EFL 2018: The 10 Division 1 games that defined the Eastern Football League season
IT’S been a season littered with close results, come-from-behind wins and games decided after the siren. We’ve taken a look at the 10 games that defined the Eastern Football League season.
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THE Eastern Football League season has been littered with close results, come-from-behind wins and games decided after the siren.
With the premiership race down to five and a cracking Division 1 finals series ahead, we’ve taken a look at the 10 games that defined the year.
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Round 3 — South Croydon v Doncaster
The match report:South Croydon and Doncaster put on a local football show for the ages at Cheong Park, kicking a combined 35 goals in an exhilarating display of daring play and slick ball movement in glorious autumn sunshine. South Croydon stretched its margin to beyond five goals at the start of the third quarter before Doncaster rallied to finish with a 18.14 (122) to 17.11 (113) victory.
Doncaster coach Andrew Tranquilli: “It was a high quality game, I won’t say we stole it, I believe we won it but as I said it was a high quality game. Even the talk with the crowd after the game, they just really enjoyed the style of football, it was two sides who aren’t afraid to take it on, it was just really good local footy at its best.”
Round 4 — Blackburn v South Croydon
The match report: South Croydon was left to withstand a final quarter onslaught for the second consecutive week, only this time the Bulldogs came out on the right side of the result. Trailing by 24 points at the final change, the Burners piled on five goals to two in the last quarter only to fall to a 17.11 (113) to 17.8 (110) defeat.
South Croydon coach Luke McCormick: “We were very lucky in the end, like we did in Round 1 (against Noble Park), good teams still find a way to win but they were coming hard. Even though it is only Round 4, it is super important to stay in touch early otherwise you are playing catch up.”
Round 6 — Balwyn v Blackburn
The match report: A sliding doors moment in Blackburn’s season. A goal with just two minutes remaining from Tim Watkins gave the Burners a nailbiting three-point win over Balwyn, squaring their season at 3-3 to keep pace with the top five. Watkins nailed the sealer from 30m out at the 26-minute mark to help deliver a 13.13 (91) to 13.10 (88) victory.
Blackburn coach Brendan Allen: “(It’s) pretty significant after losing a few heart breakers against Doncaster and South Croydon, so in the scheme of things 3-3 sets us up a bit, especially with our run in the next few weeks. We’ve got three home games out of the (next) four so you’d hope we’d be able to get the job done in a few of them.”
Round 10 — South Croydon v Vermont
The match report:South Croydon enhanced its claims for back-to-back premierships after an 18-point victory over Vermont in the grand final rematch. Similar to last year’s grand final, Vermont failed to find the answers to South Croydon’s unrelenting pressure in gloomy and greasy conditions at Cheong Park. The Bulldogs finished with 18 more scoring shots as the Eagles suffered their first defeat of 2018.
South Croydon coach Luke McCormick: “Really exciting and good for the boys, I think it could have been an even better result had we kicked straight. You see the guys that have been here for a while and they’re absolutely loving this time and the time and work they’ve put in,”
Round 11 — Vermont v Blackburn
The match report:Blackburn inflicted consecutive losses on Vermont for the first time in nearly four years after the Burners recorded a season-defining 10-point win. While they were wayward in front of goal, kicking 3.8 in the second half after booting 7.11 in the first half, the Burners did enough to keep Vermont at arm’s length after the main break to record a 10.19 (79) to 10.9 (69) victory. It was the first time Vermont suffered back-to-back losses since the 2014 finals series.
Blackburn coach Brendan Allen: “Essentially, the score flattered them, the amount of inside 50s and scoring shots we had, we should have won by about eight goals. We had five or six set shots that we should have nailed but didn’t — it’s the pressure of the game, greasy conditions — but we probably should have won by a lot more.”
Round 11 — Rowville v Doncaster
The match report:Rowville threw the race for the top three wide open after scoring its second win over Doncaster for the year. After an arm wrestle for much of the game, the Hawks blew the game open with a five-goal burst in the space of 12 minutes to start the last quarter on their way to a 22-point win.
Rowville coach John Brown: “We set ourselves for the last two weeks, big games against Blackburn and Doncaster are very similar in terms of win-loss and we knew after three losses we needed to step up a little bit. It’s slowly coming, I still think there’s some improvement there but we’re starting to see the turn of a lot of game style that’s just starting to click with them.”
Round 13 — Doncaster v South Croydon
The match report:Defender Angelo Rambaldi proved to be the unlikely hero for Doncaster when he kicked the winning goal with the final kick of the game. The Sharks led for only a handful of minutes during the day and trailed by 26 points early in the last term, but Rambaldi’s shot from beyond 50m on a difficult angle at the JJ Tully Drive end of Schramms Reserve sailed through at goalpost height to give Doncaster a 10.14 (74) to 10.9 (69) win.
Doncaster coach Andrew Tranquilli: “It was important for the club this win, not only the 22, it was important for the club to reignite a spark because we know we get a lot (of players) back. Just for the boys, they worked so hard, they deserved that (win). I really felt it for the 22 that battled their guts out, that was huge.”
Round 14 — Vermont v Doncaster
The match report:For the second consecutive week, Doncaster reeled in a second-half deficit to finish full of running to topple a flag fancy and stamp themselves as a legitimate premiership contender. Doncaster slammed home 11 goals to two in the second half against Vermont at Terrara Rd to power away with a 38-point triumph, leaving the Eagles with some soul searching to do.
Doncaster coach Andrew Tranquilli: “We know we’re a side that can compete with the best, we know we have our ups and downs but when we’re switched on and we’ve got the right kids in the mix with the senior players, we know the belief is there. You play the game hoping you can go all the way but it gives us the belief that if we can get to some kind of dance towards the end of the year, and hopefully we will, we’ll put our best foot forward.”
Round 14 — Norwood v South Croydon
The match report: Norwood swingman David Johnson had a shot after the siren to keep the Norsemen’s slimmest of finals hopes alive. His side had remarkably led by 55 points at halftime but result rested on his boot after South Croydon staged a stunning comeback. Johnson’s shot from about 40m out on a 45-angle at Mullum Mullum Reserve sailed right, giving the Bulldogs a three-point victory.
South Croydon coach Luke McCormick: “One of the strangest (games) I’ve ever seen. They had 14 to one scoring shots in the first quarter, we had 14 to one scoring shots in the third quarter. In a season this close you want character-building moments, incidents and efforts throughout because you are going to have to call on them and that was the biggest character building game.”
Round 16 — Blackburn v Balwyn
The match report:Blackburn all but secured its place in the top five after surviving a stunning second-half fightback from Balwyn. The Burners led by 48 points early in the third term before the Tigers kicked eight of the last nine goals to fall three points short of a miraculous comeback. The result left Balwyn two games outside the top five and consigned the Tigers to September spectators for the first time in 23 years.
Balwyn coach Rodney Eade: “We had a lot of opportunities (in the) last quarter, couple in the third quarter … to be able to do what we did showed a lot of character, we deserved to win, even their coach said we should have won.
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