MERNDA’S six-game win streak has come to an end, after the third-placed division three team lost by five goals to the Reservoir Mustangs.
In what looked to be an upset in the making, both teams started the game on a reasonably similar level kicking two goals each by the first break.
But without being there, it’d be hard to know that Mernda couldn’t convert in front of goal with a major breeze helping them.
Multiple misses from Billy Morrison and a moment to forget for Christian Evans contributed to the multiple opportunities missed.
Evans who took a mark basically in the goal square, played on to then find himself in a Heath Shaw 2010 grand final-like moment, to get run down and smothered.
Reservoir’s end to end ball movement kept the pressure on as they scored two majors against the wind.
In the second term, it was time for Reservoir to put the foot down with the wind, and it did.
Goals through Salvatore Mamone and Shannon McCleish alongside a double from Aaron Edwards put them four goals up within 13 minutes of the quarter.
Evans bounced back for Mernda, kicking one of his own in response, until Edwards kicked his third for the term and pushed the margin back to four goals at the major break.
Half time looked to potentially change the tides giving the Demons the scoring end again.
But once again the Mustangs were too strong. Another two majors to Edwards pushed the margin to six goals, and a counter from James Sekulovski brought it back to five goals at the final break.
With a huge task at hand in the last quarter against the wind, Mernda weren’t done kicking two goals in 10 minutes in the final period of the game.
But once again, they were poor in front of goal, kicking five behinds in the span of five minutes which allowed the opposition to then pile on two more goals to shut out the game to win by 32 points.
It is their first loss in the last two months which could propose as a good reality check come finals time where they can look to gain momentum.
Edwards’ six goal performance raises his goal tally to 35 goals in the division putting him second behind Laurimar’s Patrick Fitzgerald in the league goalkicking on 48.
Laurimar had the trip out to Epping who sat seventh coming into the game.
The Power were strong with the wind in the first quarter where they came out to have 19 scoring shots to two.
With the contest over at the first break with a scoreline of 2-74, Epping looked to try and keep the came competitive in the second.
Epping kicked its first couple of majors for the day but still couldn’t hold up the visiting team, who continued to kick another seven goals.
Half time contained a 93-point difference between the teams, who then went out to feature in another high-scoring third term.
Laurimar’s total finished at 28.16 for the day leaving them with 12 separate goal kickers, keeping it well and truly in second place on the ladder.
Matt Keys finished with five goals for the Power, while Joshua Campbell and Stephen McCallum, Jesse Donaldson, Janus Waldron and Ethan Bateman were all named in the best alongside him.
In division two, the Whittlesea seniors played away against the Northcote Park Cougars.
Whittlesea trailed in the game from the fourth minute onwards as the home team were too strong on the scoreboard.
Former Assumption College boy, Will Plain gave the Eagles a chance in the second, kicking his first for the day bringing the margin within two points, until his great mate Tighe O’Brien responded, which started a train of goals for the home team.
Northcote Park would kick the next six out of seven goals of the game until a small fightback from Khaled El-Leissy, with two goals to his name in the third term, brought the margin back to three goals at the final break.
But the Cougars would come out and kick the first five goals of the last quarter and dominate to lead by 53 points at the end of the game.
El-Leissy, William Plain, Bailey Robinson, Deakin Tennant, Clancy Bland, Jake McNamara were all named in the best players for Whittlesea.
It’s Whittlesea’s second loss in a row and they now sit seventh in the second division.
Higher up the ladder, second placed South Morang were involved in one of the upsets of the year.
It travelled to Panton Hill to play the ninth-placed Redbacks.
South Morang, as expected, came out and took control of the game leading by 11 points at the first break.
But it was the home team who would look to snatch the momentum of the game and kick seven of the next eight goals to take a 28 point lead at the main break.
The third quarter was heavily contested and looked to hold a fightback from the visitors, as they kicked the first three scores of the quarter.
But poor conversion in the quarter let them down as the Lions kicked 2.6 to then trail at the final break by 35 points.
Too far out of reach, the Redbacks came out to dominate the last quarter, sticking a dagger in the heart of South Morang and sending a message to the rest of the competition.
Panton Hill finished the game 17.15 (117) to 8.16 (64) in a huge and much-needed win for the club.
Nathan Stefanile, Carter McCall, Liam Failla, Sebastian Latina, Anthony Bradford, Bailey Brown were all in the best for South Morang who contained eight separate goal kickers.
