EFL 2018: Croydon records its third consecutive win to keep its slim Eastern Football League finals hopes alive

CROYDON recorded its second consecutive come-from-behind win to leave the race for fourth position on the Division 2 table wide open.

CROYDON recorded its second consecutive come-from-behind win on Saturday to leave the race for fourth position on the Division 2 table wide open.

The Blues conceded the first six goals of the game against Bayswater before stunning the home side with a 51-point turnaround after quarter-time to post their third consecutive win after starting their campaign 3-7.

The 17.8 (110) to 13.8 (86) result leaves fourth-placed Bayswater, Park Orchards and Wantirna South on seven wins and separated by less than five per cent with five rounds remaining in the Eastern Football League season.

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After losing a host of experienced players in the pre-season, Croydon coach Morris D’Alessandro said the Blues’ decision to turn to youth was coming to fruition.

Junior products Jimmy Smith, Aden Thompson and Riley Britton have been among those given greater exposure to senior football in 2018, while Sam Milner and Andrew Carter were called up from the under-19s on the weekend.

“Over the first 10 weeks, we did lose a fair few of our games, 3-7 is not a great start but we did see some really good football being played in those weeks in patches,” he said.

“With a young group and new guys coming into our footy club, that was always probably going to happen until they really jelled and got a bit of continuity in their football.

“We were, once again, really confident and comfortable with what we saw and we knew it was just a matter of time before it would come through.”

Justin Ficorilli is enjoying another productive season in front of goals with 29 majors, Billy Dickson has emerged as a key cog in the backline in recent weeks and recruit Bailey Hotker has been a constant in the midfield.

D’Alessandro said his side remained an outside chance of playing finals, sitting a game outside the top four.

“It’s going to give our group great belief that in any situation, any game we can fight our way back into it,” he said.

“We were quite, not surprised, we’ve been playing some pretty good footy over the last month so we were comfortable with what we’re doing and it has shown in the last couple of weeks.”

In Division 1, South Croydon was pipped by five points against Doncaster, Montrose all but secured its place in next year’s Premier division after a 19-point win over North Ringwood and Blackburn defeated East Ringwood by 70 points.

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