Snakes achieve season first to maintain top four spot

While no side moved up or down the ladder during Round 13, there was still plenty of action within the Division 3 Men’s competition to make things interesting heading into the final five rounds.

Richmond Central has, for the first time this season, defeated a top four side. The Snakes held on to beat the ladder leaders in Power House by 11 points in easily their most important win this season.

Having been well-rested following the representative bye, the Snakes came out strong in the first quarter with nine scoring shots compared to Power House’s one, which saw them lead by 28 points at the break.

Although, Power House quickly got back into the game, holding the Snakes to just a goal. This proved to be the difference between the two sides at halftime. And within the third quarter, Power House would take the lead and looked set to win.

But the Snakes would lead into three-quarter time, and after falling behind once again in the fourth, they kicked the last two goals to claim victory.

With all of Richmond Central’s four losses coming against Power House, North Brunswick and Wattle Park (the three teams above them on the ladder) this win is significant for Michael Motta’s men to give them validity that they can compete and beat these sides when it matters.

As a result of this win, it keeps the Snakes in the top four. And with games against 8th-placed La Trobe, 9th-placed Chadstone and 10th-placed Eley Park in the next three weeks, this should be a good opportunity to try and build their percentage up in the lead-up to finals.

While their poor start did cost them the game, Power House should take some confidence from their performance following quarter time.  

Albert Park continues to keep the top four under pressure as they extend their winning streak for another week with a 39-point win against La Trobe University.

However, it wasn’t always a certainty that the Falcons would find a way to victory.

In fact, the first four scores were all goals from the Trobers, helping establish their 19-point lead at quarter time.

Their lead would continue throughout the second and partway through the third. It was at this point where the lead would go to Albert Park halfway through the third.

But similarly to their Round 5 match-up, the Trobers would lead the Falcons by single digits at three-quarter time with a potential upset on the cards.

The Falcons would soar in the final quarter, kicking 8.6 to La Trobe’s two goals to run out as winners and increase their percentage.

The win is the seventh in a row for the Falcons, with Richmond Central’s win against Power House the only thing denying them of a top four spot for the first time all season.

On the flipside, the result sees La Trobe lose ground to 6th place Box Hill North, making it even harder to make a late push for a finals place.

North Brunswick has achieved their fifth 100+ point win of the season with a 153-point victory over Swinburne University.

It was yet another scoring stampede by the Bulls, who broke out to a 56-point lead at quarter time while the Razorbacks only managed a point.

However, the lead could have been significantly larger as North Brunswick only managed to score seven goals and 15 behinds.

In fact, those 22 scoring shots in the first quarter were higher than what Richmond Central, Power House, Chadstone, Eley Park and Swinburne managed to achieve across all four quarters in their respective matches.

The forward half dominance continued for the rest of the match as the likes of Andrew Ramzy, Matt David, Elias Manne and Spence Zahra all kicked three goals or more to help set the Bulls on their way to a comfortable win.

For the Bulls, the win increases their percentage by 19% to now sit on 213%. This sees them extend their advantage over fellow 10-3 side in Wattle Park as there is now a 24% difference between the sides.   

With this loss, it now sees the Razorbacks officially out of finals contention.

Box Hill North returned from the bye with vengeance, resulting in a 147-point win over Eley Park.

Having incurred their worst loss in the previous round against Power House, the Demons have now followed it with their biggest win for the season.

It wasn’t a smooth start for Box Hill North; while they had the first two scoring shots with a goal and behind, Eley Park would manage the next four scores – all of which were behinds.

And after that, the Demons would dominate the scoring opportunities.

They would increase their lead at each break, going from 29 points at quarter time, to 56 points at half time and 84 points at three-quarter time.

But the Demons saved their best for the last quarter, scoring nine goals and 11 behinds to the Sharks’ two points to break the three-digit margin mark.   

The margin was also helped by the fact that Eley Park was uncharacteristically missing shots on goal. In the 12 games prior to this match, the Sharks had kicked 74 goals out of a possible 144 scoring shots (at an accuracy of 51.38%).

However, they only managed an accuracy rate of nine per cent with a 1.10 performance.

Wattle Park has delivered a thumping 140-point win against Chadstone to keep a one-game buffer between them and 4th-placed Richmond Central.

Despite Chadstone’s efforts, which held Wattle Park briefly in the first quarter, the scoring floodgates would open in the second quarter and beyond.

From the second quarter onwards, the Animals piled on 21 goals with 11 of those coming in the final quarter while holding Chadstone to just 29 points.

Similar to Box Hill North, their victory would be the biggest winning margin they have had this season, beating their previous record of 133 points, which was also against the Synners.

This win is now their fourth within the space of five games as they build momentum towards the back end of the season. This win also pushes their percentage to 189% which is now above Richmond’s by five per cent. That could prove handy if both are tied on the same number of wins at the end of the season.

The result for Chadstone marks their third 100-point or more loss in a row as they remain on the hunt for their second win this season.

For Round 14, Swinburne takes on Box Hill North at their home ground of Elgar Park. Both teams find themselves two games in front of the team below and two games behind the team that is above them on the ladder, making a win for either side important for any upwards progression on the ladder.

Albert Park faces a massive test against Power House.  An 8th consecutive win would likely keep them tied with Richmond Central for wins and the possibility of a Round 17 blockbuster between the two. But following only their second loss this season, Power House will be motivated to avoid making it three losses.     

Richmond Central returns home for the first time since last month when they play host to Chadstone at Kevin Bartlett Reserve. They have won their last three games at home by an average margin of 122 points, showing how much they love playing at the Reserve.

Wattle Park will make their way down to Bundoora as they play La Trobe at Tony Sheehan Oval. With a four-game gap to 5th-placed Albert Park and only five games to go, La Trobe simply must win to avoid being eliminated from the finals race. On the other side, the Animals need another big win to close the percentage gap to North Brunswick to make a top two finish a stronger possibility.

And North Brunswick is hoping to make it three straight games of 100+ point wins in their clash against Eley Park. Last time these sides played, the Bulls won by a whopping 217 points with the Sharks only capable of scoring a singular point for the game.