Two teams doing their best to keep in touch with the top five in Old Eltham Collegians and Epping battled it out at Eltham College, with the ground holding up after rain much better this season.
The Blues recovered from a big loss against Laurimar the week prior to totally dominate the first half of the match. A 41 point lead at the major break became 62-points midway through the third term and a 100-point win looked like a chance.
But then a remarkable change came over the game. The Turtles booted four goals to nil to head into the last break with significant momentum, still trailing by 38 points. They scored the first goal of the final term as they aimed for a miracle win.
Old Eltham Collegians were doing a great job in shutting down Epping’s scoring. However, it all came unstuck with four consecutive behinds in the middle part of the final quarter, leaving them 28-points adrift. Straight kicking would’ve drawn them to within eight points with a fair chunk of time left on the clock. The Blues kicked the final goal of the game to run out 34-point victors.
“We’ve been working for weeks and weeks to get it right and we did it in the first half,” Epping coach Brad Hollow said.
Hollow had several players to praise for their efforts. Daniel Rakhlin kicked six majors, while Jude Georgievski, Jordan Wilkins, Brent Macaffer, Josh Bawden and captain Leigh Judd all contributed well.
Old Eltham Collegians’ fans will rue the slow start and missed opportunities late.
“We have the same problem every week. Kicking points.”
After playing his first game for the season the previous week, Eden Simpson found form to be among the best for the Turtles, along with Sam Warren, Beaudie Maroney and Connor Pilatti.
Taking that into consideration as well as the quarter time deficit of 39-points, Kinglake fought it out strongly in the 103-point loss.
Bailey Hamer and Lochlan Kelly were best for the Lakers, while Mathew Thomas had his most productive day in front of goals for the season with two.
The Hoers did what they needed to do in getting the four points coming off the bye as they aim to firm up the number one spot on the table.
“I’m rapt with the strong start and to be strong and clean around the contest,” Ivanhoe coach Wayne Schultz says.
He liked the work of Jordan Bleicher and Josh Neilson in their first senior games for the season. Liam Jacob also drew praise from his coach for his rebound off half back. Tristain Stead booted six majors up forward in his best return for the year.
Laurimar played Mernda at Laurimar Reserve in a two versus three encounter. The Demons were in the game early, but the Power lived up to their name and powered away after quarter time to win by 91 points. Joal Lawson kicked four goals in the win, as did Laim Waldron who played more forward than in games prior.
Jesse Guelfo and Kyle Yankos defended well against a forward line that was getting plenty of supply. The Demons copped multiple injuries on the day and will appreciate the upcoming bye.
Lalor hosted Reservoir at Lalor Reserve, with the Mustangs recording a 101-point win. For the Bloods, it was an improvement of one point from their first encounter on Good Friday and, given their injury list, produced a better performance.
“In my opinion, both clubs are at different levels. Reservoir have added experienced players with polish to add to their younger, fast-footed players and are fast-tracking their chances to play finals,” Lalor president Wayne Hutson said.
“The boys are gelling together more each week and it was a great game by all 22. Sal Mammone played his best game for the club so far, our mids Josh Grabowski and Justin Taylor were great all day, while Marcus Cantwell down back had a great game and impressed with his one-on-one efforts.”
Heidelberg West met Watsonia at Heidelberg Park in a match crucial to the make-up of the top five. While the matches between teams in the middle part of the ladder can be hard to tip, the Saints would’ve gone in as favourites in the eyes of must pundits.
While the upset win wasn’t a huge surprise, the margin and the defensive effort by the Hawks was outstanding. In trying conditions, they managed to restrict Watsonia to two goals, while kicking nine themselves in the 42-point triumph.
Heidelberg West took a slender quarter time lead and blew it out to 32 points at the main break. The Saints never looked like bridging the gap. There was no Cameron Cloke to kick to, but the defensive pressure upfield was so good that it may not have made much of a difference anyway. Luke Sansonetti was among the best for Watsonia, while Toby Herbert put in his best effort for the season.
“We’ve made week to week improvement,” Heidelberg West coach Michael Missen said.
“Today we executed the way we wanted to 90% of the time. We were strong defensively and we were also able to add layers of offence.”
Missen gave credit to Bryce Barnes who kicked five in a low-scoring game. He liked the work of Ryan Offer and Blake Charles as tandem rucks, while giving a big tick to Michael Italia and James Condello in the middle. Louis Hill was a welcome inclusion after missing a couple of weeks.
After the weekend, Ivanhoe and Laurimar appear to have the top two spots all locked up. Mernda holds third spot on its own despite the loss and is one win ahead of Reservoir and Watsonia, who slipped a place to fifth.
