EDFL 2019: Strathmore hammers Pascoe Vale by 72 points

It had the makings of a close tussle between two finals contenders. It was anything but as Strathmore held Pascoe Vale to four goals to score an emphatic win.

Nick O'Brien was one of Strathmore’s stars on Saturday. Picture: Ian Currie

Thought the top four was settled? Think again.

Ruled a line through Strathmore after three defeats in a row? Think again.

The Mores produced their best performance of 2019 on Saturday to dismantle Pascoe Vale in their EDFL Premier Division clash at Raeburn Reserve.

While Strathmore’s ladder position did not change after the 72-point victory over its higher-ranked opponent, 14.15 (99) to 4.3 (27), the external view of the fifth-placed club almost certainly did.

With a mounting injury toll and consecutive losses to Aberfeldie, Keilor and Glenroy, the Mores were almost gone and forgotten.

But the extraordinary win left Strathmore half a game behind the third-ranked Panthers and equal on points with fourth-placed Greenvale.

The Jets are the only top-four side the Mores face in the remaining five rounds, with four of those fixtures to be played at Lebanon Reserve.

Matthew Horne was rapt with his team’s performance. Picture: Hamish Blair

“To be honest, I’ve always been confident in what we can do,” coach Matthew Horne said.

“With a younger group, sometimes there are more fluctuations in form, but take out the last fortnight (before Saturday), we’ve been pretty consistent with our effort.

“We embraced the challenge during the week that it was our season on the line.

“It would’ve been very hard to come back (if we lost), but we’ve put ourselves in a position where it’s on the line every week in reality if we want to play finals.”

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With captain Andrew Horne, Alex Grima, Shane Foulds and Brendan Butler back in the line-up, the Mores stunned the home team by kicking the opening six goals of the game to establish a 41-point advantage.

While the Panthers launched a mini fightback just before halftime, it was all one-way traffic for most of the afternoon.

Lucas Cavallaro was lauded for an “unbelievable job” as he limited ace forward Matthew Watson to one goal, while Liam Cavanagh did the same in his battle with Daniel Archer.

Horne was also impressive in defence and Luke Jarrad showed his class off half-back.

No wonder Pascoe Vale was restricted to four goals for just the third time since the start of 2012.

Andrew Vavra controlled the ruck, while Adam Iaccobucci and Nick O’Brien racked up countless telling touches in the midfield.

Sean Callander bagged three majors, while Josh Helliwell managed two and was a dangerous marking presence.

“In regards to a four-quarter effort, it’s definitely the best we’ve played,” Horne said.

“Our tackle numbers were high, inside 50s were good, so it was the style we wanted to play and, to a man, everyone executed. We were really happy.”

James Saville, Athan Tsialtas, Luke Baniowski, Joseph Drake, Lachlan Currie, Will Jury and Daniel Mighell are set to be available for this weekend’s clash with Avondale Heights, providing some pleasant selection headaches.

“We’ve still got reasonable cattle to come back in, but if we play with that effort, those guys have earned the right to keep their spot I assume,” Horne said.

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