BUNDOORA, VIC. (NFNL HQ). — The penultimate round of the regular season of the Northern Football Netball League’s Division 3 football gave fans three great battles and a big win.
Four games were played, with Epping, Kinglake and Old Eltham Collegians having the bye.
Kilmore travelled to Binnak Park to take on Watsonia. The Blues needed a victory to stay in the race for a finals spot.
A goal behind at the first break, the Blues played an excellent second quarter to go to a 12-point half-time lead. The third term won it for the Saints who booted 6.2 to 2.3 to lead by 11 points at three quarter time. They then kicked the first two of the last term and were safe from that juncture, going on to win by 17 points.
“Our biggest game of the year is coming up,” said Watsonia coach Anthony McGregor, referring to their Round 18 fixture against Kinglake where a win should seal a finals berth. “It’s like an elimination final.”
McGregor said that Cameron Cloke, who slotted six goals, was the difference. He also praised the work of Mason Grech on the ruck, Jai Bartzis, Seb Tarczon and Angus Donat. Donat was a late inclusion after two key defenders were late withdrawals.
The loss puts finals out of reach for the Blues. To overtake Watsonia in the final round, they would need the Saints to lose and for the combined margins to be in the order of 300 points.
“The boys really took it to that Saints in the first half with their pressure and intent at the ball,” said Kilmore coach Mick Marrett. “Unfortunately, we probably dialled back the pressure just a touch, which allowed Watsonia to make better decision with ball in hand.”
Marrett loved the way Chris Barton led from the front. He also highlighted the five goals kicked by Will O’Dwyer-Richards as well as giving ticks to debutantes Toby McCarthy and Cooper Thompson.
Lalor hosted Mernda at Lalor Reserve. The Demons justified their status as hot favourites and won by 140 points.
James Sekulovski has been in hot form recently and kicked seven in the victory. He has booted twenty goals in the past four weeks. Cody Bradley has played the last three games in the seniors and pushed his case for finals action by kicking three majors. Jesse Guelfo and, Declan Felle also impressed.
It was the second time in three weeks that Mernda has scored a triple digit margin, having beaten Epping by 126 points in Round 15.
In the absence of Sam Rexhepi, Hayden Chapman did well up forward and kicked both of the goals for the Bloods. Alex Finch and Nawid Najafi were also among the best. Najafi’s terrific form late in the season has given him a chance to be in the running for his team’s best and fairest.
Top-placed Ivanhoe battled it out with Laurimar, with both starting the game on 14 wins. Scores were close until the Hoers kicked three late goals to end the half. This mirrors a similar scoring pattern to their round 13 game against Mernda.
They extended their lead early in the third term but had to fight off a tenacious Power team who reduced the deficit to 14-points at the last change.
Laurimar was unable to get within a single-figure margin in the final quarter, eventually going down by 20 points.
Jake van der Veeken played his best game for Ivanhoe, while Charles Robinson was the main goal-kicker with three.
Joel Lawson slotted three goals for the Power, with defender Noah Mooney also named among the best.
Reservoir and Heidelberg West fought out an absolute thriller at Crispe Park. Given other results on the day, the Hawks needed to prevail to keep their finals chances alive.
Heidelberg West belied their underdog status and jumped to an 11-point lead at quarter time. They extended the margin by a further goal in the second term before the Mustangs hit back with the final three majors of the half. Michael Hurley put them in front by 3-points just before the bell.
Another ex-AFL player in Ricky Dyson goaled for Reservoir early in the third term, giving locals hopes of a win. But the quarter turned into a five-goal per side shoot-out.
The Hawks began the final term three points down. Again, Dyson scored the first goal of the final term. And when Nick Grabowski kicked another, the Mustangs were looking good in going out to a game-high lead for them of 15 points.
With things looking grim for the visitors, defender Connor Dunne took a great intercept mark for Heidelberg West. They went coast to coast from that interception, and Waylon Davey snapped a trademark goal to bring the deficit back to single figures.
James Condello goaled from a set shot to make it a mere three-point lead to Reservoir. Four minutes later, Dunne laid a tackle and received a free deep in defence. Once again, the Hawks moved the ball the length of the ground for Davey to swoop and goal. Heidelberg West led by two points with plenty of time left on the clock.
A few minutes later, Reservoir’s Dean Jeffrey received a free on the boundary at 50. His long shot was punched through by Hawk defenders. The Mustangs kept attacking for the final few minutes of the game but were unable to trouble the scorers. Fittingly, it was Dunne who had the ball in his hands when the final siren rang.
The victory was one of Heidelberg West’s best performances for the season, winning a game against a team with plenty of AFL experience. It remains to be seen if it will propel them to their first-ever finals appearance.
“I’m happy, excited for them and proud of them,” said Heidelberg West coach Michael Missen. “Our defence and structure stood up. We competed hard on the inside, worked hard to get the ball to the outside and our pressure rating was our highest for the season.”
Missen was rapt with the work of James Condello in the middle and Fletcher Parkinson in the ruck. Mitch Thompson won credit for his job on Aaron Edwards, while Nick Paton and Will Bruce also were impressive.
While there was disappointment in the Mustangs camp, their fate is in their hands. They just need a round 18 win to play finals for the first time in eleven years.
“We played poorly,” said Reservoir coach Joe Palazzolo. “We gave them a sniff, left the door ajar and they were good enough to turn that into a win.”
Palazzolo loved the job Michael Hurley did in booting five goals and being a marking target further up the ground. He also liked the effort of Dean Jeffrey, who gave them a spark across half forward and hit the scoreboard. Down back, Marcus Cantwell earned his praise as well.
At the end of the round, the first three spots on the table are locked away. Ivanhoe will be minor premiers and get a week’s rest when the finals begin. Laurimar and Mernda are second and third.
Currently, Reservoir, Watsonia and Heidelberg West all have eight wins, with the Hawks trailing significantly on percentage.
The simple finals scenario is that Heidelberg West will play finals if they win over Lalor and either Reservoir or Watsonia loses. In the unlikely event that the Hawks’ winning margin is 200 points more than the Saints’ winning margin, they have a chance to overtake them on percentage. It is all set up for a great final round of the regular season.
