In this week’s Eastland In and Under column, Media Manager Ryan Long gives you his key takeaways from the King’s Birthday Weekend.
Bulls pressure game on show
Noble Park had arguably their best win of the 2023 season thus far, the reigning premiers knocking off the Premier Division ladder leaders by 41 points at Balwyn Visy Park.
Although the Bulls have lost a few games on their home deck, their form on the road has been perfect, winning all five games away from home.
They did everything right on Saturday, with their pressure game a real highlight. On the smaller ground at Balwyn, the Tigers were forced into errors by Noble Park’s pressure and were not given the time and space to create opportunities.
Highlighted in the statistics, the Bulls had a total of 80 tackles, 32 more than the Tigers, this included 18 tackles in the forward 50 to Balwyn’s six. Noble Park also had a high number of pressure acts, winning that statistic by 11, 53 to 42.
With an extra 30 inside 50s, Noble Park’s lack of height in that area of the ground wasn’t an issue, playing to the advantage of their small forwards.
Two of their key figures for the afternoon were Jack Francis and Benjamin Marson, at different ends of the ground, combining for a total of 26 marks.
Steve Hughes and his men now jump back into the top four, with a challenging month ahead, playing three of the top six in the following four games. As for Balwyn, a minor hiccup on what’s been a very strong start to the year.
The two powerhouses will meet once more this season, in the final round of the Home and Away season.
Third time lucky for the Pies
It took them three attempts, but Scoresby finally knocked off ladder leaders Surrey Park this weekend in another tight finish.
The sides faced off in two consecutive games with Surrey Park winning last week’s game at home. Both sides had several changes heading into Saturday’s match at Scoresby.
Trailing at the final break by 13 points, the Magpies managed to kick four goals to one in the last half an hour of football to complete the upset. They had great representation on the scoreboard, Bronsgeest and Fairchild finished the afternoon with three each while McBean and Frith both had two a piece.
Declan McBean is in great form for the club, with 12 goals in his last four matches and was missed last week in their second clash with the Panthers.
The win was vital in keeping not only Scoresby’s hopes of a top-two finish alive but also for their confidence heading into the finals series. If they are to go on and contest the 2023 Division Four premiership, they’ll almost certainly have to go through the Panthers to get there.
On the flip side, it was only the first loss of the season for Surrey Park, who did have a few key outs on Saturday, including Nick Kann, the leading goal scorer of the division. They’ll aim to be back at full strength in two weeks’ time when they host a top-of-the-table clash against Kilsyth.
Despite Chrinside Park’s eight-goal win over Croydon North MLOC this weekend, it’s difficult to see any of the top-four sides miss finals from here. With Scoresby defeating Surrey Park and Forest Hill defeating Kilsyth, the division has well and truly opened up.