Old Eltham Collegians remain in Heidelberg Golf Club Division 3 finals calculations after ending a five-game losing streak over Heidelberg West with a huge 91-point victory at Heidelberg Park.
The 20.12 (132) to 6.5 (41) triumph is the first win by the Turtles over the Hawks since Round 3 of 2022 at the same venue, but unlike that contest, Saturday’s game always looked to be heading Old Eltham Collegians’ way, after they led by 20 points at quarter time and never looked back.
It was an afternoon that couldn’t have been scripted better for Turtles fans. As the day progressed, the live ladder calculations were studied with interest as the 91-point win gave them enough of a percentage boost to put them ahead of both Mernda and Ivanhoe.
It means that a victory next week over Old Paradians, no matter the margin, will propel them to finals action.
The team’s rollercoaster ride has seen them win six straight, then lose six on the trot and now win three in a row either side of their recent bye.
“Our destiny is now in our own hands,” said Old Eltham Collegians coach Matt Sleeman.
Sleeman named Brent Macaffer as his best, but the star player sent a scare through the coaching staff in the second quarter when he seemed to have suffered a serious injury, before returning to the game just before half time.
Veteran Benjamin Gill has played the last four matches in the senior team and has hit the scoreboard multiple times in each game. He finished with three majors again for the afternoon.
He was outdone inside 50 however by Kieran Malone who slotted five goals for the victors, while Tom Burns, Ben Cox and Sam Warren all chipped in with two. Matt Keys provided a target across half forward and also booted the opening goal of the match.
Down back, Hugh Cavanagh and Daniel Hallett led a winning defensive unit who often appeared to outnumber the Heidelberg West forwards. They were aided by the hard-working Turtles midfielders who ran back to assist.
One such player was captain Liam Rushton-McCoach, who got plenty of the football, applied pressure on every occasion and stuck plenty of tackles. He also managed a rare major thanks to a 50-metre penalty.
The motivation for both teams could not have been different coming into this clash. While the Turtles needed the win to stay in the race for the finals, the Hawks were preparing for their last match of the season due to having the Round 18 bye next week.
Late withdrawals of Lachlan Reinke, Nicholas Kennan and Billy Wright saw the home team field an inexperienced line-up, and with a 46-point half time deficit and a poor third term to take the gap out to 74 points, a triple digit loss looked on the cards.
At the three quarter time address, Heidelberg West coach Dale Mayne urged his players to fight the game out, stop the opposition running in numbers and employ the switch of play.
The final term was the most productive the Hawks had been despite being outscored seven goals to four. Alex Hywood led the way for the locals to kick three majors for the quarter, with Connor Camilleri kicking the other goal to avert the chance of a 100-point plus defeat.
“It’s not all gloom and doom, we have some positives to take out of the year,” Heidelberg West coach Dale Mayne said.
Mayne praised the work of Max Brown and Mitchell Thompson in defence. Youngster Ben Goldie debuted for the senior team after showing recent good form in the reserves and looks to have a future in the side.
