On this week’s edition of The Vault, we look at a great rivalry between Balwyn and Vermont and a Division Four match-up between Scoresby and Kilsyth, meeting for the first time in 45 years.
Head-to-Head Record
Balwyn – 20
Vermont – 15
Draws – 2
Balwyn and Vermont continue their great rivalry this Saturday out at Vermont Recreation Reserve.
The Tigers are the only team across Vermont’s history in the Eastern Football Netball League to have a better than 50% winning ratio against the Eagles.
The year that Balwyn entered the EFNL in 2007, Vermont was in the middle of a dynasty, winning their third premiership in a row that year. Their first meeting was out at Vermont Recreation Reserve with Vermont winning by 28 points.
Since then, they’ve faced off in many finals, including three Grand Finals in 2008, 2012, and 2016. In 2008, the two sides met twice in the finals series, with Vermont putting on a clinic in the 2nd Semi Final, defeating the Tigers by 60 points. Two weeks later, Balwyn flipped the script on the Eagles, winning by 51 points. The Eagles’ inaccuracy hurt them, with 2 goals 10 in the first quarter, and an extra six scoring shots by halftime. The Tigers then kicked the last ten out of twelve goals for their first premiership in the league.
The Balwyn premiership also ended Vermont’s chances of pulling off the magical four-peat.
The last time the two met in a finals series was in 2019 when Vermont defeated Balwyn by 39 points in the 2nd Semi Final on their way to what was their second consecutive premiership.
Two proud powerhouse clubs with great history, always tend to perform pretty well against one another. This weekend has been made even more intriguing with Robbie Ross playing his 200th game with the Vermont Football Club. With a decorated career at Vermont, the club will be looking to respond in a big way from last weekend’s performance in front of their home crowd.
Forget about ladder positions, this will be one to watch.
Head-to-Head Record
Kilsyth – 2
Scoresby – 19
Draws – 0
The last time these two clubs met was in 1978.
Kilsyth and Scoresby are finally set to meet after 45 years of playing in different divisions. It wasn’t a particularly even match-up all those years ago, with Scoresby winning 19 of their 21 encounters.
The two sides played against one another in Division One from 1966 to 1978. The last time Kilsyth defeated Scoresby was back in 1967 when the Cougars defeated the Magpies by 23 points. They came close multiple times after that, losing by three goals or less on seventeen occasions but were never able to get across the line for a win.
Scoresby’s biggest winning margin in that time period came in 1977, in Round Five when they defeated Kilsyth at Scoresby Recreation Reserve by a margin of 74 points. In that year, Scoresby finished on top of the ladder, winning 14 games and winning the 1977 Grand Final against East Ringwood.
The two sides also played back in the Scoresby District Football Association back in 1925-26 where Kilsyth won all four of their meetings.
A winning streak of 18 in a row for the Magpies means absolutely nothing all these years later but it’s a great chance for both clubs to start a new rivalry as they aim to rise back up the divisions over the following years.
