EFL 2019: Eastern Football League Division 1 finals spots heating up

Small margins are set to have a big impact on the EFL Division 1 season, with the fight to avoid relegation set to heat up in the run to finals. Here’s how it could play out.

East Ringwood's Jarryd Ambrose is tackled by Bayswater's Hayden Schroeder. Picture: Josie Hayden

Every Division 1 coach is saying it.

“It’s just so tight.”

Halfway through the Eastern Football League season and as many as seven sides are looking to nail down a finals berth in the second tier.

But half the competition is also be fighting to avoid relegation.

That’s how close the ladder is.

Only one-and-a-half games separate fifth to 10th.

Thirty-two of the 50 Division 1 games have been decided by three goals or less, with last-gasp thrillers and nailbiting finishes a common sight.

Doncaster East is the standout team at the top of the ladder with a 9-1 record and a percentage of 196.63, but a blanket could be thrown over the nine other teams.

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Croydon is second but has the fourth-best percentage, while Lilydale won its first five games but is now 5-5 and in danger of falling out of the top five.

Knox is one of the sides in the logjam, sitting at the bottom of the ladder but within striking distance of finals.

Knox coach David Madigan. Picture: Andy Brownbill

Just 1.9 per cent separates four of the bottom five sides, highlighting the fight to avoid relegation could come down to the final round.

The relegation slot has changed hands three times since Round 6, rotating between Knox, Upper Ferntree Gully and Mooroolbark.

Knox and East Ringwood were the two sides relegated from the top flight last year as part of the EFL restructure, but they occupy the bottom two spots.

Knox won the second-tier flag two years ago, but coach David Madigan said the competition shake-up had made for a better standard of football.

“There’s just a lot of quality teams in the division and the quality of football and the way the teams are being prepared,” Madigan said.

“We’ve noticed a difference just in that two-year period. Structurally teams are really switched on, the quality of footballers and the quality of football that is being played each week is really high.”

Madigan said a good run with injuries and “getting your best players on the ground and playing their best football” would be the key factors in separating sides.

“Aside from that, it’s really about being able to be consistent throughout the four quarters of the game,” he said.

“That’s probably what has hurt us a little bit, is a little bit of inconsistency at times, lapses in concentration and execution and when that happens, opposition have been able to capitalise on that and put us to the sword.”

East Ringwood coach Marcus Buzaglo knows relegation is a possibility. Picture: AAP/Chris Eastman

East Ringwood coach Marcus Buzaglo said the standard was a “reasonable drop” from the top tier “but it was still good footy”.

“You just haven’t got that depth of talent through the middle and at either end,” Buzaglo said.

“In Premier Division, every side’s bottom six is pretty good whereas it probably drops away a bit at this level.”

Buzaglo refused to shut the door on finals but also acknowledged relegation remained a possibility.

He said he was surprised the Roos, a former staple of the EFL’s top flight, were in the bottom half of the table.

“We’d prefer to be higher up than where we are, that’s for sure,” Buzaglo said.

“I think the big thing is having your good players available at the right time, having your best side out on the park and playing your way at the right time of the year.”

At the other end of the ladder, Upper Ferntree Gully started 1-6 but has won two of its past three games.

Kings co-captain Andrew Godfrey said a three-point defeat against Doncaster East was a turning point.

“We started to believe in the gameplan and everyone knew their role,” Godfrey said.

“That’s when it started to click and that’s when our confidence grew from there. We knew if we could match it with the best that we could match it with anyone.”

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