EDFL 2018: Paul Chapman’s Greenvale secures Premier Division finals berth

A SLICK Greenvale thrived in wet conditions to topple rival Essendon District Football League Premier Division flag contender Keilor and rubberstamp a finals berth.

A SLICK Greenvale thrived in wet conditions on Saturday to topple rival Essendon District Football League Premier Division flag contender Keilor and rubberstamp a finals berth.

The Jets sit in third spot with a 13-4 record, equal on points with top-two sides Keilor and Strathmore, while Aberfeldie is fourth.

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Last year’s runner-up has won five of its past six matches and is slowly assembling close to its strongest line-up, with skipper Addam Maric, Nat Caruso and Nick Maric big inclusions at the weekend.

Greenvale led at every change on its home turf to prevail by 11 points, 12.11 (83) to 10.12 (72), and end the Blues’ 10-match winning run.

Paul Chapman has led Greenvale to finals. Picture: Hamish Blair

“We’ll take a lot of confidence out of that because they are probably the best team in it right now,” Jets coach Paul Chapman said.

“We understand Keilor probably didn’t play at their best, but maybe that was because how good our pressure was too.

“The boys really brought that pressure and stuck to our game plan.

“The guys played fantastic from the first bounce to the final bounce, and we had to. We’ve got a lot of respect for Keilor and the way they’re playing — they’re the in-form team, if not premiership favourites.”

Aaron Mansfield limited Dean Galea to two goals, while Brett Stillman negated the influence of Blues star Kane Barbuto.

Daniel Micevski was one of Greenvale’s best in Saturday’s win. Picture: Hamish Blair

Laurence King booted four goals, while Daniel Micevski, Joshua Smith and ruckman Fabian Deluca also fired.

Asked if the conditions assisted his team, Chapman said: “I suppose it did a little bit, more for the fact their talls didn’t have the influence on the game they perhaps would’ve if it was a dry day.

“That’s a challenge for my boys every week. We’re not particularly tall, so any time we can get the ball to the ground definitely helps us.

“No doubt the weather played a little part, but I think more our desire and wanting to test ourselves against the best was the overriding factor.”

Chapman has reason to be full of optimism, with the Jets set to be close to full-strength for the start of finals.

They will finish their home-and-away campaign against relegation-threatened Essendon Doutta Stars, who they knocked off by just four points in Round 9 after trailing by 43 points at quarter-time.

“Last year we had no injuries until we hit the finals and then we got bombarded with them,” Chapman said.

“This year we’ve struggled to get our best team on the park and probably haven’t got our best team on the park this year.

“We feel like it’s slowly coming together.”