By Connor Schmidtke
For much of the season, the Division Four premiership has looked like a two-horse race between Silvan and Chirnside Park.
But this has opened the door for teams to fly under the radar and into finals contention, putting a premium on every win for the remaining sides.
One of these sides sneaking into the top-four is Forest Hill, who recorded a vital two-point win over Kilsyth last Saturday. This marked their third win for the season, snapping a three-game losing streak.
The Zebras currently hold one of the longer premiership droughts in the Eastern Football Netball League, with their last taste of success coming in 1984. The 38-year drought is a driving factor for Forest Hill, pushing them on in season 2022.
In the win against Kilsyth last Saturday, the Zebras trailed by 15-points at half time before storming home in the second half. They piled on eight goals after the main break, locking scores at three quarter time before scraping home at the final siren.
Forest Hill head coach, Justin Scicluna said the win was incredibly important for his side.
“It was one of those cliché, eight-point games. A loss would’ve put us eight points out of the four and would have made it hard to get ourselves back in contention for finals.
“To get the win was fantastic, it built some confidence in the group that when we play our best footy, which we haven’t done consistently, we know we can challenge the better sides in the competition.”
Forest Hill were within striking distance of Chirnside Park at half-time the week before, trailing by just two-goals. But a poor second half saw the Zebras put to the sword, with Chirnside Park cruising away to a big 10-goal victory.
Faced with a similar deficit at the main break against Kilsyth, Scicluna said his side were able to find some self-belief and refused to back down.
“I think the group found that bit of self-belief, it was there again on the weekend. I really said to the group at three quarter time, at no point can we think we’re out of the game regardless of the scoreboard.
“We’re good enough to kick goals in quick succession, that’s what we did in that last quarter after Kilsyth jumped us at the start. The message to the boys throughout that quarter was to keep believing in what we’re doing, because our best footy is good enough.”
Before the start of the 2022 season, Scicluna believed that finals football was a realistic goal for his side this year, but he wanted his team to take it one week at a time.
At the halfway point of the season, his thoughts have not changed.
“It’s (finals) still the goal for us, but we’re still taking it one week at a time.
“There’s been several spanners thrown in the works with illness and things like that, which has been changing our side on a week-to-week basis. I don’t think there has been a week where we have had less than four or five changes.
“It hasn’t helped our continuity, but the guys that have come in and played their role have been fantastic. That was no different on Saturday when we had six changes to our side, with three of them Friday night with illness.”
Forest Hill will now enjoy a week off with the Queen’s Birthday fixture, before facing a vital clash with Surrey Park next Saturday. Surrey Park sit just one win ahead of the Zebras in third place, with another potential eight-point win up for grabs.
Scicluna believes the week off will do his team good, before preparing for the crucial match next weekend.
“I think the best part about that is hopefully going into that match we’ll have close to our best side on the park. Saturday was one of those games where we had some key personnel back in the side, and it just helps straighten us up to play more direct footy.
“We just need to stick to our structures and processes; we believe that will be good enough to get us the win. Surrey Park provides a challenge for us with their outside run, and their ability to rebound off half back and put goals on the scoreboard quickly.
“We have to come prepared and ready, putting all our efforts over the next two weeks of training to prepare for that clash with Surrey.”
