EFL: Bayswater moves back into the Division 2 top four after a 41-point win over Wantirna South
BAYSWATER moved back into the Eastern Football League Division 2 top four after a 41-point win over Wantirna South, with the Devils seemingly a long shot to return to finals.
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WANTIRNA South coach Jess Sinclair suggested in the lead up that his side’s season may be “cooked” if the Devils could not overcome Bayswater.
After falling to its fifth loss of the year on Saturday, Wantirna South’s year might just about be in the pan.
There wasn’t much sizzle to the Devils as they fell to their fourth loss from their past five starts, held goalless for three of the four quarters at Bayswater Oval.
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After being kept to five behinds in the first half, Wantirna South responded with its only four goals of the game in the third quarter on the back of star recruit Luke Williams to cut the margin to two points at the final change.
But Bayswater rallied with seven unanswered goals in the last term to finish with a 11.8 (74) to 4.9 (33) win.
The result pushed the Waters back into the Eastern Football League Division 2 top four at the expense of Upper Ferntree Gully, while the Devils sit two games outside the finals equation and appear a long shot to feature at the pointy end of the season ahead of next weekend’s clash against Park Orchards.
After being relegated from Division 1 at the end of last year, Bayswater has won three of its past four games to reach the halfway point of the season as a finals contender.
But coach Paul McCormack said contests against top two sides Lilydale and Doncaster East in the coming weeks would paint a picture of his side’s season.
“We’re tracking OK, (Wayne) McInerney didn’t play yesterday, Bryce Galvin has just come back from injury, we’ve got a few blokes playing well in the twos to come back in, Dave Eddy has been out, he’ll be back, so we’ve got a little bit to come back in,” McCormack said.
“Coming back from first division, I don’t care what people say, you do probably lose a bit of confidence because it is such a tough competition.
“It just takes a toll on your capacity to keep rolling up, it takes a bit of confidence out of teams.
“It’s harder than people think coming back (down) so that has been a bit of a factor so far and now I reckon we’re starting to get a bit of momentum, bit of belief back into the group.”
Elsewhere in Division 2, Upper Ferntree Gully kicked four goals to one in the second half against Croydon to come away with an 18-point win.
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