Only five rounds to go in the MC Labour Division 2 home and away season, meaning wins for several sides this weekend will come at a premium as finals spots remain up for grabs.
A massive top five fixture takes place at Montmorency Park South Oval as Lower Plenty host Diamond Creek in what will potentially be an ‘eight-point’ match.
After sitting just one game away from top spot seven days ago, the Creekers are in danger of falling out of the top three all together with another defeat while the Bears will sit just two points shy of their Saturday opponents if they can make it back-to-back wins.
Phil Plunkett’s side responded from their defeat to Banyule a fortnight ago by comfortably taking care of Epping to the tune of 85 points. Josh Turner put in one of his best performances of the season while Ciaran Porter and Tyler Wallace were also influential.
Billy Barden also looks to have returned to form, kicking eight goals in past two games since returning from injury.
Opponents Diamond Creek will be eager to get back on the winners list after falling short to ladder leaders Eltham by 14 points. In wet conditions, the Creekers did their best to keep within touching distance but fell away late. Defender Jack Empey was immense off halfback with his run and carry with Sam Gleeson also putting together an excellent body of work.
Ruckman Nicholas Barro also had a decent day out, battling hard in the ruck and drifting forward to finish with three goals. He’ll enjoy not having to face Thomas Blake on Saturday, as he’s been ruled out for the reminder of the season due to injury.
In a low-scoring affair, Diamond Creek prevailed over Lower Plenty by nine points when these two sides last met in Round 8. The victory was in the middle of a ten-game win streak for Andrew Tranquilli’s men, and they’ll be hoping another triumph against the Bears can kickstart a winning streak all the way to September.
Thomastown hosts Watsonia at Main Street Recreation Reserve, with the four points incredibly crucial for both sides who are vying for top five spots.
Sitting ten points adrift from fifth spot, the Bears will still fancy themselves to book an unlikely finals berth after breaking their five-game losing streak last week when they defeated the winless Fitzroy Stars by 152 points.
Michael Tang reverted back to the forward line to great effect, kicking five goals and being named best on ground for the Bears. Anthony Capeci was also dangerous around the big sticks, finishing with a season high eight majors to bring his tally to 32 goals for the season.
Watsonia stuck tough to break away form a tight encounter against Panton Hill, ultimately prevailing by 32 points at Binnak Park. Forward line trio Jesse Presser, James Lucente and Kyle Wheatley combined for 11 majors in the victory as their chemistry inside 50 continues to improve.
The result of this game will have massive complications both side’s top five pursuits.
Thomastown are still yet to defeat a side above them in 2022 but a win against the Saints leading into the kind run home could see the Bears challenge for finals right until the last round of the season.
Meanwhile Watsonia are still keeping up with the fifth placed Burra for now, sitting four points away on the ladder. A second win of the season against the Bears will not only ruin Thomastown’s finals hopes, but also keep theirs alive.
Eltham will continue to charge towards the minor premiership when they do battle with Panton Hill at Eltham Central Park.
The Panthers extended their winning run to 10 following their win over top five rivals Diamond Creek last week. Despite multiple key players missing, the young Panthers stood up when required with Mikael Avramov, Lane Sinclair and Darcy Vallance leading the way.
Panton Hill after several weeks of good football hit a slight road bump going down by five goals to Watsonia.
It is only slight as the Redbacks kept up the pace with a potential finals side for all but the final term in which they fell away to lose by 32 points.
Still, it’s been an encouraging month for Simon Amore’s side as they’ll hope to take more confidence out of the final five weeks of action in the lead up to next season.
Eltham are expected to have little trouble in getting through Panton Hill this week, although they’ll want to be more clinical than their opening round clash at A.E. Cracknell Reserve in which they kicked 7.18 on their way to a five-goal win.
Assuming they take the four points, the Panthers will be the most confident they’ve been all season in the lead up to their top of the table clash with Banyule next week.
The Fitzroy Stars continue to search for their first win of the season as they take on premiership contenders Banyule.
Lionel Proctor’s side will want to respond to last week’s disappointing 152-point defeat to Thomastown, their sixth loss by 100 points or more this season.
Riley Livingstone again continues to be a shining light for the Stars however it would take a miracle for his side to keep up with a red-hot Banyule this weekend.
Momentum is heavily in the Bears’ favour ahead of this clash as they look to make it six consecutive wins.
Their most recent triumph was to the tune of 47 points against fellow top five side St Mary’s in which Jack Langford booted seven majors. He sits eights goals clear on top of the competition goal kicking charts as a result.
The Bears will use this game as an opportunity to boost percentage in the lead up to their likely top of the table battle with Eltham next week.
Banyule currently sit almost 23 percent away from the ladder leaders and look all but certain to reduce that gap if they can replicate their last performance against the Fitzroy Stars where a 20 goal to two second half saw them prevail by 169 points in Round 6.
Looking to confirm their spot in the top five for another week, St Mary’s will host Epping at Whatmough Park.
The Burra have been on a rough patch as of late, winning just two of their past five games, and will hope to pick up the pace for the remainder of the season to ensure their first Division 2 finals berth since joining the competition.
They were no match for Banyule last week which was made apparent early with an 11 goal to four first half.
Epping will need to step up their game considerably if they hope to cause an incredible upset and claim their third win of the season on Saturday.
Despite going down by 85 points to Lower Plenty last week, inaccurate goalkicking meant the score line could’ve been more respectable for the Blues. James Tadd and Jaedyn Kearney were solid contributors in the defeat.
To say the Burra need this win to find form again is an understatement as following this match, they face Diamond Creek, Eltham and Lower Plenty before finishing the season with Thomastown who may still be in the finals hunt at that stage.
It means that depending on other results, a comfortable win could see St Mary’s extend their gap from the sixth placed side to eight points, which may just be enough to lock in finals action.
