On this week’s edition of The Vault, we take a glance at old and new rivals who’ll be matching up for the 49th and 50th times this weekend.
Head to Head:
Mitcham – 23 Bayswater – 24 Draws – 1
This weekend marks the 49th game between Mitcham and Bayswater.
Both Mitcham and Bayswater have been highly successful in the Eastern Football Netball League. The two clubs have won 27 premierships between them and have great histories in the East.
However, the two sides have not met in a single final despite playing 48 times.
The two clubs played in a combined total of 17 Grand Finals in the 1970s and 1980s, throughout the top divisions in the league.
While the Tigers never left Division One throughout that period, the waters found themselves constantly going back and forth from one to two through promotion and relegation.
With both sides back in the same division after Mitcham’s 2019 Division Two premiership, there’s still a chance that both teams will eventually face off in a final over the next couple of years.
Head to Head:
Forest Hill – 30 Kilsyth – 19 Draws – 0
In Division Four, Forest Hill and Kilsyth will meet for the 50th time, playing against one another.
Kilsyth head to Forest Hill Reserve to take on the Zebras, having played one another 49 times before.
They first met in 1991 and have played against one another in 26 of the following 32 seasons. Forest Hill has won the majority of those head-to-head clashes, including in recent history.
The Zebras won seven games in a row from 2018 to 2022 until the Cougars broke the drought last year in Round 16, defeating Zebras by 53 points. They followed that up win another win earlier this season in Round Two.
The two clubs have faced off in two finals against one another in 2013 and 2015. Both games happened in Division Four, splitting the two finals one and one.
In 2015, Kilsyth managed to hold on by thirteen points in the Preliminary Final, before losing to Warrandyte a week later in the Grand Final. It was also the last finals series that the Cougars had played in up until last year.
Both sides currently sit inside the top four, coming up to the halfway point of the season.