Cobras, Warriors and Animals fight for finals

Tash Gunawardana

In the final round for the home & away season for Division 3, it’s fourth v fifth at Canterbury Sports Ground on Saturday as Canterbury host Westbourne Grammarians. Expect this clash to be a close encounter from the start with both teams vying for a finals berth and a top four finish. Sitting with equal points on the ladder (44pts), the same points as Emmaus St Leo’s (3^rd) too, Canterbury have just a 6.55% ascendancy over the Warriors. The last time these two sides met was in Round 5 and Westbourne Grammarians were too strong for Canterbury winning by 27 points at Westbourne School Ground. Canterbury will need to ensure they play four quarters of consistent footy, and avoid any lapses like in Round 5, as they had the perfect start booting through six goals to Westbourne’s two, but were overrun for the following three quarters. Westbourne will hope for more of the same from key forward Agon Bahtiri who starred with four goals in their most recent clash between the two sides.

Richmond Central will come up against the third-placed Emmaus St Leos this weekend, with the Animals looking to cement third position on the ladder with a huge win from this match up. Last time the two sides played was way back in Round 3, and Emmaus came away with a 22-point victory in front of their home crowd at Bennettswood Sports Ground. If Richmond Central hope to conclude 2019 with a win, they will need to stop Harrison Davis who caused headaches for the Snake’s defenders last time, scoring six goals.

Koonung Reserve will host a thriller as the top two teams in Manningham Cobras and Aquinas lock heads. Expect both teams to come out firing with only a game separating them on the ladder. Aquinas will hope they can get one back on the Cobras, as they went down  by 20 points last time they met in Round 7. If Aquinas want to topple the ladder leaders, a spread of goalkickers will be paramount – Joshua Robertson was the lone kicking machine with six goals last time. The Bloods looked like they were heading for a win with a strong first half where they jumped out of the blocks with eight goals to four in Round 7, but Manningham stepped it up in the second half outscoring Aquinas’ nine goals to four.

The last match of the round will be a game of pride between the two bottom placed sides, Parkside and North Brunswick, at Pitcher Park. Promoted together following their Division 4 Grand Final in 2018, and now relegated back together at the end of 2019, expect both teams to leave nothing in the tank. If their last clash was anything to go by in Round 5, where Parkside pipped North Brunswick by three points, then we are in for another tight clash. North Brunswick will hope they can register their second win of the season and finish on equal points as Parkside, but it is seldom that easy as the Red Devils will also want to finish their season on a positive.