ALL four of the Whittlesea area’s teams took sensational wins on the weekend as round 13 of the Northern Football Netball League competition took plenty of twists and turns.
South Morang is now equal top of the ladder with Northcote Park and St Mary’s following a come-from-behind win over the Cougars at Bill Lawry Oval.
In a topsy-turvy game, the Lions trailed at the first change by seven points but took control in the second term to kick the only three goals of the quarter to turn that into a 10-point lead at the main break, 28-18.
Northcote Park’s third quarter was powerful, kicking five goals to one to again take the lead, and looked to showcase why it was ladder leader, leading 50-35 at the final change.
But, with plenty on the line, South Morang found something.
Four goals in four minutes marked an incredible start to the quarter, with Carter McCall completing a sensational afternoon with two of his four goals in the burst, while Kobe Van Zwienen and James Hewson also found the goals to suddenly give the Lions a 15-point lead.
Northcote Park kicked a couple of goals to reduce the margin to one point, but clutch goals from Rocco Grillo and Christian Mardini finished the job, with the Lions winning 12.5 (77) to 9.11 (65).
Nathan Stefanile dominated in the ruck, and McCall, Chris Petroro, Jesse John Christidis, Mardini and Hewson were also named in the best.
Whittlesea kept its faint finals hopes alive with a gritty seven-point win over Fitzroy Stars in difficult conditions at Sir Douglas Nicholls Reserve.
Having previously beaten the Eagles away from home, the Stars were confident of another big win and looked to be doing the job when they led by 14 points at the first change, 21-7.
But Whittlesea started to fight back in the second term, going stride for stride with the Stars and closing the gap slightly, keeping in touch by 11 points at the main break, 28-39.
It was the third quarter which was the money quarter for the Eagles. They kicked the only three goals of the term to flip the game upside-down and leave the Stars wilting as the Eagles led 50-42 at the final change.
In a tight final term, the Stars asked many questions, but the Eagles had all the answers. Two goals apiece left the Eagles in front when it mattered most, winning 9.10 (64) to 8.9 (57).
Whittlesea’s grunt work was evident in the coalface, with Thomas Falls and Bailey Robinson superb and kicking five goals between them. Baylin Greeves, Deakin Tennant, Khaled El-Leissy and Steven Dempsey completed the best players.
In division three, Laurimar continues to put pressure on Ivanhoe on top of the ladder with a solid 76-point win over Old Eltham Collegians.
It was a slow start to proceedings, with both teams kicking one goal apiece in the opening quarter, but Laurimar got going in the second term to kick five goals to one to open up a 27-point lead at the main break, 41-14.
Another four goals to one meant Laurimar had the game in its safekeeping, leading 69-21 at the final change.
The Power had multiple chances to make it a big score, but kicked three goals from 13 scoring shots, leaving some percentage on the table as they won 13.19 (97) to 3.3 (21).
Liam Waldron had a sensational day, kicking four goals to be the clear best-on-ground, but was ably supported by Stephen McCallum, Noah Mooney, Cooper Fitzpatrick, Bailey Macleod and Janus Waldron.
Mernda needed three quarters to kick into gear but scored nine goals in the final term to eventually put away Kinglake.
The Lakers only have one win for the season but looked anything but in the opening term as they kicked five goals to two to lead 30-16 at the first change.
Mernda got back on terms in the second quarter, kicking four goals to one, but it was still very much a struggle as the Demons led 43-37 at the main break.
Kinglake kicked the only two goals of the third quarter as the Demons struck inaccuracy woes, kicking six straight behinds as they turned for home trailing by one point, 49-50.
But the Demons well and truly got going, with Matthew Bawden in his first game of the year catching fire, kicking three goals as part of a Demons rush, seeing them kick five goals in 11 minutes, and nine overall for the quarter as they won 15.16 (106) to 8.2 (50).
Youngster Zach Ciacia led the way, while Billy Morrison, Jayden Bell, Lachlan Potter, Jett Philips and Riley Black also played well.