By: Daniel Cencic
The Eastern Football League has claimed the number-one ranking in state community football, defeating the Geelong Football League 16.9 (105) to 9.9 (63) in the 2018 WorkSafe AFL Victoria Community Championships at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
The 42-point win saw the EFL claim the top ranking for the first time in its history, led by Norwood spearhead Leigh Williams who booted seven majors to be named among the best on ground.
The opening term saw Williams register two goals within the opening five minutes off the back of sublime midfield supply through Tom Schneider to give the EFL an early advantage.
Geelong soon hit back with two goals inside a minute through Chris Moreland and Julian Dobosz, before Williams snapped his third followed by Aaron Fenton kicking truly to give the EFL a 12-point quarter-time lead.
Adam Parker continued the Eastern momentum early into the second quarter registering a goal, before Geelong replied through Luke Hillman with the margin cut to just four points.
The defending champions wrestled back the lead at the 19-minute-mark through some exceptional midfield work from Matt McMahon, snatching the lead by two points off the back of Brant Haintz kicking his first major.
But Geelong’s lead was short-lived after a spark of brilliance from Williams out the back of the pack saw the big forward slot his fourth in the shadows of half-time, where the EFL took a five-point advantage into the main break.
Geelong’s number-one ranking began to look shaky in the third quarter when Jackson McDonald, Joe Fisher and Lachlan McDonald piled on the goals, blowing the margin out to 20 points as the clock ticked into time-on.
Despite the EFL’s dominance, Geelong weren’t done with yet, rallying late with the margin cut to just 12 points at the final change when James Gow booted his first with 25 minutes played.
With the number-one ranking on the line, EFL captain Stuart Hill swung forward early in the last slotting his first for the day, combining with fellow Norwood teammate Leigh Williams who registered goal number five a minute later.
Vermont ruckman Liam Buxton, who worked tirelessly around the ground, delivered a well-earnt goal five minutes in – his first of three for the quarter, including one after the siren – which saw the EFL’s lead increase to 30 points.
Despite the result beyond doubt with the top ranking heading out east, Williams continued to star, slotting two in a minute including his seventh to extend the margin to 43 points.
EFL head coach Steve Cochrane paid homage to his players post-game, along with their respective clubs and coaches.
“I’ve never coached a group of guys like this,” Cochrane said.
“They hardly even know me yet to put in 200 per cent for the team – they wanted that number one spot.”
“That was one of our motivations as a group – to be number-one and be the first.
“All credit goes to the guys; they don’t get paid for this.
“It’s important to acknowledge all clubs in letting their players play today.”
Cochrane believes the cohesion of the group was crucial in the end result.
“We deliberately picked a side based on position and when I first went through this program we were quite deliberate with the way we went about things – we picked a small squad,” he said.
“We knew it was going to change but we wanted to pick guys in good form and bring them in.
“I think today it showed in the end that we had a cohesive group that continually play their position really well and I think that showed towards the end.”
The EFL controlled the contest, holding the lead for all quarters bar a couple of minutes in the second term.
“We wanted to play a bit of EFL footy – a lot of high-pressure, contested footy and I think in the end that broke the GFL,” Cochrane said.
“We wanted a tight game, we didn’t want a shoot-out.
“We always wanted to keep it nice and tight; contested footy, high-pressure footy.”
Vermont’s Robbie McComb was a late out, and was replaced in the side by teammate Cam Purdy who received the call-up on Saturday morning.
Cochrane praised Purdy’s versatility, which provided Williams with support up forward and skipper Stuart Hill with a chop-out down back.
“He (Purdy) is a bit of a swing-man, we played him forward in the first half and we felt we probably needed a bit of a different look to support Leigh,” he said.
“We threw ‘Hilly’ (Stuart Hill) down forward and Purdy down back. He (Purdy) really just played his role and executed it fantastically.”
Leigh Williams, who turned 28 on Saturday, praised the tireless work of the Eastern midfield.
“Getting good delivery, it makes my job a lot easier and it’s obviously satisfying to not only win the game but know that you’ve contributed,” he said.
“There were guys who just played their role for the day and not necessarily go and get 30 possessions – it was guys that just work hard for each other.
“We gelled as a team a lot quicker than they (GFL) did and were able to sustain the pressure and put the score on the board in the last quarter.”
Williams, who represented the EFL for a fourth time on Saturday – including last year’s two-point win over the Essendon District league – commended his team’s ability to apply pressure for four quarters.
“That’s what we brought early last year was the energy but as the game went on we started to fade and were lucky enough to hang on, whereas this year, I think the energy and the experience of probably the big-name players from the League, we were able to sustain that pressure for a lot longer,” he said.
Being part of not only the historic win, but the EFL’s journey up the ranks to the top spot, means the world to Williams.
“Especially being part of the (interleague) game in the last couple of years as well, I don’t think I played in the game against Geelong last time but playing against Western (WRFL), Essendon (EDFL) and the VAFA, it’s good to be part of it for the journey.”
The Eastern Football League will play the Northern Football Netball League in next year’s AFL Victoria Community Championships, after the NFNL defeated the Mornington Peninsula league on Saturday to claim the number-two ranking.
Eastern Football League 4.2 6.5 9.8 16.9 (105)
Geelong Football League 2.2 5.6 7.8 9.9 (63)
Goal-kickers:
EFL: Williams 7, Buxton 3, Fenton, Fisher, Hill, J.McDonald, L.McDonald, Parker
GFL: Haintz, Hillman 2, Davis, Dobosz, Gow, Monaghan, Moreland.
Best on ground: Liam Buxton (EFL), Jack Blood (GFL).