By: Matt Fotia
A mostly beautiful day for football greeted us on Saturday, with plenty of crunch games across the divisions. We all left our respective matches with plenty of new findings about our sides, their opponents and one eye on the future…
Magpies swoop on slow Hawks
Last time I saw Boronia firsthand, it struggled to handle the intense pressure, speed and forward versatility of Ringwood. This time around it doesn’t seem like much has changed, as Scoresby harassed, out worked and altogether outclassed the Hawks from the first bounce.
The Magpie midfield of Legg, Chadwick, Evans-Marcius and co. left the Hawks’ mids in their wake consistently whenever they managed to turn the ball over. If it wasn’t for a weird vortex which meant goals were hard to come by kicking away from the clubhouse, the Magpies would’ve won by more.
The Hawks clearly have a talented list and their big bodies are suited to most Division 3 game styles and grounds. However their key players, with the x-factor required to win finals don’t spend nearly enough time on the ground, meaning sides with midfield depth, such as Scoresby can exploit their second and third string on-ballers. This is evidenced by the numerous periods throughout the game where they controlled the flow, but failed to capitalise and let the Magpies take control once again.
Scoresby’s Dale Hehir has kicked 43 goals from 12 matches this year. PICTURE: Davis Harrigan
The Hawks have a bye, then The Basin and Heathmont in what will be a very testing period for the Hawks as they desperately cling onto their double chance. The Magpies on the other hand will come away beaming after a job well done.
They have a dynamic forward line with the speed and flair of Hehir, the old-fashioned key forward in Williams, forward pressure of Nathan Hicks and the one-on-one abilities of Paravicini giving them multiple avenues to goal. In Round 15, they host Ringwood in what should be an absolute belter of a game.
Devils done and Sharks faltering
Wantirna South put itself right back in the race last weekend with a win over Park Orchards, as sides like Bayswater and Upper Gully looked nervously over their shoulders at a side that no-one would want to face come finals, with their finals experience.
Over the weekend, the Devils continued their season-long game of hokey-pokey, going down to a previously listless Mooroolbark by 66 points. Paul ‘Air’ Thatcher continued his breakout year kicking four goals – it is yet to be confirmed if he took any hangars.
The Devils now find themselves two games behind Bayswater in fourth, with Lilydale, Upper Gully, Doncaster East and Bayswater in the last five rounds – it is pretty much curtains on the Devils this year.
The Sharks missed another chance to cement themselves within the top four, losing to fellow contender Upper Gully by 52 points in front of their home crowd. After last weekend’s aforementioned loss to Wantirna South making it two losses to two finals aspirants in as many weeks. They’ve made me look a right fool after backing them in to make finals a couple of weeks ago in the mid-season report cards in the process.
The Sharks are well known for their youth, and their exuberance has been a strength all year. However youth is a double-edged sword as this list looks to be running out of steam as we head into the last stretch. They still have Bayswater to come later on this year in what looks to be a fourth place play-off, should Jarrad Bayliss’ boys pluck up their game, a win this week against Croydon is vital as they need some form of momentum to take into the bye a fortnight later.
Sound the alarm, there’s a crisis at Terrara Road, whilst Rowville, Balwyn and Blackburn lock horns
Panic. Sheer panic around the Eastern Football League as the Vermont Eagles lost their second consecutive game for the first time in four years. Local rivals Blackburn came away from the Eagles’ nest with the points and signed off on the blue print of how to knock-off the men in purple.
Brendan Allen noted on EFL Sunday how he had studied the South Croydon and Vermont clash to note exactly what was the Eagles demise. He came away from that knowing that the Burners must bring heat around the ball and ensure Vermont don’t get the easy ball on the outside.
It’s easier said than done and credit must go to the Burners who bounced back after their defeat to Rowville last weekend. VFL-listed Kyle Dove was the Burners’ best whilst regulars Ben McIntyre and Xavier Murphy did their bit.
For Vermont, it may need to swallow its pride and adapt its game style, or at bare minimum look for a plan B, because with the quality of the sides in the finals race this year, it’s not just Blackburn and South Croydon that can pull this off.
Blackburn’s surprise win has seen the permutations chat fire right up. The Panthers, Rowville, who impressed with its runaway win over Doncaster and Balwyn, who cashed in against Montrose are all level on 28 points as we start looking at the glorious month of September.
Blackburn is in sixth and have four of those top six sides to come with Doncaster in Round 12, South Croydon in Round 15, Balwyn in Round 16 and Vermont in Round 18.
Rowville has the easier run home with plenty of winnable games, albeit facing Balwyn in Round 13 and Vermont in Round 15. With the Hawks getting players back, they’re firming as a finals player.
Balwyn has two crunch games to come against the two other sides in this race. The Tigers have Rowville in a fortnight, after South Croydon this weekend before a massive clash with the Burners in Round 16. So get your predicting hat on and figure out those permutations people!
Redbacks get out alive
Ringwood remains the only undefeated side in the League, after winning upon its return to Jubilee Park against The Basin. The Redbacks did what good sides do, which is win when things aren’t going their way. Anthony McCann, Kelvin Greig and Daniel Collier stood up in the greasy and contested conditions to get them across the line.
The Basin, despite giving the Waverley Blues and Templestowe a sniff of the finals, haa come away from this loss with a lot of credits. The Bears defaulted to their tried and tested game plan of ensuring the game is played on their terms, which doesn’t allow sides free flowing run and carry, Trevor Mills was fantastic kicking a goal in his best on ground performance.
Other sides should take note however of The Basin’s approach to playing Ringwood. The Bears have lost to the Redbacks by a total of 10 points across two very low scoring games. For all this chat (myself included) of The Basin being the ultimate fifth-placed side, it certainly does match-up well with Ringwood.
If the Bears can put four quarters of this tough brand together against all of the sides above them, they could definitely take a scalp or two come finals time.
Make or break time for the Cougars
Glen Waverley Hawks, Whitehorse Pioneers, East Burwood, Coldstream, Surrey Park and Forest Hill.
These are Kilsyth’s remaining fixtures. The Cougars are currently sitting one game outside the top four. Their destiny is in their own hands, win against at least two of the sides above them in this run home and they could find themselves in the top four at the end of the year. They’ve proven at different times this season that their best footy is up there with the best in the competition.
However their worst footy is not and it comes around a little too often for them to be a genuine contender. It shouldn’t have come down to this for Kilsyth; it should probably be inside the top four as we speak, but unlike a lot of other sides across the competition, if it can come home in red-hot form, it’ll finish with finals footy.
It could be a fun month and a half of footy at Pinks Reserve, or it could be miserable. But one thing’s for sure – it’ll definitely be interesting.
All views expressed in this article remain those of the author and not of the Eastern Football League or its affiliated clubs.
