Andrew Leonard
This week’s VAFA match of the round at Sportscover Arena on Sunday sees a return of Premier football to headquarters. Relegation threatened Old Trinity face finals bound De La Salle in a contest that is must win for both sides.
Old Trinity find themselves back in the relegation places after losing at fellow strugglers St Bedes / Mentone Tigers two weeks ago, a win will bring both the Tigers and University Blues back into the relegation dogfight whilst a loss leaves only six more games to salvage the season.
De La on the other hand also need to win if they are to maintain the pressure for a top two spot and double chance come September. De La are many people’s fancy for the flag this year and they play an expansive brand of running football suited to the wide spaces of Sportscover Arena.
With all Premier finals played here it will be a good chance to experience the ground only six weeks out from an almost certain return to the venue.
Old Trinity have the largest home ground in Premier section so Sportscover shouldn’t be too much of a concern in terms of its size. On the other hand, their recent record here isn’t as good as De La Salle.
Earlier this season in round six these sides clashed at Sportscover and De La Salle put on a brilliant display to dismantle Old Trinity by 58 points, despite Andrew Ramsden’s six goals.
Had this been on the plush playing fields of Trinity Sports Grounds’ Daley Oval it might have been wise to select Old Trinity. Old Trinity will require extra contributions apart from Ramsden if they are to secure an upset, and with De La are fine-tuning for a finals assault and it is hard to go past them on Sunday.
Entry is free to Sportscover Arena on Sunday with the game starting at 1.20pm, or tune in to 96.5FM for the broadcast of the game from 1.00pm. (Streaming: www.innerfm.org.au)