By Matt Fotia
Local football means a lot to all of us and here at the EFNL we’re committed to giving you the analysis it deserves in the weekly Eastland In and Under column, where Media Manager Matt Fotia gives you his three key takeaways from the weekend that was.
You can’t buy experience
Youth is fantastic.
The boundless energy, the unquestionable enthusiasm, the incredible confidence, and bountiful desire. If you give a football side an injection of high-quality youth it can take them from middle of the road to genuine contenders, and The Basin are a prime example.
The Bears have shot from mid table in 2019 to one of the top few sides in Division Two, with players coming out of the club’s every orifice.
Its youthful exuberance had seen it well on track to an opening round clean sweep on Saturday, with the Bears dominating territory and possession against a new look Ringwood outfit in slippery and sloppy conditions, as it looked to back up three impressive wins from the Under 19’s(x2) and Reserves earlier in the day.
They looked more dangerous, moved the ball with a bit more cutting edge, seemed to have more leg-speed than the Redbacks all day.
Despite this, the Bears could never pull away from their opponents. Up by four a quarter time, down by two at half time and three-quarter time, their ascendency finally looked to be paying off when they jumped out to a three-goal lead halfway through the final term.
There are downsides to youth however, and one of those can be ill-discipline.
In a free kick heavy (The Basin 28 – Ringwood 39) but a goal light (The Basin 7.4 – Ringwood 7.7) game, Ringwood sourced six of their seven majors from free kicks or 25 metre penalties, including one reversal and one infringement for wrestling off the ball, both late in the last quarter.
When the chips were down and the momentum had swung, the basics were what was needed, and where the skilful and exciting Bears faltered, the battle hardened Redbacks keep their composure and scored an unlikely win against the run of play.
The Bears will be around the mark in 2022, but they’ll need to learn from their mistakes early and let their football do the talking as the season progresses.
Welcome Back
We got some sort of season away in 2021, but it never felt quite right.
At times we relaxed as we got consecutive weekends on the road, but as the spectre of lockdown loomed, the local football community always knew the end was nigh.
So, the weekend became another return for local football. We may still have low points at individual clubs as the virus undoubtedly gets its way around, but the game will roll on, and on Saturday we were treated to a fantastic start to 2022.
In Division One Lilydale tested a finals fancy in Croydon, with goal-kicking the only thing keeping it from stealing an upset, whilst the Gary Ayres era started as Montrose tested an exciting East Ringwood outfit.
Ringwood recruit Sam Wadley kicked a late game winner at Batterham Reserve, East Burwood and Templestowe raised eyebrows with stylish wins, whilst Kilsyth impressed against Surrey Park and Silvan’s Leigh Kimpton kicked the perfect 10.
But it was Division Three where the real action lurked.
Three games were decided by under 10 points, with Whitehorse living up to their own organically fashioned hype, knocking off Donvale by eight points, whilst Warrandyte and Waverley Blues exchanged blows – and the lead – in a thrilling encounter which saw the Bloods win by two points before attention turned to Wally Tew, where Fairpark gave their survival chances an early shot in the arm, upsetting local rivals Ferntree Gully by one point under lights.
If this is what’s in store for 2022, there’ll be plenty to get excited about.
Momentum
Momentum is all important in football.
Getting the momentum. Keeping the momentum. Utilising the momentum and stopping it when it’s against you.
Momentum is just as important across an entire season, and three sides who know all about that are Wantirna South, Fairpark and Whitehorse.
In 2021 all three clubs failed to get started and fell right behind the eight ball, unable to ever really get their best stuff going, exaggerated by the stop-start nature of life at the time as well of course.
But not this time.
All three clubs scored impressive wins on the weekend.
Fairpark overturned their local rivals with a re-invigorated group, and while they might not have jumped straight into finals contention, their win will have other teams looking over their shoulder with double relegation in Division Three this season.
Divisional peers Whitehorse held off numerous challenges from Premiership contender Donvale, keeping their cool in a hotly contested game at Springfield Park. Pleasingly for the Pioneers there were nine individual goal-kicker on route to victory, as they look to jump up the table themselves.
Finally, Wantirna South.
The Devils were picked as big improvers ahead of 2021 due to their impressive list of recruits and although they never really got going last season, it seems another pre-season was the missing ingredient for the Devils.
Against the complete unknown in Beaconsfield, on the biggest ground in the competition – a stark contrast to the Devils home patch – Wantirna South kicked five goals to two in the second half to come out 21-point winners, getting their season off on the right note this time around.
All three sides have the momentum, so what’s the next step?
Keeping it.