With a logjam of teams ranging from third to seventh, a thrilling final three weeks of the Heidelberg Golf Club Division 3 home and away season remains, beginning with Round 16 action this weekend.
One of the key games of the weekend prior took place at Ivanhoe Park with Ivanhoe facing Old Eltham Collegians.
With the plethora of changes from their last match, the Hoers probably went in as underdogs against the Turtles despite playing at home, as among the outs were the likes of Scott Selwood, Andy Otten and ruckman Ben Ernst.
But Ivanhoe led by 20 points at the last change following a solid opening three terms in difficult conditions, forcing Matthew Sleeman’s men to finish strongly in the last quarter to snatch a vital six-point win.
Prized recruit Bradyn Taglieri came into side for Old Eltham Collegians and stood out with three majors. Ironically, the Turtles won with a total of just 52 points, as a score in the 50’s occurred five times in their six-game losing streak earlier in the season.
On the other side of the ledger, midfielder Marcel Moran drew praise from his coach for body-lining the ball, while his clean inside work helped his team towards winning the territory battle.
“I’m proud of the boys’ efforts to play well to the conditions,” Ivanhoe coach Wayne Schultz said.
Kilmore kept its finals chances alive when playing Heidelberg West at J.J. Clancy Reserve.
Fresh off their win against Reservoir, the Hawks had their noses in front at quarter time, before Chris Barton then led the way as the Blues took control of the match, kicking eight goals to one in the middle stages of the game on their way to victory.
Old Paradians hosted Reservoir at Garvey Oval and continued their trend of strong efforts against lower ranked teams in 2024.
Since the bye, the Raiders have lost to fellow top three sides in Mernda and the Fitzroy Stars, but they have recorded wins of 97, 70, 56 and now 124 points against teams outside the top five, with the latter being against the Mustangs.
“We executed out plans really well and sustained a high level of footy all day,” Old Paradians coach Ben Turner said.
Tall forward Blair Healy booted a season-high of five goals for the victors, while Nicholas Miliaresis did well for the Mustangs in just his fourth game of the year.
The Fitzroy Stars hosted Mernda at Sir Douglas Nicholls Oval and drew away after quarter time for a 31-point victory.
Lionel Proctor’s men have now won five consecutive games and are arguably the most in-form team in the competition.
With this result, the Stars and Raiders sit on eleven wins apiece and are two games clear of Mernda. With the Demons having an inferior percentage, it all but locks away the top two spots on the ladder.
The Fitzroy Stars have a game in hand over Old Paradians, so they will get the rest in the first week of the finals if they continue to bank the wins, however with the percentage gap between the Stars and Raiders being small, the Raiders are still a chance to grab top spot if the Stars drop a game in the run home.
The Demons head a group of five teams battling it out for the other three finals spots. They sit on nine wins, with Ivanhoe, Epping and Old Eltham Collegians all four points behind, while a game further back is Kilmore. Of that group, Mernda and the Turtles still have a bye to come.
Round 16 action provides more matches which will have a big impact on the make-up of the final five.
Kilmore travels to Waterview Recreation Reserve to take on Mernda, with the Blues needing a win to remain in the finals hunt.
But few pundits would have pencilled this in as a triumph for the visitors, as Kilmore are four spots below the Demons on the ladder along with the fact that Robert Fletcher’s men have not lost at home since 2022.
Despite all this, it’s worth noting that Mernda has lost three of their past four games, dropping points against Epping, Kinglake and the Stars, so Kilmore fans will sense a chance of pulling off an upset, particularly seeing as they were two points shy of doing so in their last meeting back in Round 8 at J.J. Clancy Reserve.
Lalor hosts Old Paradians at Lalor Reserve. Based on the recent form of the Raiders against teams at the foot of the table, they will be hot favourites to get the chocolates in this encounter.
A big win here will cement a top two finish and that looks like the most likely outcome.
The Bloods can look to follow the lead of the Mustangs, who improved markedly after their Round 11 bye.
It should be noted that just before the bye, Lance Whitnall’s men performed well against the top of the table Fitzroy Stars, as excluding the second term, Lalor outscored the Stars 10.3 to 8.7 and posted the second highest score against the ladder leaders in 2024.
Reservoir hosts the Fitzroy Stars at Crispe Park. If the Mustangs can pull off an upset win in one of their remaining two games, they have a chance to go ahead of Lalor on the ladder.
While this gives them motivation, it looks to be a tough challenge against the league leaders.
The Stars need nothing less than the four points here as they aim to hold on to top spot. They look almost certain to tick that box and would be hoping to maintain their great form ahead of their last two games of the home and away season against finals hopefuls in Epping and Kilmore.
Epping comes off the bye to play Heidelberg West at Heidelberg Park. The Blues have not played at this venue since 2017 but defeated the Hawks at Epping Recreational Reserve by 61 points back in Round 5 this year.
Having won four of their past five matches, Brad Hollow’s men would be expected to get the four points in this one to remain in the top five.
The Hawks however would love to knock off a higher ranked team to give themselves momentum for 2025 and would see this as a possible upset win on their home deck.
In what could be a danger game, Ivanhoe faces off against Kinglake at Ivanhoe Park.
The Hoers would be favourites based on ladder positions as well as the home ground advantage and need to get the job done here to firm up their finals chances. An added positive for the home team is that the Lakers will be heading to this ground for the very first time.
However, Kinglake’s form leading up to the bye has been as good as any of the side’s that are still in the finals race.
They had a narrow loss to Epping sandwiched in between upset victories over Old Eltham Collegians and Mernda. Another scalp will certainly give Dave Florance’s’ men more momentum heading into next season, and it may also move them one spot up the ladder.
This contest will be a good test for Ivanhoe and if they can prevail, they will feel as though they are closing in on a finals berth in their inaugural season in the competition.
