EFL 2018: Vermont recovers from mid-season slump to hit Eastern Football League finals in top form
VERMONT has overcome a mid-season form slump to again emerge as one of the teams to beat this Eastern Football League finals series.
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VERMONT has overcome a mid-season form slump to again emerge as one of the teams to beat this Eastern Football League finals series.
The Eagles have held top billing at the top of the Division 1 ladder for the majority of the season, but questions were raised of their flag credentials after uncharacteristically dropping three out of five games before the Round 14 split weekend.
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At that point, the EFL powerhouse had a 1-3 record against top-five sides.
Injuries had hit hard but Vermont coach Harmit Singh said mid-season criticism was warranted.
“To be honest, that’s fine, you can only play what is put in front of you and at that point in time we hadn’t stepped up and got the job done against South Croydon, Blackburn and Doncaster,” Singh said.
“Ultimately, the group is a strong one and in the end it is just noise, we knew where we were at and what we needed to do better and the response has been pretty strong, I reckon, the past month.”
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The Eagles closed the home and away season with wins over fellow top five sides Rowville, South Croydon and Blackburn ahead of Saturday’s semi-final against the Bulldogs.
Vermont will be further boosted by the returns of captain Lachie Johns, interleague representative Joey Fisher and Footscray pair Alex Greenwood and Rob McComb for finals.
Champion midfielder Johns has not played since Round 5 due to an ankle injury but has played the past two games in the reserves, while Fisher has not featured since Round 15.
Key playmakers Adam Parker, Cameron Howat, Tom Maas and Rory Lehmann have also been welcome returns in recent weeks.
The star-studded forward line of Andrew Ainger, Brett Eddy and Jake Best will also cause opposition coaches sleepless nights.
Former SANFL star Ainger is arguably the form player of the competition, booting 12 goals across his past two outings.
Singh said continuity had been key to Vermont’s turnaround.
“I guess as a side we’ve probably been better at putting together four-quarter performances and probably sticking to our plan and executing,” he said.
“The execution in terms of the way we want to play the last month has been really strong and (we’ve) come up against some quality opponents and been fortunate enough to get some wins.”
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