By Will Spence
After back-to-back losses to Noble Park and Balwyn, South Croydon has steadied the ship to remain heavily entrenched in the Premier Division Top Six.
A dominant display against a dangerous Norwood has given South Croydon a two-game buffer on sixth place Blackburn heading into Round 11, leaving Norwood in a lowly 9th position in the process.
Underrated forward Robbie Mallison was best afield, whilst James Wilsen continued his prolific season up forward kicking another two majors.
South Croydon coach Marcus Buzaglo was pleased with his sides performance but admits there is still plenty of work to be done if the 2017 Premier is to compete at the business end of the season.
“Our start was good we still probably leaked a couple of goals in that first quarter, and I thought the second quarter, Norwood to their credit fought back with the wind,
“But our second half was really pleasing, it was reasonably close to a four-quarter performance.”
With 10 individual goal scorers, the supply of inside 50’s was one of the catalysts for South Croydon’s scoring prowess. Buzaglo was impressed by his sides ability to win as a collective but more importantly negate Norwood’s forwards after quarter time.
“When you have a win like that, I think it has to be the collective effort, I thought our midfield was strong, it’s probably been talked about that we’ve probably been scored against too easily, and to keep Norwood around 50 points was really pleasing,
“We had about 40 inside 50’s as well but didn’t really convert, early in the season our goal kicking was really good, we have been down a little bit lately on that, but you can never have enough practice at training.”
The Premier Division Final system sees just the top two sides get a double chance in 2022.
Buzaglo stressed the importance of giving his side the best chance for a top two birth, and have seven home games to finish the season, which will be crucial for their top two hopes.
“The top two is crucial this year the way finals look, but the pleasing thing is how we have been able to respond after our past two games.
“We’ve got the last seven games at home; we’ve played one game at home this season so that will be massive for our club,
“We’re reasonably pleased with where we’re at, we’ve been scored against a couple of times which was disappointing, certainly against Doncaster East and Noble Park we were disappointing, but they’re two very good sides.
“Apart from that we have been in most games, we are comfortable with where we’re at and excited for Rowville this weekend,
“They’re a tough side to beat, they have been very good this year, but we need to play our way, defending with real intent, being strong around the contest and try to match them in that area,
“We’re confident our footy stacks up against most.”