Thinning Of the Herd – Division 2

Brenton Mann

@BrentyMann

It may only be round 3, but early form suggests Ivanhoe, Old Paradians, Old Eltham and St Johns are the front runners in the 2015 premiership race. All four had their moments in 2014 and look to have ironed out their inconsistencies and looked primed for a top four finish. Ivanhoe sit a-top the Div 2 ladder with a monstrous percentage, and has the depth of talent to hold its spot for the majority of the year. Old Eltham has taken the momentum gained from breaking its finals hoodoo and has taken advantage of back-to-back home games to start the season. St Johns is delivering on its potential and looks set to reach the heights of year’s passed. Old Paradians is keen to repeat its top-four finish of last year, and will need to continue its focus on team contribution rather than a heavy reliance on its better players.

St Johns welcomed Northern Blues to Thomas Carroll Reserve intent on building on its momentum gained after round 1 and sending the Blues home with a 0–2 record. The Blues were shaded by Paradians in round 1, while the JOCs easily accounted for a hapless MHSOB. This was the match of the round and it delivered. The Northern Blues play a slick brand of football, while St Johns is more adept in the contest. The JOCs made the early running and went into halftime five goals up. Keen on opening their 2015 account, the Northern Blues closed the gap in the third and found itself a goal down at the final change. But they couldn’t sustain the pressure built and St Johns took full advantage. Forward Tim Edwards was the star for the JOCs with six and proved the difference as the JOCs ran out five goal winners.

Old Paradians kicked an astonishing 11 goals in the second quarter of its clash with Richmond Central, on its way to a ten point victory. The Raiders amazingly turned a nine point deficit at quarter time into a 43 point lead at the half. The Snakes will be rueing their second quarter aberration and wondering what might have been. It’s not often you win three out of four quarters and lose the game, but on the contrary, a side rarely lets through 11 goals in a quarter. Richmond Central has not started its venture into Div 2 as it would have liked but, it’s still only round 3. There’s no mistaking the fact that the Raiders dodged a bullet and will need to take their second quarter form into this week against Melbourne High.

Ivanhoe held no remorse for a developing South Melbourne and dismantled the Districts to the tune of 164 points. The Hoes amassed 13 individual goal kickers, further underling their growing depth. Traeger was the stand-out with nine, as Blackmoore-Moore, Jones and Mowat bagged three apiece. Gary March will surely pick out the few positives of the Districts’ performance and build on them during the week as they prepare for a St Johns side in-form. Ivanhoe are flying, the form team of Div 2 and this week host Old Eltham in what looms as its sternest test thus far.

The Turtles made full use of consecutive home games to start the season as they smashed Elsternwick by 81 points. Eltham slammed home seven goals to two in the opening term and never looked back. The Wicks were simply outclassed and won’t be the last side thumped by the Turtles at Eltham College. Eleven individual goal kickers again highlighted Eltham’s new found scoring power while Robertson was a lone hand up forward for the Wicks with six.

Monash Gryphons moved on from the previous week’s disappointment and banked its first points for 2015 with a grinding 14 point win over MHSOB. Monash burst out of the blocks with a six goal first quarter as the Unicorns pegged them back in the second. The margin was three points at halftime and after a four goal to one third term, the Unicorns held an 11 point lead heading into the last. Unfortunately for the Unicorns, bad kicking is bad football as they watched the Gryphons slam home five goals to nil in the final term and runaway with the win.

Elsternwick and Northern Blues is an intriguing game, with both unsure of their standing in 2015. The two form sides of Div 2 in Ivanhoe and Eltham face off in what should be a cracker. Richmond Central, like Northern Blues has a chance to open its account as it hosts Monash at Kevin Bartlett Reserve. Paradians has a chance to go 3–0 as it faces the lowly Unicorns. St Johns should make short work of South Melbourne but won’t want complacency to rear its ugly head.

Round 3 Tips

Elsternwick v Northern Blues

Ivanhoe v Eltham

Richmond Central v Monash

MHSOB v Old Paradians

St Johns v South Melbourne