East Burwood overruns Mulgrave and its pair of ex-AFL recruits

An 11-goal-to-four second half saw East Burwood surge past Mulgrave and its pair of ex-AFL recruits in a stunning start to EFNL Division 2.

East Burwood's Braeden Barlow celebrates a goal. Picture: Andy Brownbill

Trailing Mulgrave by 26-point at half-time, East Burwood coach David Jensen joked ‘we’ve got them right where we want them’.

It turned out he was spot on as the Rams stormed home in the second half to record a 19-point victory, 15.11 (101) to 12.10 (82) over their EFNL Division 2 rivals at Mulgrave Reserve on Saturday.

East Burwood booted 11 goals to four after half-time to stun the Lions, who debuted ex-Western Bulldogs talents Lin Jong and Fletcher Roberts.

“I said it half jokingly to keep the boys in a good frame of mind ‘we’ve got them right where we want them’,” Jensen said.

“We made a couple of adjustments, nothing structural, to be more accountable and keep believing in what we’d been working towards and the players did a great job.

“I was really nervous going in knowing Fletcher Roberts and Lin Jong coming in (for Mulgrave).

“To come away with the win is a big relief and for us a positive start to the season … Div 2, there’s going to be six or seven teams that are going to be really tough every week.”

A six-goal third term put East Burwood in front by three points at the final change as Mulgrave struggled with inaccuracy, kicking 1.4.

The Rams added another five majors in the final term to complete the stunning comeback.

Kodey Logan starred in defence, taking several intercept marks and launching East Burwood counter-attacks, while Marcus Young and Chris Spiteri also impressed.

Braeden Barlow booted four goals and Young and Matthew Mariani nabbed three as seven Rams got on the scoresheet, pleasing Jensen.

Meanwhile, recruits Kyle Dove (Blackburn), Fallon Wanganeen (Moonta, Yorke Peninsula), James Connellan (Whitefriars), Aaron Foss (Mt Eliza) and Knox pair Adrian Di Giovanni and Tom Walton all impressed.

“Kodey was everywhere, he had a lot of footy and not only intercepted a lot of their entries but got us going the other way,” Jensen said.

“He’s beautiful by foot and plays taller than he looks, he had a big impact for us.

“Our structure with Fallon Wanganeen coming into the side as a key forward, guys that were key forwards like Barlow and Young are getting the third or fourth defender.

“It’s certainly helping our spread and Braeden was lucky enough to get a couple of goals in pack situations.

“Dove in the backline, even though he hurt his calf, he was on Fletcher Roberts and kept him pretty quiet.

“Aaron Foss got plenty of the footy in the midfield and Tom Walton, as a big-bodied midfielder, was really good with the cricket pitch pretty heavy.”

For Mulgrave, Tom Gladman and George Alepidis were named best afield, while Roberts and Jong both booted two goals.

Jensen was impressed with the former AFL pair, believing they would only get better as the season progressed.

“I didn’t see Lin in the votes but I had him as probably the best player on the ground,” Jensen said.

“He got heaps of football, at stoppages he is very clever and we needed to adjust how to play him – that took us a half to fix up.

“We didn’t tag him, it was more about our method, we don’t believe in taggers and while I wouldn’t say we got the better of him but we nullified his influence after half-time.

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“Fletcher Roberts, when he gets his eye in and Mulgrave understand how to deliver the footy to him he’s going to be brilliant, good size and a good lead so he’s a handful.”

Elsewhere in Division 2, Heathmont (126) handed Upper Ferntree Gully (27) a 99-point hammering and Waverley Blues (90) started with a strong win over Templestowe (78).

Boronia (97) smashed The Basin (29) but 68 points at Tormore Reserve and Ringwood (94) dealt Knox (39) an 55-point thrashing.

Mulgrave and East Burwood both face Waverley Blues in their next match, with the Lions backing up for a Good Friday clash at Mt Waverley Reserve before The Rams host the Blues on April 15.