With just three teams left in the race, preliminary final day of Heidelberg Golf Club Division 3 football sees Laurimar face off against Watsonia at Lalor Reserve on Saturday.
The prize on offer, a shot a premiership glory against Ivanhoe next weekend.
In Round 1 this season the Power hosted the Saints. Watsonia coach Anthony McGregor had seen a plethora of their top players from the 2025 team depart and, for much of the pre-season, the club wasn’t sure how well they would manage all the changes.
Virtually all the experts expected Laurimar to be there at the pointy end of the season, so the 102-24 result with Jimmy Atkins’ men romping away in the second half came as no surprise.
The word around the traps was that the Saints would finish in the bottom few places on the table. But then they proceeded to record upset wins over Reservoir and Epping on the way to being 5 and 2, sitting fourth on the table after round 8. In fact, they remained in the top five from round 3 until the end of the season.
Having said that it wasn’t a breeze to qualify for finals. They required a home win over Kinglake in the final round of the season. Watsonia was cruising at half time when leading by 33 points, but the Lakers got within eight points in the final term before a Bailey White goal sent a huge sigh of relief around Binnak Park. The home team won by two goals in a result which belied what was to come.
The Saints trailed at three quarter time against Heidelberg West in the first elimination final, but stormed home to win by 28 points. A week later against Mernda, they were 16 points down at quarter time but finished full of running to cruise to a big 62-point victory.
They ran away with these games with great pressure around the ball and a good spread once the ball was won at the coalface.
These results will give them great confidence going into Saturday’s clash with the Power. It shapes as Watsonia, the irresistible force, meeting Laurimar, the immovable object.
Saturday’s combatants met again in Round 13, this time at Binnak Park. The Power led at every change to win by 28 points. It was a much better result for the Saints compared to the season opener. And, given the form of the past two weeks, their fans will go to the game on Saturday with genuine hope.
There are still plenty of reasons for Laurimar fans to be optimistic. They have beaten every side except Ivanhoe this season and have defeated every other team by over four goals, barring the narrow Round 2 win over Mernda.
The effort to get back into the game against Ivanhoe after being blown away early sowed a lot of character. An added advantage is that they have an extra day’s rest compared to their opposition.
The full forwards create a lot of interest. Patrick Fitzgerald has booted 75 goals for the Power including finals, while Cameron Cloke has 55. Both teams have a variety of tall defenders, so it’s not clear who may get the job at each end of the field.
James Apted had the job on Cloke in Round 13 when Cloke kicked four majors but has missed recent weeks with suspension following the Round 17 clash against Ivanhoe. His return to the side this weekend would likely see him set for the role on Watsonia’s spearhead.
Fitzgerald missed the round 13 match but slotted six in the Round 1 encounter. Owen Davidson played on him that day, but Davidson hasn’t been seen since Round 16. Toby Herbert may get the important task this weekend.
As both sides can move the ball speedily from end to end, a high standard game is possible in this crucial contest.
