ELTHAM COLLEGE, VIC. — Old Eltham Collegians came from behind to upset Reservoir by 13 points at Eltham College in round 18 action of the Northern Football Netball League (NFNL) Division 3 football.
Rikki Newton was running hot in the first quarter for the Mustangs with three majors. Teammate Dean Jeffrey also snapped a wonderful goal, and when Nick Grabowski kicked truly late in the term, the lead had blown out to 24 points.
OLD ELTHAM COLLEGIANS: 2.1 6.4 11.8 14.10 (94)
GOALS: Eden Simpson 4, Thomas Burns 3, Logan Martin 3, Lennox Thomson 2, Mitch Crapper, Private Player.
BEST: Eden Simpson, Bailey Dillon, Connor Pilatti, Daniel Hallett, Private Player, Beaudie Maroney.
RESERVOIR: 5.2 7.3 8.6 12.9 (81)
GOALS: Nicholas Grabowski 3, Rikki Newton 2, Joshua Grabowski, (unknown/not listed).
BEST: Joshua Grabowski, Nicholas Grabowski, Justin Taylor, Jack Berry, Rikki Newton, Jack Sandric.
Good pressure from the Turtles led to Eden Simpson marking all alone wide out and running on to boot a late major.
The Mustangs led by 19 points at quarter time. They had applied great pressure to Old Eltham Collegians and were finding avenues to goal.
When Daniel Cartisano was moved from defence to midfield at quarter time, the Turtles looked better. They booted the first goal of the term when a long handball from Jack Snow found Logan Martin all alone inside fifty, and he made no mistake.
Nick Grabowski replied for Reservoir with a great snap from heavy traffic, but Old Eltham Collegians then dominated the middle minutes of the quarter. Lennox Thomson goaled after receiving a 50-metre penalty. Tom Burns nailed a set shot, and then Nick Milne put Eden Simpson in space for an easy conversion to tie the scores.
Late in the half, Reservoir’s Kieran Robertson intercepted a clearing kick and handballed to captain Jack Sandric. His long bomb just cleared the pack for a goal. It was enough to regain the lead for the Mustangs, who went into half-time five points ahead.
The Turtles were moving the ball much better after quarter time, hitting the 45-degree targets and finding players in space. This trend continued after the main break. Eden Simpson drilled a long goal to put his team in front.
Josh Grabowski had the quick reply for Reservoir. He received a handpass inside the centre square, dodged a tackle and ran inside fifty for a great goal to regain the lead.
Logan Martin engineered yet another lead change with a mark and goal. It began a run of four unanswered goals for the home side who went to the three-quarter time huddle full of confidence and with a 20-point lead.
With a finals spot on the line, Reservoir coach Joe Palazzolo gathered his charges and told them that they were making little mistakes which were costly. He urged them to play one-on-one football and to work their tails off in order to clinch a finals berth.
They were already down a man as Mark Ferraro was an early casualty, while a few others looked sore.
Despite that, the Mustangs were quickly out of the blocks. Nick Grabowski had snapped two majors by the five-minute mark to reduce the deficit to a manageable eight points.
It looked like it was going down to the wire, but Old Eltham Collegians booted the next three, much to the delight of the large home crowd. When Eden Simpson kicked his fourth from the goal square, the margin had blown out to 24 points.
Reservoir fans had a glimmer of hope when Josh Grabowski goaled within a minute, but the Turtles were able to hold firm. His brother Nick slotted his fifth for the day in his 250th game, but it was not enough.
Old Eltham Collegians played to honour former captain and assistant coach Jarrod Mizzi, who passed away recently.
“We set ourselves all week for this,” said Old Eltham Collegians coach Stewart McCallum. “We wanted to finish on a high and prepare well for next year.”
Eden Simpson, Mitch Rodda, Bailey Dillon, Daniel Hallett, Connor Pilatti and brothers James and Blake McCallum all were given honourable mentions.
Another set of brothers in Nick and Josh Grabowski excelled for Reservoir. Rikki Newton was electric across half forward and hit the scoreboard, while Justin Taylor was industrious in the midfield.
While there was joy for the Turtles, it was a different story in the Reservoir rooms afterwards. They had missed the chance to nail a finals spot and had to rely on outsider Kinglake to defeat Watsonia in the late game to qualify.
Sadly, for Mustangs fans, the Lakers made a game of it, without getting the win.
They will look back at their two losses to Old Eltham Collegians and the Round 17 defeat by Heidelberg West as the games that cost them dearly in a season which took them close to playing finals, but not quite close enough.
