Top Four in Div 4 unchanged with three rounds left to play

Jason Bast – @Jason_Bast

Round 15 is in the books and with only three rounds left to play in the 2017 season, the top four looks all but set after the results from this weekend. Elsternwick went down to North Brunswick, almost making their finals chances impossible. The Cobras beat the Eley Park Sharks to the tune of 55 points down at Koonung Reserve. Aquinas thumped Mt Lilydale by a massive 137 points, the Rams’ hope of making the finals taking a big hit after that result. And finally, Parkside notched up their third win of the season, beating St Francis Xavier at Pitcher park.

Elsternwick 6.8-44 def by North Brunswick AFC 12.21-93

Elsternwick looked up and about early and jumped out to a quick lead against the Bulls; Ending the first quarter with 10 scoring shots to three and a lead of 21. Bring on the second quarter and the Bulls came out firing, kicking 12 scoring shots to one. Much like the Wickers’ first term, inaccuracy was the only thing stopping the margin from blowing out too far. North Brunswick lead by 10 points going into the second half. The Bulls held Elsternwick to 2.1 (13) for the rest of the match while putting up 7.10 (52) themselves. Jake George and Peter Butler again lead the way for the Bulls on the scoreboard kicking three goals each. George closing in on Aquinas’ Peter Butler’s goal kicking lead, now just three goals shy of the lead. William Croagh played an outstanding game and collected best on ground honours.

Manningham Cobras 16.8-104 def Eley Park Sharks 7.7-49

It was a tale of two halves down at Koonung Reserve on Saturday when the Eley Parks Sharks took on the Cobras. Manningham broke out to a small 13-point lead by quarter time, however, a second term won by the Sharks saw a two-point difference between the teams after a contested half of footy. Unfortunately for Eley Park, the second half didn’t play out the same way. Manningham held them to 1.1 (7) while kicking 5.3 (33) in the third quarter and stormed home with another 5.3 (33) to 1.0 (6) winning the game by a comfortable 55 points. Chris Jolly kicked four goals in another great game up forward for the Cobras while Ayden Sukkel kicked three and Jason Stephens was judged best on ground. For the Eley Park Sharks, Jesiah Mcgarvie booted four goals while Mitch Flynn and Patrick Wheare both had great games.

Mt Lilydale OC 3.5-23 def by Aquinas 24.16-160

The Rams have had an up and down season in 2017 to say the least, and this week’s challenge was one of their biggest lows. The Rams managed to hold the top placed Aquinas to a modest 10-point lead up until the first break, but unfortunately, that’s where the good news ends for Mt Lilydale. Aquinas held the Rams scoreless in the second term while kicking four goals to stretch the margin to 38 at the half. Kicking another four goals and holding Mt Lilydale to just one in the third quarter saw the lead increase to 56-points with one quarter to play. Even though the last things the Bloods needed was a percentage booster it didn’t stop them from slamming home another 14 in the final term to blow the margin out to a massive 137 points. the result has almost destroyed Mt Lilydale’s chances of making the top four, now sitting a game and half behind Eley Park with three games to play. Next week’s matchup between the Rams and the Sharks will decide whether Mt Lilydale’s season is over or if they still have a fighting chance. Max Hampton was one of only three goal kickers for the Rams and finished the day as their best player. For the Bloods, Sam Williams had an absolute day out in front of the big sticks finishing with a bag of 8, Sean Ragozzini kicked 4 and Philip Dyck ended the game best on ground.

Parkside FC 10.16-76 def St Francis Xavier 8.8-56

In the final game of the round, both St Francis Xavier and Parkside came in with just two wins apiece and out of finals contention; however, this didn’t stop them playing an entertaining game of footy down at Pitcher Park. Parkside jumped the gun and led by 22 points at quarter time. The X-Men fought back in the second term, holding Parkside scoreless and kicking 4.4 (28) to go into half time with a 6-point lead. A very low scoring 3^rd quarter, Parkside kicking the only goal to go up by 1-point heading into the final term of the day. The 4^th quarter is where Parkside kicked away, keeping St Francis Xavier to 1 goal while booting 3.7 (25) to collect their 3^rd win of the season. Jake Cowan and Marcus Coe both kicked 2 goals for the X-Men and Daniel Pennant was seen to be best on ground. No stats were available for Parkside.

Preview

Round 16 is set to be an interesting one, with only two rounds remaining after next week it could seal the top four or leave the door slightly open for certain teams to sneak in. The first game of the weekend will see Masala take on North Brunswick after their bye down at Allard park. Aquinas will play Elsternwick at Aquinas College looking to all but seal top spot while Elsternwick look to keep their very slim finals hopes alive. Parkside and the Manningham Cobras will battle it out at Pitcher Park, the Cobras should be able to claim the win away from home. Lastly, in what is likely to be the game of the round, the Eley Park Sharks play Mt Lilydale at Whitehorse Reserve. If the Sharks pull off the win they are almost certain to close out the final spot in the four. On the other side of the coin, if Mt Lilydale can come away with the victory the top four is well and truly open for them with just one more game and a bye to come.