Old Eltham Collegians secured their second consecutive appearance in the Heidelberg Golf Club Division 3 finals series following a convincing 80-point victory over Kilmore at Eltham College.
The Turtles had to win Saturday’s clash in order to lock in fourth position on the ladder, and with a 14.16 (100) to 3.2 (20) result, it sets up an enthralling clash with Kinglake in the first semi-final next Sunday afternoon.
“We responded well to the pressure of having to win,” Old Eltham Collegians assistant coach Zac Cole said.
“The season starts again now for us, and we will set ourselves for Kinglake.”
Despite the lopsided score line, it was the Blues who looked the better team early in the piece.
They controlled the game at the start and the first goal for them came courtesy of a great kick by Aaron Speak, who cleverly gave the ball enough air to clear the congestion and find Ben Schraven in space. Schraven got the job done with the kick from an angle.
Kilmore players missed a couple of shots after that which could’ve extended the lead and it wasn’t until late in the term that the Turtles began to hit their straps.
Nick Snowdon had a terrific game for the home team, especially when the game was up for grabs. Marking 30 metres out directly in front, he got his team on the board in the opening quarter with a major.
Soon after, his teammate Daniel Cartisano swooped on the ball to give his team a lead that would not be taken away from them for the remainder of the game.
With momentum at quarter time, Old Eltham Collegians coach Matt Sleeman urged his team to go quickly when moving the ball forward.
The team followed his instructions well and dominated the game from that point onwards.
Timothy Ellis displayed his ability to intercept mark and used the ball well off half back while Liam Rushton-McCoach also gave his team plenty of drive with his long kicking from defence.
Jay Smith excelled across half forward and hit the scoreboard for the third consecutive week.
The highlight for the Blues in the term came when they transferred the ball coast to coast to find debutant Mitchell O’Dwyer, who’s shot from a tight angle split the middle, much to the joy of his teammates,
Sadly, for Kilmore fans, star player Christopher Barton went off injured in the same term and was ruled out for the rest of the day. With Barton’s exit, the hopes of his team seemed to disappear as well.
The Turtles went into half time with a handy buffer of 21 points and went right on with the job in the second half.
Returning to the side, Matthew Keys finished off the game extremely well with strong marking and a bag of four majors. Matthew Williamson too slotted four to finish on top of the competition goalkicking charts with 63 majors.
Nicholas Milne was enormous for the home team in the third term with a goal as well as numerous scoring assists and centre clearances.
The Blues players kept at it throughout the final two terms but weren’t able to wrestle back control of the game. In the absence of Ethan Fitzpatrick, who had Calder Cannons duties, Michael McCulloch shouldered the majority of the ruckwork and performed admirably.
“The effort was there, but the Turtles owned the corridor and the inside fifties,” Kilmore coach Paul Derrick said.
Derrick had praise for the strong work of Grant Paxton and also liked the efforts of Mitchell Portoglou in defence and Liam Monaghan, who was used in various roles all over the ground.
Midfielders Riley McLaughlin and Michael Marrett got plenty of the footy for the visitors, while Barry Joseph contributed well in their side’s final game of the 2023 campaign.
