EFNL 2021: Bayswater guns reel in the numbers on the way to back-to-back wins

A core of stars have led Bayswater’s charge in the past two weeks – with a league legend and a young gun amassing the possessions.

Joel Galvin has racked up the possessions in the past fortnight.

It may not have its best side available at present, but a host of Bayswater’s star names have led the way as the Division 1 outfit posted its second consecutive victory on Saturday.

The Waters’ 41-point win over Lilydale in Round 6 followed their first win of the season coming against Upper Ferntree Gully the week prior.

While they’ve had to go without a number of regular starters, senior coach Tom Roach said a core of youth and experienced names had led the charge in the past fortnight.

League legend Joel Galvin has amassed the possessions, young gun Ben White has been a consistent stand-out, while 2019 Division 1 best and fairest Kurt Lopo has cracked in despite increased attention from the opposition.

“Joel Galvin’s last two weeks he’s had about 70-odd, 80 possessions – he had 44 on the weekend and 37 the week before,” Roach said.

“He’s got himself really fit, and he’s lost probably five or six kilos trying to freshen himself up a bit.

“If you stopped the best and fairest count right now, I’d say Ben White would be winning.

“He’s been sensational and he’s averaging 30-odd disposals.

“Kurt Lopo’s obviously still playing really good footy, and I think he’s getting a bit more attention from the opposition … he’s averaging about 10 tackles a week.

“They’ve been our top three and you’ve got the likes of Aaron Cotte when he’s fit and firing he’s still a really talented player.”

Bayswater coach Tom Roach has had to pull the boots on this season to help combat his side’s injury woes. Picture: Steve Tanner

On-baller Malcolm McGillivray-Smith (ankle) and full-back Daniel Kitto (quad) headline the “eight or nine” missing names through injury and are both expected back after the bye from Round 10.

Meanwhile, key names in defender Dave Eddy, ruckman Pat Connell and forward Jack Callanan have been unavailable.

The injury situation even prompted former Balwyn gun Roach to pull on the boots in recent weeks, while assistant coach and fellow ex-Tiger Ang Soldatos “played last weekend, played really well, and will continue to play.”

“We’re scraping the barrel at the moment – I played two weeks ago … I played OK, on the wing and found plenty of it, hurt the hammy before half time, haven’t sprinted or changed direction in three years,” Roach said.

“We’re really testing our depth but we’re lucky Kurt (Lopo), Cotte, Joel Galvin, Ben White are still playing, and they’re probably as good as any other four or five in the comp.”

Bayswater sits seventh on the ladder with a 2-4 record, ahead of clashes against Mitcham, Wantirna South and ladder-leader Park Orchards in the next three weeks.

While Roach believes the top four also featuring Croydon, Mooroolbark and East Ringwood could be tough to break into, the fifth spot remains hot property for those outside.

“The next two we set ourselves to be really competitive in, and if we play our best footy we should be able to get the points,” he said.

“We’re setting ourselves hopefully by Round 8 to be 4-4 … I think that fifth spot is up for grabs.

“We were a little bit flat in the first couple of rounds, just trying to work on match fitness but also some structures which we were struggling with forward of the footy, but we’ve straightened up which helps and it’s starting to look a lot better.”