15 down, three to go in Division 4

By Gav Southern – @gavsouthern

Now that Round 15 has come and gone, it’s now a six horse race for the Div 4 premiership. Box Hill North are now officially out of the race whilst Manningham and Masala showed some ticker. Eley Park had a much needed rest and the teams from West just keep rolling along. To last week’s games:

Masala Def By Westbourne  

As predicted, goals were a plenty at Masala’s small ground of WJ. Turner Reserve, as Westbourne travelled to Dandenong North. An 8 goals to 3 opening term, set the standard of the days play as two kicks very often resulted in a kick for goal. Sam Freeman was a welcome return after a month out of the Tigers line-up, kicking 6 goals whilst, Michael Tsivoulidis’ 2nd game for the Seniors, was by far his best. For The Warriors, Dale Collins (9 goals), BOG Ben Johnson (6) and Nck Schiano (4) led 8 other goal-kickers in yet another fine day out.

North Brunswick Def Box Hill North

Our match of the round disappointed as player availability quelled any chance for Box Hill North to keep their season alive at Allard Park against a rampaging North Brunswick. The Bulls started slowly but, gained more and more momentum after each quarter. Valid efforts to Bocky’s Rhys Mehlstaubbler who ran hard all day with, Alec Nhyuis and Robbie Small never giving up. For the Bulls, it was again the duo of Pat Notaro (5 goals) and Pete Butler (3) who had the bulk of the scoring whilst, BOG belonged to Nick Trewhella.

Chadstone Def By Mt. Lilydale

After their win last week, Mt. Lilydale were full of confidence, heading out to face the cellar-dwellers of the Chadstone Synners at Jordan Reserve. Chaddy showed more spirit this week but, it was a commanding Rams performance from start to finish. Led by the Rams Captain and BOG, Sam Hickey (4 goals), Jai Perrett (10), Stephen Donald (8), backman James “Jimmy” Brown and 2 hangers from Tyson Spencer. For the Synners, Ruckman Blake Stewart and early favourite for B&F, Jase Edwards, seemed to be in every contest. Ian Seagrim and Justin Beach all held their own down back. Dave Fernandez and Yours Truly were the Synners only goal-kickers.

Manningham Def By Point Cook

Point Cook headed out to Koonung Reserve and a hungry Manningham. The Doggies got off to a quick start kicking 6 goals to 2 with the breeze, but inaccurate kicking could have meant going into qtr time with a larger lead. The rest of the match was basically goal for goal in some what tough conditions with the breeze and a soft surface. Point Cook coming out winners by 36 points, led by Will Dawson (6 goals), who played himself back into form, Mason Kip and a best on ground performance by Marcus Groves. For the Cobras, Ben Russian (2) was the only multiple goal kicker of the 8 scorers whilst, Adam Pianto was Manningham’s best.

PREVIEW

With 3 games to go, ladder positions should stay except for, 5th and 6th. Barring any upsets, the run home for the current ladder, looks like this: (Winners in BOLD)

1st – Westbourne: Bye, MAN, MTL – A bye and 2 wins, finishing with a Rams test, will seem them a top of the ladder, undefeated. 

2nd – Point Cook: Chad, MAS, NB – An easy run home, should see the Dogs maintain 2nd.

3rd – Mt. Lilydale: NB, Bye, WES – Two home games with an unblemished home record, to be broken last round. Sorry, Tickets. Percentage to save them over the Sharks.

4th – Eley Park: Games against MAS, NB and BHN. Should limp to the finals with all 3 wins. Actually, they need to.

5th – North Brunswick: MTL, EP, PTC – The toughest run home. They COULD steal one but, the Cobras will take 5th by the season’s end.

6th – Manningham: BHN, WES, MAS – As previously stated, Cobras have the better run home but, are susceptible. 

7th – Box Hill North: MAN, Chad, EP – Playing for pride but, at least they’re games against rivals. Should beat Chaddy

8th – Masala: EP, PTC, MAN. No finals but, they should treat them as so. Imagine knocking off Manningham?

9th – Chadstone: PTC, BHN, Bye – A season that had so much promise but, fell away quickly. Let’s hope they can get close to Bocky before their vote count night.

TIPS

Box Hill North Vs. Manningham

Mt. Lilydale Vs. North Brunswick 

Point Cook Vs. Chadstone

Eley Park Vs. Masala