It will be South Morang and Old Eltham Collegians who will face off in Saturday’s Heidelberg Golf Club Division 3 preliminary final, with a spot in the big dance well and truly in either side’s grasp.
It’s a fascinating match-up between teams which have both produced long winning runs during the season.
The Turtles went on a seven-game winning streak from Round’s 2 to 8, while the Lions won their last eleven games of the regular season.
Each team had a patch where they struggled as well. South Morang lost three on the trot from Round’s 5 to 7 and, at that stage, the double chance looked only a slim hope, before then hitting form as players began to return from injury and illness.
However, the Lions failed to make it 12 in a row when going down to Laurimar in the second semi-final by 26 points last week.
After Old Eltham Collegians went on their winning run, they finished the season with five wins from their last ten games which included a record of 2-5 against top six sides.
Their two triumphs in the second half of the regular season were against Laurimar in Round 14 and Kilmore in Round 17; both wins were by a solitary behind and amazingly, they won three games by that margin this year.
Although it doesn’t read like the ideal lead-in to the finals in terms of form, the Turtles struggled with injury and illness through the middle to latter part of the season. Their squad is a lot healthier now.
With the confidence gained from a Round 17 win over the Blues, Old Eltham Collegians were able to repeat the dose by defeating Kilmore to the tune of 21-points last week and, as a result, claimed their maiden senior men’s finals win in the NFNL.
It would seem logical that the loser of the second semi-final would be favoured to defeat the winner of the first semi-final and it usually works out that way, with eight of the eleven second semi-finals losers going on to win the preliminary final in the history of Division 3.
The other way to view the preliminary final match-up is to go with the team that looked more impressive in the first week of finals. In this case, the first semi-final winner in Old Eltham Collegians would be the tip. With the team looking more settled now and few, if any, changes expected this weekend, the Turtles should approach the game with some confidence.
Although they lost to South Morang in round 16 by a whopping 70 points, Matt Sleeman’s team looks better on paper than back then. Players to come back into the line-up since then include Jack Snow, Niall McDonagh, Tim Ellis, Jack Fitzgerald and teenager Sebastian Francis-Perkins.
The return of those players, plus the surprise loss by South Morang last week, will give Turtle fans hope that their wonderful season will last another week.
Two shining lights for Old Eltham Collegians this season have been Tim Ellis in defence and Nick Milne up forward. Ellis missed multiple weeks with an ankle injury but is now back playing excellent footy while Milne was outstanding in last week’s final, kicking six majors.
As for the Lions, they will be desperate to bounce back to the form that gave them an unblemished record from Round 8 through to the end of the season. During that period, they defeated each of the other finalists twice and by at least three goals each time.
They will be boosted by the return of Tye Hall to the team this week who will probably play midfield but can also fill in at both ends of the ground. Reece Jones and James Hewson would be welcome inclusions, if ready to go, while players from the winning reserves team last week will be putting their hands up if other changes are deemed necessary.
But, if Gary Hall’s men are to win, they will also need a spark from the players who played against the Power last week. If South Morang best and fairest contenders Bailey Brown and Matthew Trim can impose themselves on the game, the Lions would be well on their way to its third grand final appearance in the past four completed seasons.
With so much at stake, a great contest is anticipated in the penultimate game of season 2022.
