EDFL: Ivan Pavlovic stars as Airport West defeats Tullamarine
An Airport West defender has come out on top in a battle with a Tullamarine star as the Eagles all but secured the EDFL Division 1 minor premiership.
Essendon
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Ivan Pavlovic may have produced the best defensive performance of the EDFL Division 1 season.
The Airport West star was best afield after holding Tullamarine gun Shaun McKernan to just one goal in a 18.11 (119) to 5.10 (40) win as the Eagles claimed outright premiership favouritism.
Airport West coach Trent Rogers declared Pavlovic had almost been a “new recruit” for his side this season after being limited to just three games in 2021.
A dislocated knee ruined his maiden season after crossing from fellow EDFL club Essendon Doutta Stars.
“He’s been phenomenal,” Rogers said.
“He can play on someone who is big or small depending on the makeup of the opposition’s forward line. But that comes down to having a great support network in our back six.
“Half of our leadership group is in defence and the way they help each other out is outstanding. It took a whole team effort on Saturday and that’s something we pride ourselves on.
“Overall it was a great team performance against a quality outfit.”
The Eagles’ 79-point victory was built on the back of a dominant first half where they kicked 10 goals to three.
Fast starts are an area of the game Rogers had been pleading for his side to get better at.
“In the first three games after the Queen’s Birthday weekend bye, our starts were poor and opposition sides jumped us,” he said.
“Rupertswood kicked right goals in the first, even Craigieburn led at quarter-time despite us going onto win by 80-odd points. We had been focusing on that and the boys have responded really well in the last two weeks especially.
“The longer the season goes on we know we need to be producing four quarter performances and they’ll be even more important come finals.”
Saturday’s clash saw Coburg young gun play his first game of the season while Reuben William returned for his second game.
Both were available due to their respective VFL clubs having a bye.
“It was good timing to get both of those boys in,” Roger said.
“We had Aaron Di Matteo go out of the side so they rotated through that inside spot. When you lose someone like Aaron it’s a luxury to be able to bring guys in with VFL experience.
“It was also great to see Flynn play with his brother, Ned, in a big game.”
Lachlan Di Sebastiano, Anthony Aloi (five goals), Muhammad Saad, Clayton Rogers and Joel Brown were also impressive as the Eagles all but secured the minor premiership.
Airport West now sits two games clear of the Demons with three games to go and has a superior percentage of almost 70 per cent.
They’ll face Roxburgh Park, Sunbury Kangaroos and Hillside to close the home and away season.
“Teams will look at us and want to bring their best footy,” Rogers said.
“We’re fully aware we can’t afford to take anyone lightly. We want to continue trying to create the right habits moving forward.”
James Vistarini was named the best player on the ground for Tullamarine.
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