The final round in A Plus Labour Solutions Division 2 is headlined by a marquee battle for fourth place.
Thomastown hosts Diamond Creek in what is effectively an elimination final for both sides. The Bears have a one-game and 1.71 percent buffer on the Creekers heading into the game – meaning last year’s runner-up will need a two-goal win to snatch fourth spot.
Thomastown has won both encounters between the sides this year, triumphing by 30 points in the Round 5 meeting at Main Street Reserve, before prevailing by 21 points at Coventry Oval.
As it hunts its first finals berth since 2013, Thomastown will go into the encounter with a wave of form, having won five out of its past six matches – including the past three in a row, which was extended by a 33-point victory over Epping in Round 17.
The Blues had Thomastown’s measure in the first half, leading by 20 points at quarter-time. But Ben Chapman’s side was able to kick clear in the second half to ensure their winning streak remained intact.
James Rizzolio, Josh Beare and David Folino led the way for the Bears, while Matthew Ferraro and Jacob Osei-Duro each contributed three goals apiece. It was the third week in a row Osei-Duro has kicked three goals in a match.
Diamond Creek tasted similar success, handing Eltham just its second loss of 2018 with a 23-point upset win at Coventry Oval. The Creekers needed the win to keep their finals hopes alive and strung together their best four-quarter performance of the season.
Josh Marchbank, Danyon Kambouris and Josh Lorey were the standouts for the Creekers in the big win, whilst Nicholas Barro led the goal scorers with three.
A similar performance appears essential this week as the Creekers aim to leapfrog Thomastown on the ladder and consign the Bears to a fifth-place finish for the fourth-straight year.
Lower Plenty and Banyule will look to take as much momentum as possible into week one of the finals when they meet at Montmorency Park.
Lower Plenty returned to the winners’ list emphatically with a 125-point win over Watsonia. Down by four points at the first change, the Bears kept the Saints to just three goals for the remainder of the match, while booting a season-high 23.23 (161).
Dale Nolan booted six goals to make it 10 in two weeks, whilst Patrick Flynn, Matthew Duckworth and Ben Paterson were all dominant in the triumph.
Banyule was equally ruthless and recorded its sixth win from its past seven matches in a 173-point win over Fitzroy Stars.
Pete Davey’s side has an average winning margin over 100 points over the past five weeks, which includes a win over ladder-leaders Eltham. They are certainly hitting form at the right part of the year.
James Kroussoratis extended his lead atop the goal kickers list with an 11-goal haul, making it three weeks in a row of five goals or more to bring his season tally to 66. He was supported by Riley Hogarth, Mannon Johnston and Daniel Camilleri – who has put together an outstanding year in defence.
Watsonia will be hoping to pull through for a breakthrough win when it hosts Fitzroy Stars at A.K. Lines Reserve.
Prior to last week the Saints had been very competitive without being able to produce a four-quarter effort. If they can do so this week they will be every chance of breaking their 17-game losing streak against a side they lost to by just two points in Round 10.
Andrew Bennett was the only multiple goal kicker for the Saints in his first game of the season against Lower Plenty last week, whilst the best in a disappointing day were Cooper Gunn, Lewis Franz and Matthew Crompton.
The Stars were never in the contest against Banyule, falling to their third loss in excess of 100 points from their past four matches. They will hope for better success this week in the hunt of their third win of the season.
The reliable likes of Steven Stallion, Max Maynard and Malcolm Dow were again named in the best for the Stars, with Dow being the only multiple goal kicker with two goals.
Epping hosts Eltham at Epping Recreation Reserve in a game where both sides will be looking to bounce back from Round 17 defeats.
The Blues had a red-hot crack at securing their seventh win of the season last weekend and led throughout the first half before falling away after the main break in a 33-point defeat to Thomastown.
Chris Chilcott kicked four goals, backing his three-goal haul from the previous round, whilst the contributions from Paul Dempsey, Bill Hughes and Leigh Judd were of note in their side’s loss.
Eltham was unable to bounce back from its first loss of the season to Banyule, going down to Diamond Creek in the pair’s third outing of the year.
The Panthers were simply outhunted from the outset. A five-goal to one start in favour of the Creekers set the tone for the remainder of the match and the ladder-leader was never able to get on a good run, going down by 23 points.
Tim Currie made an immediate impact in his return with three goals. His prowess up forward was only surpassed by the contributions of Gavan Connelly, Lane Sinclair and Adam Brovedani.
