EFL: Balwyn survives a scare against North Ringwood to record a 12-point win

BALWYN moved back into the Eastern Football League Division 1 top five after surviving a comeback against North Ringwood to finish with a 12-point win.

Chevy Anderson, Rod Crowe and Ed Court celebrate the win. Picture David Woodhouse

FOR the second consecutive game, Balwyn nearly let an impregnable position slip.

As it did against Noble Park in Round 9, the Tigers held a five-goal advantage against North Ringwood on Saturday.

And as it did against the Bulls, Balwyn nearly let four valuable points slip through its grasp.

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The Tigers jumped out of the blocks with the first eight goals of the game at Quambee Reserve to open up a 44-point lead at the first change, before being held goalless in the next two quarters.

Balwyn went from kicking 8.1 in the opening term to 0.9 over the next two quarters, kicking 10 consecutive behinds as North Ringwood cut the margin back to just four points at the final change.

But the Tigers steadied, kicking two goals in the first five minutes of the last term on their way to a 12.14 (86) to 10.14 (74) victory that pushed them into fifth, dislodging Blackburn from the top five on percentage.

Kris Pendlebury takes a strong mark against North Ringwood. Picture: David Woodhouse

After being ravaged by injury in the first half of the season, Balwyn welcomed back Lachlan Bain, who was among the best players with four goals, while Jayme Gottliebsen and Cameron Manuel were also welcome returns.

After surviving a similar fightback against Noble Park, Balwyn coach Rodney Eade said he was confident his side could find the composure to secure its sixth win of the season.

“The mood at three-quarter time was probably a little bit apprehensive but I was confident and I think they were confident they would be able to turn it around,” Eade said.

“I really just spoke about, which they are very good and very hard to instil in a team but they’ve already got it, is they are up for the challenge and they’re mentally strong.

“I spoke about the positives that they have been in this situation before, they are very good at it, they should have confidence in it and we’ve got to get back to our brand and the way we want to play.”

Eade said his side needed to learn to “play at the same intensity no matter what stage of the game” after its two recent lapses.

“I think we relax … I think as a collective they take their foot off the pedal a little bit in the areas we value,” he said.

“A few guys were peeling off a little bit early from contests letting their mate win the ball and of course we didn’t do that, we didn’t win it.

“We’ll have a chat about that and be able to do some work on that but I’m pretty confident we can get that right.”