Every spot from first to fifth is still up for grabs ahead of some important Round 14 clashes in the Northern Football Netball League’s third division.
This scenario has been set up after a thrilling Round 13 weekend of football.
The finals now look out of reach for the Fitzroy Stars, but they have pushed three premiership hopefuls in recent weeks. After leading most of the day against the Turtles the week prior, the Stars were significant outsiders when taking on Laurimar at Laurimar Reserve.
The Power overcame a six-point quarter-time deficit to take a firm grip in the middle stages of the game. But the Stars rallied from 24 points down at the last break to go down by just nine points, emphasising just how dangerous some of the teams lower on the ladder can be.
“We’re happy with the improvement and intensity and we think we can take a scalp in the run home,” Fitzroy Stars coach Lionel Proctor said.
Rivva Karpany stood out in his debut game for the Stars, while fans had the great pleasure of watching potential best and fairest winners in Jai Burns and Luke Wilson go head to head.
Laurimar fans were glad, in the end, to get away with the victory.
“Almost everyone expected an easy win, but it was good for us to win what was a tough and finals-like game,” Laurimar assistant coach James Behan said.
Behan praised the work of Nathan Andrews who played mid and forward, as well as Noah Mooney at centre half forward.
Kinglake was looking to win by enough to grab the top spot on the ladder and a massive victory of 221 points over Lalor at Kinglake Memorial Oval saw them fall agonisingly short of top spot.
Laurimar leads with a percentage of 230.74 compared to 230.73 for the Lakers, meaning one more point would’ve gained the Lakers top spot.
“It was a switched-on four-quarter effort and we are now starting to develop that killer punch,” Kinglake coach Andrew Fairchild said.
Leigh Gilbert cashed in on the dominance with 15 goals, which is a personal and Kinglake record. Fairchild also gave a tick to Matthew Coen who played in the ruck.
While the result may look poor for Angelo Lamanna’s men, several players doubled up for the Bloods so that the reserves game could go ahead.
Nicholas Anastasi continues to impress for Lalor, while Michael Gravina produced his best game of the year.
Old Eltham Collegians were looking to consolidate the fourth spot when playing Heidelberg West at Eltham College but fell short by the barest of margins, with the Hawks prevailing and moving to fourth at the Turtles’ expense.
Remarkably, the 116-point margin in the Reservoir versus Kilmore game at Crispe Park was identical to their Round 4 clash.
The Mustangs score of 0.3 was their lowest for the season to date, with the Blues putting the game away with a nine-goal second term and snapping a three-game losing streak.
“Overall really happy with our use of the ball and to keep them goalless, with our midfield and backs working hard both ways,” Kilmore coach Paul Derrick said.
Derrick named Bailey Derrick and Christopher Jackson as influential players across half back, while Christopher Barton in the middle and Ethan Derrick in the air also won the coach’s approval.
Sixteen-year-old Benjamin Doyle also stood out with great small-forward craft and kicked five goals.
William Parello and Nathan King played their best games of the year for Reservoir.
Round 14 action features some great clashes, one of those being a tussle between Kilmore and Heidelberg West at J.J. Clancy Reserve.
Most pundits would favour the Hawks to get the chocolates in what is a must-win game for them.
But it may not be a simple win for them as they are on the road for the second week running, on top of the fact that this fixture is sandwiched between last week’s game against the Turtles and an upcoming trio of matches against the top three sides.
In saying that, their destiny is in their own hands because they will play finals if they keep winning.
With the Blues back on the winner’s list last week and having beaten Heidelberg West in a thriller earlier in the season at Heidelberg Park, their fans will turn up confident of a bold showing.
Reservoir travels to Waterview Recreation Reserve to take on Mernda.
The Demons sit a game behind the top two teams in the third spot and could possibly move up to second this week with the four points. Even if they remain in the third spot, a quintet of five wins against Heidelberg West and the four bottom sides to round out the season is likely to gain them a top-two finish.
For Robert Fletcher’s men, a win is vital, as it will give them the chance to bridge the percentage gap of just over 50 between themselves and the top two teams.
The Mustangs have bettered or equalled their results from the first half of the season so far, but this match-up looks challenging. Still, an improvement on their 113-point loss in Round 5 will be a step forward.
The Fitzroy Stars host Kinglake at Sir Douglas Nicholls Oval in an intriguing game that presents a challenge for both teams.
It’s one of the away games that the Lakers need to tick off as they aim for the double chance spot.
The Stars meanwhile would see this as a chance to knock off a top team in the run home.
They went close against Old Eltham Collegians and Laurimar in the past two weeks and also fell short to the Lakers by just 10 points at Kinglake Memorial Oval back in Round 5. The Lakers remain undefeated at home so far this season with no team getting as close to them as the Stars.
The match of the round status belongs to the clash between Old Eltham Collegians and Laurimar at Eltham College.
Most games between these teams have gone down to the wire, so a thriller is a distinct possibility.
The Round 5 encounter between these sides saw the Power get home by three points, while the Turtles won both games against Laurimar in 2022, by three and one point.
It’s a hugely important game for both teams and a win could propel Old Eltham Collegians back into the top four.
In fact, if they can defeat both the Power this week and Kinglake the following Saturday, they would be close to sealing a finals berth.
Similarly, the Power will clinch the double chance if they can defeat the Turtles, then follow up with wins over Heidelberg West, Kinglake and Reservoir.
With the stakes so high, both teams are sure to tackle the contest with intensity and it will be well worth watching.
