Round 12 of Heidelberg Gold Club football had huge implications on the ladder.
Reservoir has made it five in a row leading up to their Round 13 bye with a 33-point victory over Kilmore at Crispe Park. A 5.5 to 1.1 first term set the tone for the day and the Mustangs controlled the game thereafter, with Mark Ferraro among the best.
“It was a challenge for us against a good, young side in Kilmore who like to move the ball quickly,” Reservoir coach Joe Palazzolo said.
“I think the boys did a great job with our pressure game and intensity around the ground. They started the game well and responded well when challenged.”
The Blues played five under-17s who would have loved playing against a team with ex-AFL stars such as Trent Cotchin.
“We continue to step in the right direction,” Kilmore coach Mick Marrett said.
“We’re putting the work in and look forward to the rest of the year and the challenges that we’ll face.”
Marrett noted that Reservoir leadership and experience helped get them over the line. He loved the work of Josh Coe who put in his best game for the year. He also noted that Ryan Bailey in def was hard at the contest, and teenager Darcy Baldwin-Potton was great in his debut game.
Old Eltham Collegians took on Kinglake at Eltham College in what was a tight game with multiple lead changes. The Lakers led at quarter time and at the last change, but the Turtles grabbed the lead at half time and were in front at the final siren, winning by 8 points.
Old Eltham Collegians hit the lead at the ten-minute mark of the final term. From then onwards, they booted five behinds to a solitary behind by Kinglake. Fortunately for the Turtles, their errant kicking late in the game wasn’t costly.
“After leading at half time, Kinglake outplayed us and led by 11 points at three quarter time,” Old Eltham Collegians coach Stewart McCallum said.
“The last quarter was a hard-fought battle. Our backline held strong for the whole game. We got on top after Ben Rowe and Mitch Crapper kicked very important goals to put us in front. It was great to come away with the win and see the game plan implemented.”
Lakers fans had some good moments and a win looked likely after a four goal to one third term, but the team was unable to sustain the effort.
“A lack of discipline cost us in the second quarter,” Kinglake coach Justin Sherman said.
“But I loved the way we showed courage and fought back in the second half. We just need to bring that for four quarters.”
Sherman nominated Mason McAllister as their best while also liking the efforts from Liam Lucas who played on ball, Aidan McErlain who played on Beaudie Maroney and Bailey Hamer who was assigned Nick Milne.
Laurimar got the job done against Lalor at Laurimar Reserve to the tune of 122 points. Hayden Trim kicked six in the victory, with Jesse Donaldson also excelling.
“We were slow to get going, but we got our ball movement going after half time and ramped up our pressure as well,” Laurimar coach Jimmy Atkins said.
Lalor was able to hit the scoreboard well enough with their fourth highest score for the season with 63 points, but couldn’t effectively stop the Power up the other end.
Sam Rexhepi kicked three goals for the Bloods, with Nawid Najafi continuing his good recent form.
Ivanhoe extended it’s winning run to ten with a 54-point victory over Heidelberg West at Heidelberg Park.
Josh Neilson was recently promoted from Ivanhoe reserves and followed up last week’s haul of two goals with a further four on the weekend. Riley Loton and playing coach Wayne Schultz both contributed strongly in the win, ably assisted by Michael Doyle.
The Hawks lost to the Hoers by 142 points back in Round 2 this season, so their 54-point loss shows that they’ve improved significantly over that period. As has been the case in many of their wins, Ivanhoe was able hit the scoreboard in short bursts of dominance, despite the Hawks defending the ground well for long periods of the game.
“It was a tough test, but we welcome the opportunity to play the best teams,” Heidelberg West coach Michael Missen said.
“We felt the game was super competitive, but we weren’t able to get reward for effort on the scoreboard when we had opportunities forward. We take positives for keeping them to their second lowest score for the season.”
Missen named Connor Dunne and Mitch Thompson as strong performers for the team.
The clash between Epping and Watsonia at Epping Recreational Reserve looked to be the match of the day and lived up to its billing.
The Saints would have been determined to atone for their big loss to Heidelberg West the week prior and looked desperate to start well. That translated into four unanswered goals through the middle of the first term, with a quarter time lead of 18 points.
From that moment onwards, the Blues fought their way back into the contest. The deficit was narrowed to ten points at the major break. It was 45-all late in the third term, but a Watsonia goal put them six points up at the last break.
Epping’s key forward Daniel Rakhlin was set to be a key player in the final term. Having already booted four on the day, he slotted another two to put his team in front for the first time since early in the first quarter, with the second coming from a contested mark in the goal square.
The lead was short-lived as Campbell Ritchie had the quick reply up the other end. The key play of the day came at the 23-minute mark of the final quarter.
Epping had the ball in defence and kicked out wide to Brent Macaffer, who had been outstanding on the day. Under-19s Watsonia player Ryan Talarico then had good closing speed to effect the spoil. The pair fought for the ball, Talarico won the contest to the delight of the Watsonia fans and got the ball moving forward. It led to a goal from Bailey White who celebrated a huge moment in the game.
Up stepped Rakhlin again. Epping captain Leigh Judd worked the ball inside 50 on his non-preferred foot for Rakhlin to mark. His kick from 30m out and directly in front and the ball went straight over the goal umpire’s hat to reduce the deficit to two points. But the siren blew a few seconds later, with the Saints saluting in a thriller.
Watsonia coach Anthony McGregor noted that the young fellas stepped up when needed and highlighted Talarico’s last quarter heroics.
It was a great win by the Saints to rebound from the previous week’s loss while missing forwards such as Cameron Cloke and Seb Tarczon.
The loss was a blow for the loyal local fans who saw their team fall tantalisingly short of their first win against a top five side.
Epping coach Brad Hollow was pleased that they may good inroads after conceding a three-goal start and praised the work of their high-end talent in Daniel Rakhlin, Brent Macaffer, Josh Bawden, Leigh Judd and Corey Middleton.
The weekend’s results have caused some significant, but not insurmountable, splits in the ladder. Ivanhoe and Laurimar head the table on ten wins, with the Hoers having a game in hand. Mernda, Reservoir and Watsonia are all three games back with seven wins, but the Demons have played one less game than the other two in this group. These three look likely to battle it out for the last remaining double chance spot.
Heidelberg West is two games off fifth place, but their easier run home means that they’re still in with a shot. Epping, Kilmore and Old Eltham Collegians are a game further back from the Hawks and would almost need a miracle to be any chance.
