Three teams are fighting for the last two spots in the five as round 17 action of Heidelberg Golf Club Division 3 Football approaches.
Round 16 games gave fans some significant momentum swings.
Laurimar took on Old Eltham Collegians at Laurimar Reserve. The Turtles looked a chance to cause a massive upset at half time when they led by 14-points. But the Power hit the accelerator button after the main break with a 16.6 to 1.2 second half to win by 80 points.
“We were pretty poor in the first half and the Turtles were first to the footy; but once we started to win the contest we were able to use the footy well,” said Laurimar coach Jimmy Atkins.
Patrick Fitzgerald kicked eight goals to go out to a nine goal lead on Aaron Edwards and will be hard to catch now. Bailey Macleod booted three in an impressive display. Laurimar goes to the bye.
Nick Milne showed his class with three majors, while Ben Cox returned to his early season good form for Old Eltham Collegians.
Ivanhoe secured its first win at Epping Recreational Reserve with a runaway win over Epping and, more importantly, took a firm grip on third spot on the table. Remarkably, the Hoers have finished with a total of 107 in three of their past four games.
Mernda and Kinglake clashed at Waterview Recreation Reserve. The Demons slotted four unanswered goals late in the first term to go to a handy 22-point lead.
But the Lakers gradually worked their way back into the game before powering away in the final quarter to win by 27 points.
“In the first half we went away from what we were good at, but the boys responded after half time,” said Kinglake coach Dave Florance. Florance liked the work of Bailey and Connor Caldow as well as Rory McIntyre and Michael Florance.
“All I ask for is effort and it wasn’t quite there today”, said Mernda coach Brent Marshall. Marshall praised the work of seventeen-year-old Declan Felle, another teenager in Lincoln Coffey and Lachlan Taylor.
The Fitzroy Stars played Kilmore at Sir Douglas Nicholls Oval with the Blues trying to keep their finals chances alive. Kilmore was close at quarter time but the Stars pulled away for a 59-point win.
“Yeah, a strong win at home on the back of a tough week for our club. I’m proud of everyone at the Stars and we are looking forward to Epping this week,” said Fitzroy Stars coach Neville Jetta.
James Dau is having a great patch and led a winning defence for the Stars, while teammate Joharo Harvey-Connellan played his best game for the year.
“We just drifted away from playing our style of footy and, against the best side, it hurt us”, said Kilmore coach Paul Derrick. Derrick liked the work of Ryan Johnson, Bailey Derrick, Chris Barton and Liam Monaghan.
Reservoir took on Lalor at Crispe Park in a game highlighted by the one-off game by Richmond premiership captain Trent Cotchin. Cotchin thrilled the crowd on and off the field with three majors and interaction with the local fans.
The Mustangs had a 13-point lead after first use of the breeze and the lead stayed within the 2-3 goal margin at each change thereafter, winning by 14 points.
Sam Rexhepi, with three goals, and Jared Coco were among the best for the Bloods is a game where they went closer than many pundits expected.
“Lalor was tough and competitive the whole game; our boys had to dig deep against a strong wind in the fourth,” said Reservoir coach Rohan Davies. Davies praised the work of Cotchin for making it a great day for all and a big night in the rooms long after the siren.
Josh Grabowski and Nicholas Miliaresis have had great seasons and were instrumental in the win.
The Fitzroy Stars, Laurimar and Ivanhoe look set to fill the top three spots come finals time. The next spots are currently filled by Epping on nine wins with only one game left to play. Kinglake is on eight wins and Kilmore on seven.
Here are the scenarios for each of these three playing finals:
Epping need to win this week against the Fitzroy Stars and they are in. If they lose, they may need Kilmore to lose at least one game. If Kilmore win both, then it comes down to percentage.
Kinglake plays Lalor and Kilmore. They can only drop out if they lose both games.
Kilmore plays Heidelberg West and Kinglake. They will need to win both for a shot at finals. If they can achieve that and Epping loses to the Stars, percentage will come into play. Kilmore will need their two winning margins plus Epping’s losing margin to add up to approximately 140 to displace Epping.
Round 17 action may set things up for an intriguing final round.
Kilmore hosts Heidelberg West at J.J. Clancy Reserve. The Hawks are out of the finals race but this is a must-win game for the Blues of they are to keep their finals dreams alive. It can be tricky for teams in Kilmore’s position to just keep ticking off wins against lower opponents.
Without doubt they will be highly favoured here, but the Hawks are fresh off the bye and performed reasonably well prior to that. Dale Mayne’s men would love to spoil the party and win on the road against a finals aspirant.
Should the Blues prevail it will likely set up a fascinating final week of the regular season.
Ivanhoe takes on Reservoir at Ivanhoe Park in a game which won’t affect finals positions. But with both teams excelling of late, the contest has considerable interest.
The Hoers will be the tip for most pundits as they are on a seven-game winning streak. Their motivation will be there to keep their momentum going into the round 18 battle with Laurimar.
The Mustangs have won three of their last four matches and would be keen to defeat a top team in the run home. In the only encounter between the two teams at this venue, Reservoir went close to causing a huge upset last year before going down by seven points.
Lalor welcomes Kinglake to Lalor Reserve in what is a must-win match for the Lakers. A win will almost certainly see them return to finals action. They are likely to be strongly fancied based on ladder position and the fact that their last eight games have yielded five wins and losses to the top three teams.
The Bloods fans will be hoping for an upset win so that they have a shot of avoiding the wooden spoon. The clash between these teams at this venue last season saw Kinglake win by just 12-points.
Given that Lance Whitnall’s men ran Reservoir close last week at Crispe Park, they should approach this game with a measure of belief.
The Fitzroy Stars host Epping at Sir Douglas Nicholls Oval and will be looking to keep their perfect season record intact. They would be highly fancied to do so considering that the Blues have lost their past three games and that they just despatched a finals contender in Kilmore to the tune of 59 points at the same venue last weekend. It’s hard to make a case against them.
But the greater motivation lies with the Blues on two levels. Firstly, an upset win will lock away a finals berth. Failing that, a close loss will keep them relatively safe as well.
What they cannot afford is a blowout. Having had some key players come back from injury last week and the possibility of more of their best players returning will give them a boost.
It shapes to be an interesting match-up which will have huge implications of the finals race.
