EFNL Division 3 2023: Wayward Donvale dethrones Ferntree Gully for top spot

Donvale has moved a game clear in top spot after coming from behind to knock off ladder-leader Ferntree Gully ...

It’s one apiece from two meetings this season for the Eastern league Division 3 heavyweights.

Donvale has reclaimed top spot on the ladder after dethroning Ferntree Gully in a come-from-behind win on Saturday, 10.21 (81) to 10.2 (62).

The Vales overturned a four-point three-quarter time deficit, rattling home with a blustery breeze kicking 2.11 to sink the Eagles who went scoreless in the final term.

Twenty-one minutes had elapsed in the last quarter before a goal had been kicked after 10-straight Donvale behinds, as Kyle Wignell snapped truly to push his side 12 points ahead.

Momentum seesawed to one end of the ground throughout the match as Ferntree Gully led by four points at quarter-time before Donvale hit back to take a 15-point advantage into the main break.

Kyle Wignell. Picture: Andy Brownbill

“We knew it was going to be tough,” Donvale senior coach Kevin Collins said following Saturday’s match.

“In the third quarter we dropped our bundle with a bit of poor discipline and when you’re playing against top teams it’s the really small things that get paid attention to.

“(Our inaccuracy) was probably due to the pressure that Ferntree Gully put on us … we got away with it in the end, we’re happy, but they’re a good team and we’ll take the four points.”

Lauding an even contribution, Collins highlighted big men Zac Haig and Nick Murphy for their ruckwork, while James Pell and Max Otten stood tall in defence.

But perhaps the biggest praise was reserved for the midfield.

“I thought James Hanley assisted James Rausa really well … Kyle Wignell was a key player inside and out and he had a really good, balanced game,” Collins said.

Matt Day finished with three goals for Donvale while Jack Flannery and Gavin Kalisperis kicked two each for Ferntree Gully, which was dealt a hammer-blow before half-time with star on-baller Luke McComb suffering a suspected shoulder injury.

Donvale coach Kevin Collins. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Collins declared while the victory would lift his team’s self-belief, it “doesn’t make us any better” than Ferntree Gully.

The pair last met in Round 3 with the Eagles prevailing by 19 points.

“We get some confidence out of it … had we not won yesterday, it would’ve been two-zip their way,” he said.

“The ledger’s drawn even and we know we can match it with them, but we don’t believe we’re any better than them.”

Both sides wore red and white arm bands on Saturday in tribute to the Warrandyte sporting clubs following the Hunter Valley bus crash.

Collins said the initiative was driven by the Donvale and Ferntree Gully leadership groups.

“As a community, Warrandyte have been hit hard and a lot of people are still in hospital and some of them played at Donvale,” he said.