WHITTLESEA entered Saturday’s match after dropping points against Diamond Creek the previous week, falling a game behind the top two on the ladder.
Thomastown, meanwhile, is enduring a challenging season having lost seven consecutive matches, with the Round 14 loss to St Mary’s extending the streak.
The ground conditions were both muddy and challenging follow a week of solid rain.
The Eagles were off to a strong start posting the first seven scores on the board, leading Thomastown 22-0 before the visitors posted their first goal.
But Mathew Atta was not going to open the door for the Bears booting another through the big sticks to set the Eagles in a commanding position midway through the opening term.
Jack Taylor opened the second term for the Eagles with an impressive major four minutes into the term. Goals from Jaron Murphy and Braydon Avola saw the Eagles reach half time with a tight 11 point lead.
Back on the ground after the long break the Eagles were determined to dominate the game but that was not to be as the Bears came out fighting to narrow the Whittlesea lead to just four points as the quarter closed.
The fourth quarter saw the ground’s condition providing a challenge to both sides. Scoring was tight with both sides only managing two behinds each.
But a determined Eagles managed to hold onto the tight four point lead coming our winners 8.13 (61) to 9.3 (57).
Whittlesea now sits comfortably third on the ladder with a solid 147.41 per cent.
Goals for the Eagles came from Jack Taylor with two along with one each from Mathew Atta, Liam Tyrrell, Christian Prestopino, Jaron Murphy, Riley Powell and Braydon Avola.
Best for Whittlesea were Mitchell Andrews, Liam Tyrrell, Matthew Coen, Braydon Avola, Matthew Atta and Clayton McCartney.
Mixed results
In Division 3 Mernda was unable to keep pace with Kinglake, going down to the visitors 5.7 (37) to Kinglake’s 9.10 (64).
The story was different for Laurimar with an impressive 80 point win over Old Eltham Collegians 20.7 (127) to 7.5 (47).
Sundays Women’s round saw Whittlesea score an impressive win over Epping 6.6 (42) to 1.1 (7) with Katrina Bruch leading the charge with an impressive three goals.
It was all Eagles in the first half and it took Epping 24 minutes into the second term to put a score on the board.
Best for Whittlesea were Olivia Hodgson, Harper McPherson-Goulding, Katrina Bruch, Tayla Wood, Jasmyn Lang and Ivana Pecanac.
The day was not so good for Laurimar with the Power girls losing to a stronger Reservoir. The final siren saw Reservoir posting 4.7 (31) to the Power’s no score.
