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.
- It all works out in the end.
Promotion and Relegation have been a staple of the Eastern Football Netball League – and local sport in general – for as long as anyone can remember. The process was simple, prove yourself as the best side – or alternatively be proven as the worst side – in your division and you’ll move about next year, if you weren’t already at either end of spectrum (Premier or Division Four).
But in recent years the subject of promotion, mainly the merits of it, has been a hot topic in the Eastern suburbs, with a few sides pushed up the divisions despite winning a premiership. Most recently that honour has fallen upon Park Orchards, Coldstream and of course East Burwood.
This weekend all three clubs put some vindication behind the decisions.
Park Orchards’ debut in the Premier Division couldn’t have been any better, with the Sharks blowing their local rivals North Ringwood out of the water in a blistering final quarter, banging on eight goals to one to win by 57 points.
Coldstream didn’t win with quite the same aplomb, but the Cougars were just as impressive, besting last season’s Division Three minor premier Warrandyte by 16 points after the two sides traded blows throughout the afternoon, with the margin never exceeding two points at any of the breaks.
East Burwood have had two cracks at Division Two already this season and have passed with flying colours thus far, with big wins over Knox and Templestowe. Their recent win over the Dockers will carry more clout given the overall expectation on the Purple Haze in 2022, and the Rams will be even happier as their youth begin to poke their heads through.
The season is of course just beginning, and all three sides could well end up right down the bottom of their respective divisions, but it’s so far, so good for the newly promoted clubs.
- Are Pre-Season’s Overrated?
Back to the Premier Division, where the bullish new boys Doncaster East welcomed Vermont to Zerbes with anticipation, as the Lions backed themselves to start 2022 off with a real bang.
Both sides enjoyed periods of dominance, with Vermont kicking eight of their 13 goals in the first and third quarters, whilst Doncaster East booted 10 of their 12 majors in the second and fourth terms, as both teams finished with 21 scoring shots with the Eagles running out victors by five points, 13.8(86) to 12.9(81).
There were strong performers across the ground for both sides, as the new look Eagles started as they always do – on the winners list – but there was one man who stood out amongst the crowd.
Key forward Andrew Ainger kicked 8.1 from 10 kicks, took six marks inside 50 and hauled in four contested grabs across the afternoon.
The power forward has produced games like this before, but he may just have put an end to gruelling pre-seasons for local footballers across the state, with rumours that the Vermont number 64 had trained just twice all summer prior to slotting eight of the best on Saturday, making a case against the old adage – “Fail to Prepare, Prepare to Fail”.
- Winning Ugly
Another old adage is that good sides win ugly.
What does it mean exactly? Basically, it’s just a way of saying that a good side played nowhere near their best and still got the job done.
So far this season Croydon and Ringwood, have been the best exponents of this. Both clubs have taken hits to their depth over the off-season and are yet to put their best 22’s out on the park but remain undefeated.
Ringwood stole the points off The Basin last weekend, and this weekend couldn’t shake off a Mulgrave outfit that came to play. The Redbacks eventually pulled away in the last quarter to win by 10 points, with Zach Callinan snagging four majors.
Croydon, who were tested by Lilydale in Round One, held off a fast-finishing Bayswater to win by 17 points at Bayswater Oval, albeit with seven more scoring shots than the Waters.
Youngster Jai Mortimer led the charge, along with the lone Ficorilli, Adrian, and skipper Billy Dickson, as the Blues had eight individual goalkickers on their way to third spot on the Division One ladder.
Bigger challenges await both Croydon and Ringwood, and both sides will be confident that their best football is ahead of them, but the most pleasing thing for Morris D’Alessandro and Brett Rowe will be that even when their teams are off the boil, they’ll still find a way to take home four precious points.
