EFNL 2024: Young ruckman Liam Schmidtke best afield as Bayswater upsets Mooroolbark
Shouldering the No. 1 ruck duties, an emerging talent produced a best-afield display as Bayswater halted one of Eastern Division 1’s form sides in an upset on Saturday.
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An emerging talent helped Bayswater to a nail-biting win over one of the form sides of Eastern’s Division 1 on Saturday.
The Waters edged Mooroolbark 5.12 (42) to 5.11 (41) in the absence of a host of key names – including No. 1 ruckman Tim Castricum.
But young tall Liam Schmidtke had no trouble filling the void in a best-afield showing, as he tussled with powerhouse Mustang Ryley Monkhorst for most of the match.
“It was his third game of (senior) footy,” Bayswater coach Marc Hardy said of Schmidtke.
“He started winning the taps and ‘Monkey’ got injured halfway through the second, missed the third, played the last, but ‘Boof’ (Schmidtke) was still very competitive deep into the last quarter.
“It was a great effort from the young boy … he’s about six-four or six-five, a great kid and very, very competitive.”
The win lifts Bayswater (seventh) to a 5-9 record, while Mooroolbark – which had won its past two matches – sits a game outside the top five in sixth with seven wins and seven losses.
Holding the advantage by no more than 13 points at each break, the Waters weathered a final charge from the Mustangs, who registered 2.4 to 1.0 in the last quarter.
“We held the lead, they (Mooroolbark) had a couple of shots … it was such a relief to get over the line,” Hardy said.
“It was reward for our hard work over the last few weeks.
“We’ve been showing glimpses for quarters here and there, and lucky enough, we had a really strong first quarter and we were able to stay ahead for the majority of the game.
“We knew they would come hard in that last quarter.”
Meanwhile, Zac Deane earned the praise of the coach for another potent tagging job, as Paul Haasbroek, Riley Purton, Ben Searle, Christian Poe and Ben White also finished among the best. Bryce Galvin fired off two goals.
“He’s (Deane) been fantastic for the last few weeks – he’s put a few of the better players in the container, he’s managed to shut them down,” Hardy said.
Bayswater weathered a six-game losing streak from rounds five to 10 – but has won two of its past four matches.
Hardy lamented inconsistency had cost his team this season, amid a spate of injuries with captain Aaron Cotte and mainstay Alex Young among those sidelined.
“We’ve had a few injuries to key players and our depth isn’t quite there – everything else is working well, we’re training well and doing all the little bits and pieces well,” Hardy said.
“Just between 2.30 and 4.30 we just haven’t been able to get it right.
“But to our boys’ credit, they’ve stuck at it.
“We got a bit of confidence out of the weekend and a few games previous, and we know we can play as good as anyone else, we’ve got to be doing it for two and three quarters, not just one quarter at a time.”
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