Round 3 of the Eastern Football Netball League Women’s competition is near, so to be up to date read Tash Gunawardana’s Weekend Preview!
Premier Division:
Mount Evelyn vs Vermont: Mount Evelyn hosts Vermont at Mount Evelyn Reserve. Mount Evelyn will be hopeful they can get back on the winners list at home after they went down for the first this season against South Croydon last round. Vermont will be filled with confidence after they secured their first win last round over SBL Wolves by four points. Expect a belter of a contest between two teams that are 1-1 this season.
Tip: Mount Evelyn
Premier B Women’s:
The Basin vs SBL Wolves: The Basin tackles SBL Wolves at Batterham Reserve. SBL Wolves are coming off a lost from last round so they will be hoping that they can cause an upset over The Basin at home. It is a tough assignment to defeat The Basin on their home turf though, so it will take SBL Wolves to be at their best to win, but anything is possible in football.
The Basin: Julia Baker said. “We will continue to look to play four quarters of footy and bring a high level of pressure to the game which will hopefully see us take home the 4 points!”
Tip: The Basin
Whitehorse vs Ferntree Gully: Ferntree Gully play away against Whitehorse at Springfield Park. Whitehorse is currently first on the ladder and Ferntree Gully are the only team in Premier B yet to capitalise with a victory in 2022. But on Saturday, everything can change in Premier B and Ferntree Gully could be equal first with Whitehorse, because although Ferntree Gully are last, they are only one win away from Whitehorse.
Ferntree Gully: “After a slow start last week against The Basin we’ll be looking to start the game this week vs Whitehorse how we finished off last week,” Senior Coach Tim Cavanagh said. “We know Whitehorse have some highly skilled girls, and we think we’re pretty evenly matched, so we know we need to be switched on from the opening bounce to make sure we leave Springfield Park with the four points, which we fully intend to do.”
Tip: Whitehorse
Boronia vs Donvale: Boronia plays hosts to Donvale at Tormore Reserve on Saturday morning. Boronia will need Amanda Davidson to have her kicking boots on if they are any chance of winning as she is their leading goalkicker with three. Jasmine D’Amato was kept quiet last week, after she had a five-goal haul in the opening round against Whitehorse.
Donvale: “It was a really tough game last week, but the team took a lot out of it, and we’ll be better for it in the long run,” Coach Stephen Latino said. “Aiming to string together a more focussed and proactive response this week against Boronia. Looking forward to seeing how the team approaches this game.”
Boronia: “We’re looking forward to the challenge of Donvale,” Senior Coach Scott Nicholas said. “We haven’t played them since our first season, and they obviously have some very classy players that we’ll have to keep an eye on. We won’t shirk the issue, they beat Whitehorse, then we lost to them the following week. It’s easy to over complicate things though, so we’re focusing on playing our game and giving it a red-hot crack!”
Tip: Donvale
Division One Women’s:
Rowville vs Beaconsfield: The only remaining undefeated Division One team Rowville plays their first home game at Seebeck Oval against Beaconsfield. Expect a high-quality clash between the two of the top ladder teams. Beaconsfield backs will need to bring their best defensive efforts on Saturday morning if they are any chance of winning, as Rowville have plenty of scoring options including Danielle Brotto, Caitlin Bell, and Kate Cross. Rowville have shown over the opening two rounds that they are the team to beat, so it will take Beaconsfield’s best to take them down especially on their home deck.
Rowville: This week we play our first home game, and we look forward to being a part of a ‘full footy day’ at Seebeck,” Senior Coach Leann Gill said. “The girls have recovered well after playing on Ringwood’s huge ground last week. Beaconsfield has always been a strong girls/ women’s football club and we are expecting to come up against a very good football team. Should be a great game of footy.”
Beaconsfield: “After a great round 2 the team head off to Rowville for our round 3 clash against top of the ladder Rowville,”
“Our girls are excited for the first away game and look forward to taking the challenge to them.”
Tip: Rowville
Chirnside Park vs Ringwood: Ringwood travels to Kimberley Reserve to play Chirnside Park at home. Ringwood are yet to be victors this season, so they will be hoping they can topple Chirnside Park to record their first win of the season.
Ringwood: “We had our warmup last week, this week it’s time to unleash the Redback Venom on Chirnside Park,” Coach Darren Ashcroft said.
Tip: Chirnside Park
Blackburn vs Park Orchards: Blackburn hosts Park Orchards at Morton Park. Blackburn are winless and Park Orchards are 1-1, so expect a tight contest especially because Blackburn will be in search of winning their first game in front of their home crowd.
Tip: Blackburn
Bye – North Ringwood
Division Two Women’s:
East Ringwood vs Surrey Park: East Ringwood plays on their home ground at East Ringwood Reserve against Surrey Park. It will be a top-notch contest at East Ringwood as East Ringwood currently sit second, and Surrey Park sit third on the ladder respectively. East Ringwood will be hoping they can win after last week’s draw against Montrose. Expect a belter of a match between two sides that will leave nothing left in the tank on Saturday.
Tip: East Ringwood
Heathmont vs Montrose: Heathmont will clash with fellow winless side Montrose at HE Parker Reserve. Montrose are coming off a draw, so expect them to come out firing trying to get the four points after sharing them last round.
Heathmont: “This week transcends football,” Coach Kane Mactier said. “Our BCNA pink round is a special time for thinking of loved ones and spreading the awareness of breast cancer. The Heathmont women’s team have our families, friends and community in our hearts and thoughts as we play this week.”
Montrose: “A thrilling draw with a good opponent in the weekend gives our players the belief of what we are collectively trying to achieve after a disappointing Round 1, “Coach Shilette Baker said. “Evenly matched with East Ringwood, the results could’ve easily gone to either team. We look forward to seeing them again in RND 8.
This weekend against Heathmont will be another test to see where we sit in the pack. We are happy to be part of the PLAY4BCNA round and hope to see many pink socks, beanies, and ribbons on the day for a worthy cause.”
Tip: Montrose
Kilsyth vs Knox: Undefeated Knox tackles fourth placed Kilsyth at Pinks Reserve. Terri McIntosh has been consistent so far this season averaging two goals per a game, so Kilsyth’s defence will need to have a plan to stop her impact on the match. If Kilsyth have no plan in place, then Knox will continue their undefeated streak.
Kilsyth: “After a disappointing first game the girls came out with a different attitude against Heathmont to take the win,” Senior Coach Clint Martin said. “We take on Knox this week who we know have a talented playing list and have had good results so we’re going to have to be on the top of our game to beat them. The girls are starting to gel as a team, and we look forward to a competitive game.”
Knox: “Unfortunately, I couldn’t coach due to Covid, but my Assistant Joey Aiello and Football Manager John O’Brien filled in and did a great job!” Peter Jordan said. “I was kept up to date during the match and it was obvious it was a tough battle for the whole 80 minutes. Terri McIntosh was good with 2 goals whilst Sarah Plumridge and Makaela Egorov continued with their strong form. We have Kilsyth this week which are always tough for us, and our aim will be to continue to build on our connection and our work rate which is always tough on the big Kilsyth ground.”
Tip: Knox
Third Division Women’s:
Fairpark vs Coldstream: Coldstream tackles Fairpark at Fairpark Reserve. Fairpark and Coldstream are on equal one wins so expect a quality clash between the fourth and the fifth placed teams in Third Division Women’s. The winner will go equal first or second, so a lot on the line on Saturday.
Fairpark: “Last week we were not quite the team we wanted to be,” Coach Simon Aloi said. “Focused on two ways running, and structure during the week. Shifted Rachel Harriage from full back to forward line, her and Nicole Crivellaro kicked three each, Larissa Thomas, and Alex Kent electric in the middle, have a test in Coldstream this week to see where we are at before our first bye, which we’re excited for.”
Coldstream: “The girls have been working hard on the track and it’s great to see reward for effort, but the team will need to be on their game in round 3 when we face Fairpark.”
Tip: Fairpark
Croydon North MLOC vs Mitcham: Mitcham takes on Croydon North MLOC at Hughes Park. It is the second and third place matchup at Croydon, so we can expect a great spectacle of women footy. I think Croydon North MLOC will win in a tight one, because of their home ground advantage.
Mitcham: “We are looking forward to each new challenge, week by week,” Senior Coach Reece Thomas said.
Croydon North MLOC: “Again like last week against East Burwood (new team) we did know what to expect but we got a hard contested game of footy, we went down by 18 points” Coach John Hayhurst said. Mitcham (new team), we will go into this game after last week more game hardened. We had two high quality training sessions. This game our players will stick to our style of in first play on fast game of footy.”
Tip: Croydon North
Nunawading vs Mooroolbark: Koonung Reserve will host two of the bottom teams in Division Three on Saturday in Nunawading and Mooroolbark. Both teams will be eager to kick of their season with their first win of 2022.
Mooroolbark: “We are a team very much focussed on improving each week,” Coach Domenic Ciancio said. “We pride ourselves on our defensive efforts all over the ground. We are learning all the time and can see the improvement across the board.”
Nunawading: “What looked like a one-sided game last week, we as a club were happy as only two ladies had played a game before,” Coach Trevor Haig said. “I thought we competed the whole day (and now) we are looking forward to our first home game and an improved performance with all ladies available this week.”
Tip: Nunawading
Bye – East Burwood
Division Four Women’s:
The Basin Green vs SBL Wolves Teal: SBL Wolves Teal travel down to Batterham Reserve to play The Basin Green. Both teams will be desperate for a win as they both loss last round, but SBL Wolves will be keener as they are yet to win this season. There is plenty on the line at Batterham Reserve, which team will come out on top and rectify their season?
The Basin Green: “We’re super excited to be down at The Cave again this Saturday with both of our Women’s teams taking on the SBL Wolves,” Coach Kirsty McConnel said. “I was really pleased with the competitive nature that our girls showed last week, and with a few more rotations and better use of our opportunities in front of goal, we know the result could have been much different. So, we plan to bring that into this week’s match, along with our ongoing pressure around each contest. We admire what SBL has been able to achieve within Women’s footy, and we’re really looking forward to getting out there and having some fun.”
Tip: The Basin Green
Vermont Gold vs Boronia Gold: Vermont Gold plays against Boronia Gold at Vermont Recreation Reserve. The bottom placed Boronia Gold will need to bring their A-game to knock off Vermont Gold.
Tip: Vermont Gold