Canterbury steadies the ship with a percentage booster

Mitch Dyer

Round 12 of Division 3 football was a mixed bag of results, with an underdog nearly pulling off their biggest win of the year, while one of the premiership contenders proved once again that they are a force to be reckoned with.

Let’s start with Richmond Central taking on La Trobe University at Sheehan Oval on a Saturday afternoon. La Trobe, currently with just two wins for the 2023 season, took it right to the yellow and black, holding the lead all the way through to the third quarter after failing to score in the first.

In trying conditions and a contested game of footy, Richmond managed to come out on top late in the fourth with a 5-point win and another step toward a possible late push for a fourth-place spot.

Iryoung Fan starred for La Trobe, while Lachie Conboy was best afield for Richmond, who will now face Canterbury in one of their tougher tests toward the back end of this season.

Speaking of the Cobras, Canterbury wasted no time piling on goal after goal against Swinburne University at home, running out 93-point winners in a percentage-boosting performance.

Swinburne, who were admirable in their attack on the football. However, struggled to find any continuity against the onslaught of the Cobras after quarter time; with Jordan Dear scoring five goals of his own and one of the silkiest players in the comp, Mitch Szabo, kicking two.

The Cobras now sit 3% clear on top of the ladder and having only dropped two games for the season alongside Elsternwick. They look poised to confirm their spot with a double chance come season’s end.

Shifting attention to Ross Gregory Oval, Elsternwick managed to take care of Power House.

The game couldn’t have started any better for the bayside boys, with 4.7 setting them up for a great day in front of the big sticks, with 12 majors by the final siren.

Along with those 12 majors, however, came 20 behinds, meaning the eventual 39-point margin could have been far greater had Power House’s defenders not applied high pressure and attacked the football.

The final game of the afternoon was between two top-four rivals, with Hawthorn and Wattle Park battling it out.

The game had significance for finals superiority and ladder positioning, as it was an opportunity for Wattle Park to potentially pull one game back on the current third-placed Hawks.

Amazingly, in the first half of football, there were 12 goals and only two behinds scored, with 9 of those majors belonging to the Hawks.

Getting their patented run and carry moving early in the contest, Wattle Park lifted in the premiership quarter to bring the margin back to 20 points before the Hawks shut the door and threw away the key, running out 31-point winners.