The second round of action in the Northern Football Netball League provided a mixed bag of results.
Whittlesea were out to make it two from two in their first home game of the season, and on paper, it appeared it would be a straightforward assignment against a Watsonia team who were belted to the tune of 85 points the week before to St Mary’s.
But often, games are not as simple as it sounds, and while Whittlesea made another barnstorming start, matching the seven-goal opening quarter haul from their opening round victory against Old Paradians, they were only 19 points up at the first change, 42-23.
Jaron Murphy had kicked four goals in the opening term, and when he kicked two of the first three goals of the second term, the margin was 36 points.
SNAG: Zane Anderson salutes the Whittlesea crowd after a set shot goal deep in the pocket.
Watsonia, to their credit, then put together some good football to close the gap, with the margin sitting at 26 points at the main break, 69-43.
The Saints then dominated the third term, taking control as they played elite slingshot footy, guiding the ball from one end to the other with relative ease.
As a result, it would yield six goals for the quarter, closing the gap to just three points at the final change, 84-81.
Eagles coach Garry Ramsay demanded a response from his changes – one they would reciprocate after some significant pressure.
They would kick the only four goals of the last to put the game to bed, and would eventually take a 27-point win, 17.9 (111) to 12.12 (84).
Murphy’s six goals yielded best on ground honours, while Lucas Hobbs, Deakin Tennant, Thomas Falls and Harley Fraumano were also named in the best.
The biggest cause of concern was for captain Xavier Dimasi, who was forced off in the final term after copping a heavy bump in his 100th game.
Post-game, Ramsey expressed his relief.
“Always happy to win. Watsonia played fantastic, they were hard at it and they probably tackled better than us,” he said.
“We had two forwards who probably turned out to be the winner for the day for us, as we felt Watsonia outplayed us in a lot of areas.
“We need to peak at the right time this year, and that’s a base where we can improve on.
“It’s nice to be 2-0, and you can’t do much better than that. We’ll work on some of the areas that we need to, I think contested footy is something we’ll need to work on.”
Around the grounds, in division three, Mernda were outclassed by Fitzroy Stars in the first half of their game at Sir Douglas Nicholls Reserve, trailing by 48 points at half time before saving face in the second half to kick eight goals, losing by 47 points, 10.5 (65) to 16.16 (112).
Matthew Campbell and Fitzroy Stars’ key goalkicker Patrick Farrant had an entertaining battle, while Lachlan Evans, Lincoln Coffey, Will Crouch, Brayden Plant and Matthew Golledge were named in the best.
Laurimar survived multiple charges from Epping at Epping Recreational Reserve to cling on to an 11-point win, 16.8 (104) to 14.9 (93).
Patrick Fitzgerald was the hero, kicking eight goals, while Kaiden Arthur, Aidan Clarke, Jacob Lawson, Harley Marsh and Cooper Cusinato were also named in the best.
South Morang took part in a shootout, but while they mustered 16 goals, they were still well-beaten by Montmorency by 50 points, 24.13 (157) to 16.11 (107).
Jesse John Christidis. Kain Hall and Josh D’Intinosante kicked three goals each, with those three, Davin Cameron, Demetrios Constantinou and Nathan Stefanile were named in the best.
In the Friday night netball competition, Whittlesea split their two encounters, while Laurimar took three wins from their five matches. South Morang finished with four wins from their six games.
