With a third of the MC Labour Division 2 home and away season complete, the fight for key spots at both the top of the bottom ends of the ladder are starting to ramp up.
A huge second vs third encounter is set to take place at Mill Park Lakes Reserve this Saturday as South Morang face Whittlesea.
The Lions were one point away from making this a clash between two unbeaten sides, after they fell short to St Mary’s by the barest of margins last week.
It was a game the Lions led for most of and were still able to produce moments of brilliance that prove their status as a contender in 2024, however a four-quarter performance will be required if they are to end Whittlesea’s undefeated start.
Tye Hall’s move to the forward line was almost match-winning, as he kicked a season-high of four majors, while the efforts of Mitchell Kalpakis and Ben Muscat in defence kept the Burra to nine goals. A team is yet to score more than 74 points on Gary Hall’s men this year.
But it’s James Traianou that has starred in his side’s excellent start to the season with his run and carry work on the wing. He now shares the Division 2 Coaches MVP award lead with Eagles captain Xavier Dimasi.
Whittlesea produced their fourth win by 40 points or more in Round 6 when they eased past Panton Hill by 42 points at the Showgrounds.
While Dimasi has been superb this year, Taidhg Bland is producing one of his best campaigns alongside the skipper, and currently sits three votes behind the leaders in the Coaches MVP award leaderboard.
This will be the first meeting between these two sides since all the way back in Round 16, 2013, a year in which the Lions managed just one win, while the Eagles claimed their second Division 2 premiership.
But now both teams look to be in contention for silverware in this campaign, which should make for a great contest.
Both Watsonia and Thomastown will both be out to bounce back and return to the winners list when they meet at Binnak Park.
The Saints were no match for Diamond Creek last week, with a scoreless opening term putting them on the backfoot from the outset before going down by 42 points away from home.
Although they posted their second lowest score of the season to date, Ethan Lowe had no trouble finding the big sticks, finishing with five majors for a second straight game, which sees him create a six-goal gap at the top of the competition leading goalkicker charts.
Joshua Boulton also earnt another mention in the best despite the defeat as he continues to lead the charge in defence, while Austin Sinclair and Jye Murphy have been building some form over the last fortnight.
George Lattouf’s men will fancy their chances against a Thomastown outfit they defeated in their last meeting at Binnak Park in Round 13, 2023 and even more so now, as the Bears have lost four of their last five matches.
David Folino and Sashe Spiroski’s men had their chances against a re-energised Lower Plenty side last week, with the match staying close all afternoon before they fell short by just two points to miss a chance of ending the round in the top five.
Although the defeat is a blow to the side’s finals hopes this early into the season, positive performances from Youseph Dib, James Lucente and the returning Lawrence Lo Piccolo will be encouraging for a Thomastown team who need to bounce back to stay in touch with the top five.
This match is also the start of a four-game slate where the Bears only face one side currently sitting above them on the ladder, so they will not have a greater opportunity to build some important momentum throughout the middle patches of the 2024 campaign.
After managing just 13 majors in their last two games, Panton Hill will sense a chance to claim their third triumph of the season when they tackle Laurimar at A.E. Cracknell Reserve.
The Redbacks have scored the least number of points in 2024 after six games, and apart from Riley Livingstone, who is fourth in the competition leading goalkicking charts with 16 goals, no other player has more than five goals this year.
They were kept to 1.2 by half time last week against Whittlesea with Livingstone being the only multiple goalkicker for his side.
There have been players who are performing well for Simon Amore in other areas of the ground such as Scott Conte and Jesse Owens-Draper, who will look to back up their recent efforts this weekend.
Panton Hill will need to be on top of their game against a Laurimar outfit who hit the Division 2 winners list for the first time in club history last week when they held on to prevail by five points over Northcote Park.
The narrow win was led by a brilliant defensive performance from Micah Vecchio as well as three more majors from Joel Lawson, who has settled into the higher grade with ease and is now fifth on the Coaches MVP award leaderboard.
Like the Panton Hill however, Laurimar have struggled to register big scores and have only produced 10 more points that their Saturday opponents this year. Although it’s been through no fault of Lawson, who has kicked 17 goals in six games.
These two sides will resume hostilities after a great rivalry in Division 3. They both finished with a 14-2 record in 2019 and produced some great encounters in that season, including Round 4 where the Power snatched a one-point win, before the Redbacks got their revenge by 36 points in Round 16 and just eight points in the second semi-final.
We could see another competitive showing between the two teams on Saturday.
St Mary’s will look to keep the winning vibes going when they host Northcote Park at Whatmough Park.
The Burra might still be catching their breath after they turned a 21-point fourth quarter deficit into a dramatic one-point triumph over the previously unbeaten South Morang last weekend.
While the likes of John Desmond and Jake Halewood had key moments in the victory, their stars continue to stand tall, with Jack Bianchin, Tane Cotter and Joseph Maggio all excelling again on Saturday.
Fabian Carelli’s men will look forward to a stretch of four matches that don’t involve any sides currently in the top four, creating an opportunity for the side to potentially jump into the top three by the halfway mark of the season.
It starts against Northcote Park on Saturday, who have fallen short after two attempted comebacks in the last fortnight.
They’ve scored six final term goals in both games, before going down by 16 points to Watsonia in Round 5 and five points to Laurimar last week.
With a host of star players missing for the Cougars, Leo Amad, Jonathan Naddaf and Jacob Thompson all performed well, the first two each receiving Coaches MVP award votes while Thompson slotted three majors after kicking four on debut the week prior.
They have also produced their two highest scores of the season over the last two matches, which is another sign of improvement after a disappointing opening month.
The Burra won both meetings between the two teams last year, but only prevailed in their most recent contest by eight points at Bill Lawry Oval.
If Anthony Palmer’s side are able to keep it as close against a contender in St Mary’s, it will be another step in the right direction for the winless Northcote Park.
Having been one of the surprise packets this season, Lower Plenty will put their competitive skills to the test when they take on arguably the most in-form team of the competition in Diamond Creek at Montmorency Park South Oval.
There’s been plenty to like from the Bears in Travis Stephens’ first season at the helm and they have proven they could be in the hunt for finals contention after the opening third of the year.
They saw off Thomastown by under a goal in a thrilling contest last week, and with their young stars starting to shine, they will be hoping plenty of momentum can be brought into their difficult assignment against the Creekers.
Jordan Sacco and Joel Leslie have been outstanding leaders in the 2024 campaign and have been two of three players to be named amongst their side’s best in all six matches this season.
The likes of Tyler Wallace and Hudson Young were others that helped Lower Plenty get over the line against Thomastown.
But all 22 players for the Bears will need to be at their optimal if they are to cause a massive upset against a Diamond Creek opponent who are undefeated and boast an average a winning margin of 65 points this year.
Their 42-point win over Watsonia again saw multiple players continue their terrific starts to the 2024 campaign.
Daniel Jarvis kicked three majors in a match for the third time this season and has scored at least one goal in every game, meanwhile Dale Marshall has finished in his side’s best in three straight games and is hitting great form.
The Creekers had their best success over the Bears last year, winning both meetings by an average of 116.5 points.
But while Andrew Tranquilli’s men have won four of the last five games against their Saturday opponents, some recent confidence will give Lower Plenty their best shot of remaining competitive this weekend.
