The race for fifth spot in the Division 3 finals is on in earnest with just two rounds to play.
With the top four sides all but confirmed, the real interest in the ladder lies in positions fifth to seventh, occupied by Montmorency, Epping and Diamond Creek respectively and results over the next fortnight will be crucial.
To last week’s matches however and St Mary’s continues to sit at the top of the tree after a comfortable 43-point win over Laurimar.
Three goals to Burra captain Natalie Cora earned her best on ground honours, with Jasmine Stone and Charly Bandera also playing excellent games. It was St Mary’s ability to defend the ground which impressed as much as their attacking forays, limiting the Power to just one goal for the match.
For Laurimar Hayley Dyer, Courtney Dark and Sarah Campbell were given the nod as their best players on the night. The loss leaves them in eighth spot with games to come against Macleod and Thomastown to end the season.
Third-placed Eltham was too good for Diamond Creek, winning by 92 points on Sunday afternoon at Plenty War Memorial Park.
The Panthers were in control from the word go and gave their percentage a real boost with the 92-0 win. Eliza Heath and Indiana Jovanovski kicked four goals each for the visitors and Hazel Smith, Therese Tynan and Cassie Hicks were recognised for their efforts. At the time of writing no best players were selected for Diamond Creek.
Montmorency gave their finals hopes a real boost with a 55-point win over Thomastown. The win sees the Magpies occupying fifth spot on the table for now with a decent gap in percentage to sixth-placed Epping.
Magpie Sian Capito kicked four goals and was well supported by excellent games from Athanasia Patroungas, Ellie Thomas and Jasmine Ellis. At the time of writing no best players were selected for Thomastown.
While the Bears are out of finals contention, they do have winnable games coming up against Wallan and Laurimar so certainly can finish their season on a bright note if they can get a win or two.
Darebin had a similarly comfortable win over Wallan, winning by 43 points at AH Capp Reserve.
The Magpies were able to hold the Falcons at bay in the first term, but from there the home side got rolling with six goals to one for the remainder of the match. Four goals to Nikita Magriplis and three to best afield Kai Buzza were the keys for Darebin along with Amy Crowden and Claire Hardi.
Nicole Evans, Toni Gussenhoven and Ava Borg were the best players for Wallan.
Macleod and Whittlesea played out the closest contest of the weekend, Macleod prevailing at home by 11 points in a low-scoring affair.
There was a straight kick in it for most of the afternoon and Whittlesea were left to rue some inaccurate kicking – the result could have looked a bit different if the Eagles could turn their 1.5 into a couple more goals.
Phebe D’Arro, Kayla North, Laila Zayat and Rebecca Stellini were the best players for the Kangaroos, while Audrey Steinke continues to impress for Whittlesea. Ashley Fitzpatrick and Emma Hancy also had solid outings.
