EDFL 2019: Northern Saints defeat Moonee Valley by seven points

Former Northern Saints forward Rocky Ferraro booted 11 goals against his former club on Saturday, but it was not enough in an extraordinary EDFL contest.

Northern Saints’ Matthew Gray gets a kick away while under pressure from Moonee Valley's Dillon Rogan. Picture: Josie Hayden

Seldom does a forward not enjoy the spoils of victory after an 11-goal haul.

But Northern Saints toppled Moonee Valley in a high-scoring EDFL Division 2 clash on Saturday despite a starring performance from Rocky Ferraro.

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The Saints prevailed by seven points at home, 19.7 (121) to 17.12 (114), with defender Eyob Gebreselassie converting the matchwinning goal in the dying stages of an absorbing contest.

While Ferraro, who crossed from the Saints to the Fog over the off-season, played a lone hand in the attacking half for the losing side, the winners had plenty of options in the forward 50m arc.

Moonee Valley's Rocky Ferraro marks in front of Northern Saints’ Eyob Gebreselassie. Picture: Josie Hayden

Coach Brett Kennerley spruiked his side’s offensive ability over the off-season and Northern Saints boasted five multiple goalkickers, led by Jalen Oakley and Zakaria Farah, who both bagged four majors.

Khodr Taleb, who formed a potent one-two punch with Ferraro last season, was held goalless as his former teammate provided myriad headaches.

Northern Saints’ Samuel Malual and Moonee Valley's Samuel Milne fight for possession. Picture: Josie Hayden

“I think a fair few people weren’t necessarily rating us, but I think we went in with our eyes wide open and worked to our plan,” Kennerley said.

“They obviously didn’t all work out with Rocky, but we knew where Moonee Valley were going and what they were doing. We were happy with the end result.

“All bar one of our forwards hit the scoresheet. And the one that didn’t hit the scoresheet, being Khodr, was one that you wouldn’t expect to have too many games like that.

“That was his first game back for this year so we expected a bit of rust and that’s fine.

“The rest of the guys all chipped in and had a crack. They spread the load.”

The Saints claimed the minor premiership last year before a straight-sets finals exit.

They were tipped to slide this season but produced a competitive showing against flag fancy Sunbury Kangaroos in Round 1 before wins over Hadfield and Moonee Valley.

The departures were headlined by the experienced Ferraro, who contributed 60 goals last season, and Ahmed Abdul-Wahed.

Little separated the teams all afternoon, with Kennerley describing Ferraro’s display as “very good”.

Matthew Gray, Tamer Abdallah, Mohamed Taleb and Eliot Kako were named the Saints’ best.

They were also down two rotations after halftime and fell behind late in the final term.

“We had to swing the magnets around a little bit,” Kennerley said.

Northern Saints will next meet undefeated Burnside Heights on Saturday.

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