An exciting round 3 of Heidelberg Golf Club Division 3 football saw the big guns flex their muscles and a couple of other teams pull off upsets.
Kilmore came off the early bye to host Heidelberg West at JJ Clancy Reserve. The Hawks rebounded from a 142-point defeat at the hands of Ivanhoe the previous week to overcome the Blues to the tune of seven points in a significant upset.
“Seven days is a long time in footy”, said Heidelberg West coach Michael Missen. “We had a really tough week with some hard conversations but I’m really proud of the entire footy club. We were happy to see more of our footy played for longer, but we aren’t satisfied and have plenty of growth ahead.”
Missen liked the work of Brad Moore, Alex Scrutton, Connor Dunne, Max Post, Mitch Antonello and Zac Smith.
Kilmore was in the contest all day with the first two goals on the contest and a quarter time lead but just fell short on the day. Zack Ferguson, Josh Vilinskis and Jarvis Sleep were best for the Blues.
Watsonia has confirmed their status as a team to watch after defeating Epping at Binnak Park by 38 points.
The Saints led at every change with Cameron Cloke and Bailey White kicking three goals apiece for the winners, along with Charlie Smythe, Seb Tarczon and Dean Talarico among the best players on the day.
The win moves Watsonia into the top five with a good platform to build on in the early stages of the season.
Laurimar recorded a massive 158-point win over Kinglake at Laurimar Reserve. In his 300th game, Patrick Fitzgerald was simply unstoppable and wowed the adoring home crowd with a massive bag of 14 goals. This big bag not only propels him to the top of the goal-kicking table but gives him a ten-goal lead on Daniel Rakhlin and Cameron Cloke. Matt Keys chipped in with four majors, while Bailey Macleod and Jesse Donaldson also impressed.
“A good win and we moved the ball well today”, said Laurimar coach Jimmy Atkins. “We’re very lucky to have Doita (Fitzgerald).”
Dylan Hoysted and Willem Morrison booted two each for the Lakers. Mason McAllister continued his outstanding start to the season for Kinglake, while teenager Eli Best played his best senior game.
Old Eltham Collegians travelled to Lalor Reserve to take on Lalor. The Bloods fans were hoping for a boilover win and led at quarter time, but the Turtles became more dominant as the day wore on and drew away to win by 50 points.
“The win came with every player contribution and a couple of individual outstanding efforts, with Tim Ellis across half back and Tom Burns kicking four”, said Old Eltham Collegians coach Stewart McCallum.
Sam Rexhepi had his best haul for the season for Lalor with four majors. Josh Tribuzio impressed in his first senior game for the Bloods since 2019.
Ivanhoe had back-to-back home games at the later starting time at Ivanhoe Park and recorded a big 110-point win over Reservoir with a relentless work-rate and the ability to punish the Mustangs on turnover.
“Reservoir did well with uncontested marks, but I’m really happy with our spread from the contest”, said Ivanhoe coach Wayne Schultz. After the game, Schultz gave credit to Charles Robinson who booted four majors, including three in the opening term when the game was up for grabs.
He also highlighted the great job done by Oscar McIntyre on Aaron Edwards as well as the defensive pressure applied by Lachlan Turner.
“The boys had a crack and never dropped their effort despite the fact that we had no bench in the second half”, said Reservoir coach Steve Krstevski. Krstevski praised the work of James Tadd in the midfield, as well as Marcus Cantwell in defence and captain Jack Sandric who played in the ruck and in defence.
Laurimar heads the table as the only team with three victories. Ivanhoe is a game back on two wins with a game in hand at 2-0. A surprising trio of teams fill out the rest of the top five, with Old Eltham Collegians, Watsonia and Heidelberg West all sitting at 2-1.
Kilmore and Mernda are next at 1-1, with Epping and Reservoir just behind at 1-2. Kinglake and Lalor are yet to record at victory after three games.
