ERWFL REVIEW

By Alyce Collett

In the Premier Division Mt Evelyn suffered a loss by the same margin that they won by the previous weekend.

The Whitehorse Suns held the lead at every change, before Mt Evelyn came back at them in the last quarter. Ultimately they fell just short, but if they were a little bit more accurate, things could have been very different. They kicked 3.13 to Whitehorse’s 5.4.

Jessica Smith kicked two goals for Mt Evelyn, while Lilly Kelly kicked one. Nicole Akers, Storm Jenkin and Georgia Ploegsma were among Mt Evelyn’s best players.

Meanwhile in Division One, Upwey Tecoma also had a close loss, this time to South Croydon.

South Croydon lead by five points at quarter time, before the Tigers kept them scoreless and by quarter time the margin was five points in favour of them. The third term saw The Tigers go scoreless and South Croydon were able to regain the lead before holding on for the win.

Jessica Occhipinti and Samantha Searle kicked one goal each for the Tigers, while Emma Caccetta, Kiana Oates and Claire Weickhardt were among the best players in the loss.

In the Outer East Division, Monbulk made the most of their second chance, defeating Thornton – Eildon.

The opening centre clearance of the match went the way of the Hawks, and in no time they were already in their forward 50.

The first score was a rushed behind to Monbulk, and although Monbulk looked really dangerous going forward throughout the quarter, the Thornton – Eildon defence held up well and stopped the Hawks scoring.

Eventually a free kick set up Thornton – Eildon’s first attack into 50, but the kick was intercepted.

It was a very even quarter, with much of the quarter being played between 30m from goal from one end and 30m from goal at the other end.

Monbulk should have been much further ahead at quarter time, but a one point lead is all they had.

The ball spent a lot of time at the start of the second quarter in Monbulk’s forward half, but the Hawks just couldn’t score. They finally got a goal on the board roughly halfway through the term when Laura Gillard kicked a goal from one of the tightest of angles. They got their second on the board late in the quarter through Kathryn Gow.

Monbulk should have been further ahead as they were dominating both possession and time inside forward 50. Thornton – Eildon had a few good runs through the middle and tried to press forward, particularly through players like Natasha Hay.

Thornton – Eildon were pressing forward in the dying moments of the quarter, but ultimately couldn’t score as Monbulk took a 14 point lead into the main break.

Thornton – Eildon came out vocal and pumped up for the second half, and they were the ones to get the first inside 50 of the third term. They were looking dangerous but were ultimately unsuccessful in getting any kind of score on the board. They finally got their first score on the board at about the halfway mark of the quarter, but it was a behind.

The reward for effort finally came roughly five minutes later through a goal from Kelly-Anne Fitzpatrick, to reduce the margin to seven points.

Two minutes later Kathryn Gow got her second for the afternoon after laying a great tackle then running into goal with the subsequent free kick.

99% of the time during the quarter the ball was in Thornton – Eildon’s forward half. It only came into Monbulk’s attacking side of centre three times.

In the end, the margin sat at 13 points heading into the final quarter.

The first clearance went Thornton – Eildon’s way through Natasha Hay, and after a lucky/unlucky bounce (depending on which side you were supporting) Yolanda Vinycomb kicked Thornton – Eildon’s second goal and the margin was reduced back to seven.

After some back and forth footy, Thornton – Eildon had a few chances at goal, but it only resulted in one behind.

Just as you thought Thornton – Eildon might pinch the unlikeliest of wins, Kathryn Gow took a strong mark and went back and slotted through her third goal of the afternoon.

In the end Monbulk held on for a 13 point win, and move on to a rematch with Healesville in next weeks Grand Final.

Thornton – Eildon will no doubt be feeling very frustrated after the result, but should be proud with how far they’ve come, especially considering where they were last year.