EFNL 2025: Blackburn stuns reigning premier Balwyn in Good Friday special
The Burners’ Premier Division season is off to a flyer, weathering a final-quarter fightback to upset the reigning premier in front of a bumper crowd at a sun-drenched Morton Park on Good Friday.
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What a way to start the season.
Blackburn has weathered a final-quarter fightback to upset reigning premier Balwyn, 12.9 (81) to 8.14 (62), in front of a bumper crowd at a sun-drenched Morton Park on Good Friday.
Slow out of the blocks conceding the first three goals of the match, the Burners pinned the margin back to nine points by quarter-time before taking control with a six-goal-to-one second term for a 24-point half-time lead.
Blackburn senior coach Anthony Fagan – no stranger to the Good Friday occasion as a former captain of the club – lauded his players’ resolve in stamping their authority on the contest before half-time.
“It’s an awesome start to the season and I’m really proud of the boys,” Fagan said.
“We knew it was going to be a tough contest and battle against Balwyn – they’ve got some of the best inside mids in the comp and (they kicked) three (goals) to zip to start the game at centre bounce, but I thought our fight and ability to turn up and step in and get our hands dirty around contests was really impressive.
“In the second quarter, we set it up.
“Sometimes last year when we had momentum we didn’t capitalise and I thought that was a really critical part of the game.”
And there was no shortage of praise for vice-captain Mackenzie Doreian’s role in the second-quarter onslaught.
“When the game was there for the taking, he was leading the way,” Fagan said.
Ahead by 32 points at the final change courtesy of a last-gasp third-quarter goal from new captain Kade Answerth, the hosts set the visiting Tigers a mammoth task in the last stanza.
“He’s a super leader and a super player – one of the toughest in the competition,” Fagan said of Answerth.
“Talk about the contest, it was a critical moment for him to kick that goal right on three-quarter time to give us a five-goal buffer.
“You want your big players to stand up in the big moments, and I thought we did that today.”
Balwyn senior coach Brenton Sanderson urged his charges to play with “dare” in a last-ditch bid for victory.
As 13 minutes expired in the final term, the former Adelaide coach’s men were an errant goal-line bounce and wayward set-shot from cutting the margin to 14 points.
With Balwyn on top in the clearances, the situation demanded ownership.
Fagan got it.
“To be honest, we were hanging on … we were out on our feet in the last quarter and we just had to fight and grit ourselves and some boys played some incredible roles for us down back,” Fagan said.
“Cooper Trembath’s last quarter (in defence) was massive (and) Tommy Maher did an incredible job against Charlie Haley who’s a superstar of the competition.
“They (Balwyn) were really trying to run and chain the ball, our pressure I thought was outstanding and we got some great turnovers and were able to score on the back of that.
“But we probably just needed to work on the execution of that throughout the course of the game and how we can sustain the style of footy for longer than that, because had it been a little bit closer at three-quarter time we might’ve been in a little bit of trouble.
“Credit to the boys, the way we fought and gritted our teeth in the last quarter, we were able to get (a goal) against the (flow) of the game and it was an outstanding way to finish off.”
Eight changes swept through Blackburn’s line-up from Round 18 last season – fielding five debutants for the club – including crafty forward Jackson Carmody (one goal) and Heathmont import Liam Malone (two).
“Aaron Curran, it was great for him to come through the junior program and he looked like a senior player out there to me, Jarrah Salmon did some really good things as well. We needed some aerial power up forward which we got at times from Liam Malone, and I thought Ben Worme’s first quarter was outstanding – they had some territory and he won his first three contests, it was a great way to start his career,” Fagan said.
But the most pleasing aspect?
“We played like a well-connected team, and it takes all of us when we’re playing our best footy, so that was really important.”
Blackburn readies for an Anzac Day blockbuster away to South Croydon on Friday, while Balwyn hosts Rowville on April 26.
BLACKBURN 2.1, 8.6, 11.7, 12.9 (81)
BALWYN 3.4, 4.6, 5.11, 8.14 (62)
Best players
Blackburn: Cooper Trembath, Tom Maher, Mackenzie Doreian, Kade Answerth
Balwyn: Jack Tillig, Steven Slimming, Thomas Wilson, Kayne Turner, Jamie Ridd, Jaymie Kempson
Goals
Blackburn: Liam Malone, Daniel Wood (two), Kade Answerth, Lachlan Bugeja, Jackson Carmody, Mackenzie Doreian, Jacob Epple, Billy Hicks, Patrick Lawlor, Charlie Oglethorpe
Balwyn: Jaymie Kempson, Noah Lever, Isaiah Markovsky, Jamie Ridd, Steven Slimming, Bowen Smith, Jack Tillig, Josh Walker
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