WHITTLESEA and Laurimar continued their march into the top two of their respective Northern Football Netball League competitions with contrasting wins.
The Eagles needed three quarters to put away Thomastown at Main Street Reserve but eventually came out of it remaining unbeaten ahead of an early-season showdown against early frontrunners Diamond Creek.
Whittlesea made a strong start to kick three of the first four goals to open up a 12-point lead at the first change.
Thomastown, who are still seeking their first victory of the season, then made all the running in the second term, but could only muster two goals from eight scoring shots.
When the ball was in the Eagles’ forward line, they took advantage, kicking two goals to maintain a 34-26 lead at the main break.
It was an inaccurate third term from both teams as Thomastown continued to try eating into Whittlesea’s lead, but it was to no avail, with the Eagles kicking two of the three goals for the term and leading 51-37 at the final change.
It was all Whittlesea in the final term as they finished the game the way they started it, kicking three goals to one to eventually record a 10.14 (74) to 5.15 (45) victory.
A best-on-ground performance from Mitchell Andrews drove the Eagles, while Thomas Falls, Lachlan Shinn-Mahony, Deakin Tennant, Taidhg Bland and Matthew Atta also caught the eye of coach Garry Ramsey.
In contrast in division three, Laurimar and Kinglake took part in a shootout where 37 goals were kicked in an entertaining affair at Kinglake Memorial Oval.
Both teams were on the offensive in the early stages, with the Power kicking five goals to four to lead 32-26 at the first change.
The second term belonged to Laurimar after Kinglake levelled the scores early in the term.
In particular, it was Patrick Fitzgerald and Joel Lawson who were clinical in front of goal as the duo both had four goals going into half time.
In the end, eight goals for the term saw Laurimar leading 82-45 at the main break.
To their credit, Kinglake weren’t prepared to lie down in front of their home supporters, and went on a run to electrify the game, kicking four goals in a row to reduce the margin to 15 points.
While Laurimar then kicked a couple of settling goals, the Lakers continued to close the gap, and it was just nine points at the final change, the Power leading 97-88.
Just when it looked like Kinglake could overrun the Power, up stepped Fitzgerald.
He kicked the first three goals of the last to take his tally to nine for the day, before kicking his tenth late on to ensure Laurimar took a 21.9 (135) to 16.6 (102) victory.
Fitzgerald’s 10 unsurprisingly left him best on ground, while Ethan Bateman, Cameron Maloney, Lawson, Luke Wilson and Jacob Lawson were also named in the best.
Mernda had the bye in division three.
In division one, South Morang’s quest to stay afloat has hit a rocky road, with Bundoora taking a 15-point win to record their first of the year, leaving the Lions still seeking their first win.
The margin seemed to hover around two goals all day, though Bundoora had it in the bag throughout the last quarter, before recording a 15.10 (100) to 13.7 (85) win.
Nathan Stefanile, Kain Hall, Kobe Van Zwienen, Adam De Propertis, Alex Kirkopoulos and Teague Van Zwienen were all named in the best for the Lions.
In the NFNL netball competition, Whittlesea 1 recorded their first win in the division one competition, scoring a 48-36 win over North Heidelberg 2.
Whittlesea 2 also saw success in the division three competition with a 42-34 win over Thomastown 1, while South Morang 1 took a 44-40 win over Bundoora.
Laurimar had a clean sweep in the final round of grading, taking five wins from five games, while Whittlesea 3 and 4 both lost. South Morang had a mixed weekend, winning three of their six grading games.
