An intriguing battle between two sides yet to taste defeat in 2023 headlines this week’s slate of MC Labour Division 2 matches.
Saturday night lights hit Coventry Oval as Diamond Creek and South Morang face off to see who can continue their unbeaten start to the season.
The Creekers currently sit on top of the ladder with a healthy percentage following an emphatic 94-point triumph over Lower Plenty last week.
Andrew Tranquilli’s men have yet to have a winning margin of less than 30 points so far this year and have also not conceded more than 41 points in their three games in 2023.
The latter fact has come largely due to the dominant defensive work of Billy Bedford, Joel Randall and Matthew Lewis who are all continuing to find form after impressive 2022 campaigns.
Diamond Creek have also had 20 individual goalkickers for their 39 goals, highlighting a non-reliance on a few forwards to keep the scoreboard ticking.
They’ll face a South Morang team full of momentum who also come into this clash off a 94-poitn win in Round 3, this time against Epping.
Joshua D’Intinosante has enjoyed his return to the club he played his junior football at, leading his side’s goalkicking tally with 11 majors, including five against the Blues last week.
Kain Hall has also been brilliant to start the season, producing his best performance yet in last Saturday’s triumph.
This will be the first time these two sides have crossed paths since 2013. They met three times during that season with the Creekers winning all three by an average margin of 66 points. But with both teams in terrific form, expect the Lions to mount a strong challenge.
Both Watsonia and Thomastown will be looking to return to the winners list when they do battle at Main Street Recreation Reserve.
The Saints’ flying start to the 2023 season came to sudden end last week when they were comfortably defeated by St Mary’s to the tune of 72 points at home.
Despite the large score against during the Burra clash, the Saints defence has still been an important factor to their 2-1 start to the season, led by reigning club best and fairest Joshua Boulton who currently leads the Coaches MVP Award voting.
Corey Potter and Kobe Van Zwienen has also been important contributors throughout the season thus far, while goal scoring trio Adrian Alfonsi, Blake Charles and James Lucente (all currently with eight goals) will hope to keep their scoring form up this week.
Thomastown have gone down in their last two games, including a 40-point defeat to Eltham in Round 3.
They now sit 1-2 after three games as they did last year, but including Saturday’s game, they play only one opponent who played finals last year (Lower Plenty) in their next five matches, meaning a victory in this game can give the Bears a chance at building some momentum in the first half of the season.
Thomastown’s midfield has been their best asset over the first few weeks of the season with Tyrone Leonardis and Lawrence Lopiccolo leading the way.
These two sides won a game each in both their meetings last year, so expect a close battle again this Saturday.
St Mary’s will hope their first win of the season last week can spark a great run of form when they host Northcote Park at Whatmough Park.
After failing to score more than 55 points in their opening two games, the Burra put on a dominant display, with a massive 72-point win over Watsonia.
The win came through an entire team effort, with 10 individual goalkickers for their 23 majors, including eight goals from Nicholas Dean.
In terms of standouts however, Tane Cotter has been superb, being the only player named in his side’s best in all three games so far this season.
It was also the Burra’s highest score since July last year and their sixth score over 100 in their last 21 games, something they will look to keep building on throughout this year’s campaign.
Fabian Carelli’s men will take on a Cougars side who have put together some comfortable victories over the last fortnight following a slow start.
The recruitment of Christopher Clark has paid dividends thus far for Northcote Park, with the veteran playing some brilliant football, while Alexander Boyse has continued his influence up forward, leading his club’s goalkicking charts with 10 majors.
Another victory for Stephen Saddington’s side will see the club claim three consecutive wins for the first time since Round 4, 2019 while playing in Division 1.
There’s a lot of intrigue about this game with these two sides meeting for the first time, but what is for certain is that the four points will be crucial for both teams as they look to establish positive starts to the 2023 season.
A massive clash awaits at A.E. Cracknell Reserve when Panton Hill and Lower Plenty look to mark their first wins of season 2023.
The Redbacks have struggled to gain any momentum following their impressive off-season recruiting spree and couldn’t get close to Northcote Park in their latest match, going down by 43 points.
Nicholas Parks stood out in the defeat, adding to his solid start to the campaign, while Tom Keys continues to have an influence around the ground.
Panton Hill have only scored 20 goals in their opening three matches with Riley Livingstone’s five goals in two games being the most for the side so far.
They’ll hope to start becoming more of a threat up forward against a Bears side this week who have been just as disappointing to start the year.
Lower Plenty struggled to keep up with a strong Diamond Creek outfit in Round 3, falling by 94 points at home.
It was their biggest defeat since Round 2, 2019 back when they played in the top flight.
The positives that are coming through however are from their younger talent, with Hudson Young having a terrific game in last week’s loss to the Creekers alongside 19-year-old Joel Leslie.
This will be these side’s first meeting at this venue since Round 6 last year, when the Bears powered through for a 138-point triumph. But 12 months on, this match will undoubtedly be a lot more competitive against two teams desperate to open their account in 2023.
Teams at almost complete opposite ends of the ladder will face off at Epping Recreation Reserve on Saturday as Epping host Eltham.
The competitiveness shown by the Blues in the opening two weeks of the season was halted slightly in a 94-point loss to South Morang in Round 3. Bar a five-goal second quarter, Epping couldn’t match the intensity brought by the Lions.
However, the one constant in previous weeks for Epping has been the performances of Damon Hollow, who was named as his side’s player in the both the Blues’ last two games.
Hollow as well as the likes of Luke Lirosi and Leigh Judd will be looked upon to give Eltham a run for their money this Saturday,
But as shown in the first few weeks of the season, it’s the most difficult task to conquer at the moment, as another strong performance over Thomastown last week has surged Eltham into premiership favouritism if they weren’t already.
Their contributors come far and wide, last week it was co-captain Jackson Weatherald who received a perfect 10 Coaches MVP Award votes for his outstanding game. Jason McCormick and Daniel Horsfield also excelled in a side that looks destined to make up for their disappointing Grand Final defeat last year.
The Panthers won by an average of 119.5 points in both their battles with Epping in 2022, and while it looks set to be a similar result on paper, the Blues will be hoping to translate their periods of competitiveness throughout the year into a more complete performance on Saturday.
