Round 3 continues this long weekend with plenty of enthralling duels set to take place across Melbourne Greyhounds Division 1.
On Good Friday, Greensborough demolished Macleod to quickly return to the winner’s list while Bundoora stormed home in the second half, against North Heidelberg, to make it back-to-back wins.
It’s set to be a huge clash of two old rivals at Warringal Park, with Heidelberg and Montmorency locking horns.
Heidelberg are the only unbeaten side left Melbourne Greyhounds Division 1 after an impressive win away from home against Macleod a fortnight ago.
A seven goal to two first term set the tone for the remainder of the match, despite the Roos making them work for their victory in the second half.
Matthew Smith continued his good form and earned six Coaches MVP votes whilst Sean Martin (four), Dylan Clarke (three) and Zane Barzen (two) were also solid contributors on the day.
After their defeat to Bundoora in the previous round, Montmorency will need to get back on track if they want to keep up with the top sides in the competition.
The Magpies came charging home with a six goal to five final term against the Bulls, but they just fell short in their pursuit for a 2-0 start.
The new Magpies were the most impressive in the loss. Lin Jong kicked two goals and was named in the best for the Magpies, while Mitch Honeychurch and Liam Wale-Buxton also produced great performances.
These two sides were fortunate enough to meet twice in last year’s shortened season, both teams stealing a win each.
In round 6 last season, the Magpies held on for a 13-point win with second gamer Bronson Hill leading the way with four majors. When they faced off again two months later, the Tigers had the game was sewn by half-time to win comfortably by 43-points.
Expect this match to be hotly contested as both sides will be sensing a real opportunity to make their mark on the competition early in the 2022 campaign.
Down the road at Bill Lawry Oval, West Preston-Lakeside will be looking to bounce back against a winless Northcote Park outfit.
In what was the shock of the round a fortnight ago, the Roosters were defeated by Whittlesea in a match they trailed in for the majority of.
Ahmed Saad continued to find the goals, booting another three majors, whilst Joel McDonald and Damdeep Aujla continued to lead the way in defence, but with the unexpected loss against the Eagles, expect Rob Maiorana’s men to come out firing when they take on Northcote Park.
The Cougars haven’t looked out of their depth in the first two rounds of the year but will be hoping to get their first win on the board sooner rather than later to avoid the early relegation talk.
Stephen Saddington’s side put a strong fight against North Heidelberg under lights in round 2 but couldn’t keep up in the second half to go down to the Bulldogs by 36-points.
Matthew D’Angelo kicked three goals in the defeat and is having a nice start to life at Bill Lawry Oval while the Perry brothers continue to make an impact each week.
West Preston-Lakeside were the victors when these two met in Round 10 last year.
Northcote Park put up a good challenge against a Roosters side on a five-game winning streak, but the reigning premiers were too strong, prevailing by 26-point.
While this looks one-sided on paper, the Roosters loss two weeks ago proves any side has what it takes to pull off an upset win and they’ll be weary to avoid two surprising defeats in succession on Saturday.
In the standalone Anzac Day fixture, we’ll be treated to an intriguing contest when Whittlesea host Hurstbridge.
This was a match-up most probably would have passed over at the start of the season, but with both sides coming off huge wins against premiership contenders, the potential for either team to begin the 2022 campaign 2-1 is massive.
With no Jarrad Waite, Jaron Murphy & Cameron Wild in their starting 22, the Eagles jumped out of the blocks with a massive 35-1 lead over West Preston-Lakeside, before withstanding the charge from the Roosters to win by eight-points.
Blake Watson, who recently earned his first VFL call-up with Sandringham, picked up the perfect 10 Coaches MVP Votes, with Mitchell Andrews and Deakin Tennant playing key roles in their first win of the year.
Hurstbridge were just as impressive in their five-point win against the Borough.
The Bridges were always in it for most of the contest despite not having a lead at any of the first three breaks, with Sunny Brazier kicking a set shot inside the last minute to seal a spectacular win.
He and Cooper Perrin slotted home three majors each on the day whilst Tyson Old picked up the perfect 10 Coaches MVP votes. Lachlan East and Michael Florance were also dominant on the day.
Monday will mark almost four years since these two sides last played each other.
In a final round match-up that would determine the relegated side of the 2018 Division 1 competition, Hurstbridge prevailed to win by 26-points.
A result for either side would also achieve successive Division 1 victories for the first time in years, with Hurstbridge last winning two in a row in round 8, 2019 while if Whittlesea were to win, it would be their first back-to-back triumph since round 13, 2017.
