Round 14 of Heidelberg Golf Club Division 3 football includes some games which will be crucial to the race for finals action.
Ivanhoe and Laurimar look to have sewn up the top two spots on the ladder, but the race for spots three, four and five is very tight.
Reservoir (3rd) has 7 wins and a percentage of 128.39.
Their run home is tough at first: Watsonia away, Ivanhoe at home, Laurimar away, Heidelberg West at home and then Old Eltham Collegians away.
Watsonia (4th) has 7 wins and a percentage of 118.64
Their run home begins with Reservoir at home, bye, Mernda away, Kilmore at home and Kinglake at home
Mernda (5th) has 7 wins and a percentage of 117.44
Their run home is manageable: Kinglake, Epping and Watsonia all at home, then Lalor and Kilmore away
Heidelberg West has 6 wins and a percentage of 85.2
Their run home contains some winnable games, but they need to make up a win and percentage: Epping away, Kilmore at home, bye, Reservoir away and Lalor at home.
Epping plays Heidelberg West at Epping Recreational Reserve in a match which will be incredibly emotional following the tragic passing of Epping player Nathan Fitzgerald. A memorial service will be held before the game to honour and pay tribute to Nathan’s life and allow people to pay their respects. Epping Football Netball Club president Luke De Vincentis confirmed the number 34 worn by Nathan would be retired as it would be “forever (associated with) Fitzy.”
The NFNL will be live streaming the match on the NFNL Facebook page from 2pm on Saturday afternoon, in conjunction with The Northern Footy Show and Sportscast Australia.
Turning our attention to the match itself and the Hawks need to win this contest to keep in touch with the top five. As they are one win behind both Watsonia and Reservoir, who play each other the same day, a win would put them outside of the five on percentage only.
While form and ladder position suggests a close game, it is unclear how the Blues will fare given their difficulties of the past week. But a win would put them just one win behind Heidelberg West, with a chance to overtake them by season’s end. If they can get the four points, I dare say it would be one of the club’s greatest wins in its history.
Ivanhoe faces off against Kilmore at Ivanhoe Park. The unbeaten Hoers will have their sights on continuing their winning run and would be the tip with virtually every tipster. Their runaway win over Mernda last weekend is good form for their match-up on their home deck.
The Blues looked good when winning easily over Kinglake last weekend at home and will see this as a great challenge. Their young players will relish the test against their highly credentialled opponents.
Mernda plays host to Kinglake in a game transferred to Waterview Reserve. The Demons had six-straight wins and then lost three in a row to the teams now occupying the top three spots on the ladder. The club will be desperate to get back on the winners list and the form they showed early in the match last week against Ivanhoe at the same venue will be good enough to make them firm favourites this weekend.
The Lakers will be eyeing off an upset win as they continue their long sequence of games on the road. Given the recent losing run of their opponents, the team may regard this as a chance to pinch a win against the odds.
The home team will be helped if they can get back some of their injured stars as they set their sights on regaining third spot.
Laurimar hosts Old Eltham Collegians at Laurimar Reserve in a match which sees the Power going in as hot favourites. This is the first of three consecutive home games for Laurimar prior to their Round 17 clash with Ivanhoe.
They will have their focus on winning all three and building momentum for the top two tussle.
The Turtles would like to be highly competitive in this game as they set themselves up for winnable games to come.
Watsonia takes on Reservoir at Binnak Park in a clash with huge ramifications for spots three, four and five. The Saints have gone win, loss for the past six weeks and would like that sequence to continue for just one more match.
Conversely, the Mustangs were in hot form, winning five on the trot, prior to their bye. It will be critical for them to hit theirs straps early and not be a little rusty.
Given the closeness of these teams on the ladder and the significance of a win, it shapes as a close tussle and a tough one in which to pick a winner. Watsonia’s home losses have been to the top two teams and Mernda, so it’s not an easy away game for most outfits.
If Reservoir can secure a win, they would go a long way to claiming its first finals appearance since 2015 and would also be a chance for third spot.
The Saints were all but written off early in the season but would go a long way to clinching a finals spot if they can prevail. A great contest looks likely, with ex-AFL players in Cameron Cloke up forward for Watsonia and the likes of Trent Cotchin, Bachar Houli and Aaron Edwards lining up for the Mustangs.
