglas Nicholls Oval. Koolyn Briggs, John Hayes and Daniel Francis enjoyed 10 goals between them, while Coree Thorpe and Peter Hood were outstanding.
Whittlesea now faces a battle to hold onto its top four spot with Diamond Creek now sitting just a game behind in sixth ahead of this week’s encounter at Coventry Oval.
The Eagles were valiant in their second half fight back at Hurstbridge, but it was not enough to win and maintain a top two spot. Brett Hayes kicked three goals for the Eagles, while Janan Daniel and Brenton Briffa were instrumental in orchestrating their charge.
Diamond Creek eased to its comfortable victory over Mernda off the back of a third quarter which saw the visitors kick 3.8 to 1.1.
Rikki Stephens was dominant for the Creekers, kicking five goals, while Andrew Oliver and Josh Wuelfert were able to enjoy solid returns to Mernda, named in the best. Hugh Kavanagh was another solid performer for the Creekers, who could find themselves right on the precipice of the top four should they prevail this week.
The final game of Round 9 sees Thomastown travel to Panton Hill.
It seemed the Bears would extend their winning streak to eight games when they jumped to a 34-point quarter time lead with a heavy breeze at Lalor.
However, they were unable to go on with the job as they conceded seven second-quarter goals, before conceding seven more in the last quarter when the game was there to be won. David Folino kicked four goals for the Bears in his return, while James Mercuri and Steven Cadby were solid performers.
The Redbacks were unable to get into their game against the Fitzroy Stars until late, kicking eight second-half goals to four, including five in the last quarter, as they made what was an insurmountable deficit respectable.
Brendan O’Connor kicked four goals, while Mitch Anderson and Alex Dines were their best performers.
They will come into this week’s game confident of inflicting the Bears’ second straight loss, having led the majority of their Round 1 encounter before a last quarter lapse saw them go down by four points at Main Street Reserve.
