KILMORE needed plenty of luck if it were to return to the Northern Football Netball League division three’s top five at the halfway point of the season.
Everything would fall into place on a cold, wet afternoon at JJ Clancy Reserve, with the Blues dominant in taking an 86-point victory against Old Eltham Collegians.
Old Eltham came into the game sitting in last position with just one win, but Kilmore knew it needed to get a fast start to give their supporters a relatively comfortable afternoon.
Luckily, Paul Derrick’s men delivered.
Kilmore’s midfield immediately took complete control of the clearance game, seemingly having all the territory in the opening half of the first term.
It was Bailey Derrick who set the tone, winning plenty of ball, while Chris Barton supported with the in-and-under possessions.
Finishing off all the good work in front of goal early on was Jared Crosbie, who provided plenty of problems for Old Eltham’s defenders with his pace off his first step and smarts in front of goal.
The result was the Blues kicking the only four goals of the quarter to open up a 26-point lead at the opening change, already seemingly looking good for a big win, leading 27-1.
Kilmore was utterly dominant as it swept aside any challenge from the Turtles throughout the first half of the second quarter, kicking the first four goals of the term to have the game wrapped up before the second term had even reached the business end.
Old Eltham at least provided some slight scoreboard pressure as the final stages of the second term was completed with two goals, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Blues from leading by 48 points at the long break, 61-13.
With the weather taking hold, scoring was a lot harder to come by in the third term.
Just two goals were scored, both by the Blues, while they were resolute defensively to repel almost every attack from the Turtles, conceding just two behinds for the term, as they turned for home leading by 61 points, 76-15.
The Blues rediscovered its scoring dare in the last quarter, kicking two early goals as they looked to approach a winning margin in excess of 100 points.
That wasn’t the case, with the Turtles stopping Kilmore from adding more pain on the scoreboard until the last 10 minutes, when the Blues added two more to make the final margin 86 points, 15.13 (103) to 2.5 (17).
While Kilmore was very impressive defensively in conceding just two goals for the day, and none after half time, it was the Blues’ midfield power that really delivered a much-needed victory, their first since round four.
Bailey was named as their best, while Barton continued to deliver a stellar season.
Crosbie added four goals to be the leading goalkicker on the ground, while the slippery Lachlan Chesher and Josh Alford added three goals each.
Kye Maher, Jaden Smith and Zack Ferguson completed the best players for the Blues.
Other results around the league conspired to help Kilmore move to fifth position as a result of their big win.
Specifically, it was Kinglake’s 66-point victory over Mernda, and Epping’s 28-point victory over Reservoir, which allowed the Blues to leapfrog both the Demons and Mustangs into the top five, and sit just ahead of Ivanhoe in the race for the final spot in the top five.
With Ivanhoe approaching at JJ Clancy Reserve next week, it’s another make-or-break game for the club as they try and establish themselves as one of the key challengers in this year’s finals race.
The Riddell District Football Netball League and the NFNL Women’s competition both had their weekend off owing to the King’s Birthday public holiday, and return to action this week.
