A look back at some of the key moments from the weekend’s NFNL action.
COMMEMORATING THE ANZACS
Six venues hosted matches on Anzac Day, paying tribute to the sacrifice of the servicemen and women of Australia and New Zealand and commemorating the Anzac spirit – courage, sacrifice, endurance and mateship. Anzac services were held prior to all senior games, with each home club providing a donation to the Anzac Day Proceeds Fund. It was fantastic to see the commemorations continue across the weekend, with many touching pre-game Anzac services held across both senior and junior football competitions.
Great commemoration with @diamondcreekfc hosting an #ANZAC service in-between their @northernfnl under 9s and 10s games this morning with @elthamfootball @MillParkFC & Yarrambat pic.twitter.com/itZ6eBOdgM
— Simon Devine (@Simon_M_Devine) April 28, 2019
YEAR OF THE COMEBACK
2019 is proving to be year of the comeback. Lower Plenty was seven goals in arears during its Round 1 win over Montmorency, while North Heidelberg fell four points short after trailing Bundoora by 47 in its Round 2 loss at Yulong Reserve. The trend continued in Round 3 with Heidelberg West reversing a 26-point third-quarter deficit against South Morang to record one of its best wins in years at Mill Park Lakes Reserve. The Hawks booted seven of the final nine goals to improve their record to 3-0 and now sit in second spot on the Heidelberg Golf Club Division 3 ladder. It was a similar tale at Eltham Central Park, where Eltham came from 21 points down at half time to beat Whittlesea in the NFNL Match of the Day. The Panthers still trailed by 15 points at three-quarter time, before a six-goal to one quarter saw them prevail by 14 points. Eltham didn’t hold the lead until the sixth-minute of the last quarter. The result creates a logjam on the A Plus Labour Solutions Division 2 ladder, with six sides all sitting on two wins after three rounds. Mernda also came close to scoring a remarkable upset on Anzac Day, hitting the lead against Laurimar in the closing stages of their Heidelberg Golf Club Division 3 match at Laurimar Reserve after trailing by five goals earlier in the final term. Unfortunately for the Demons, they weren’t able to hold on, with a late goal to Laurimar playing-coach Justin Sherman getting the Power over the line by four points.
GRAND FINALISTS’ LOSING RUN CONTINUES
It’s been a tough start to the new season for 2018 Meadows Greyhounds Division 1 grand finalists West Preston-Lakeside and Macleod. Both sides’ woes continued in Round 3, with a heavily undermanned West Preston-Lakeside no match for North Heidelberg in a 59-point defeat, while Macleod was never in the contest in its 53-point loss to Heidelberg on Anzac Day. The Roosters and Roos are both 0-3 after three rounds, with the reigning premiers sitting in ninth place with an average losing margin of 44 points. Things aren’t much better for the Roos, who sit in eighth spot with a percentage of 67.70. History is against both as they look to turn things around. Since the introduction of a top-five finals system in 2010, only three sides – Bundoora (2010), Montmorency (2011) and Greensborough (2017) – have made the finals after losing the opening three games.
MUSTANG WOMEN ON THE BOARD
It was a Sunday to savour for Reservoir Sporting Club, with Mustangs’ women’s side securing its first-ever win. Playing against fellow competition newcomer Hurstbridge, the Mustangs scored a 5.12 (42) to 3.7 (25) triumph at Ben Frilay Oval. Aimee McCartney and Caitlyn Marmo featured among Reservoir’s best players in the history-making win, while Stevie Hare booted a game-high three goals.
NETBALL RETURNS
After a two-week break it was great to have netball action return on Friday night, with 47 matches played across five venues. The matches were played as Round 2 of the 2019 season, with grading to continue over the next two rounds. Among the winners were Old Eltham Collegians, who scored their first win in the NFNL netball competition with a 25-17 win over Greensborough 3 at Mernda Central College.
