EFNL Division 4 2023: Chirnside Park’s season alive after 44-point win

Chirnside Park has closed the gap on the top four – and with a host of key names due to return, the coach is bullish of a finals charge in the second-half of the season ...

CHIRNSIDE PARK’s finals hopes remain alive.

The Eastern league Division 4 outfit’s 44-point victory over a winless Croydon North-MLOC on Saturday closed the gap to two games on the top four – sitting in fifth spot with a game in hand on third-placed Scoresby.

Chirnside Park’s Grattan Stephens. Photo: Hamish Blair

And senior coach Dave Newlands says there’s a host of key names to return shortly, as his group readies for a charge at the finals in the second half of the season.

Full-back Trent Russell is among those names alongside full-forward Scott Dwyer, while ruckman Sean Atkinson returned on Saturday.

“They’re starting to filter back in now … (but) we’ve been riddled with injuries and we’d lost our spine for most of the year,” Newlands said.

“We haven’t had our full-back, centre half-back or our full-forward – and our ruckman’s just come back.

“It’s been tough when seven of your starting 18 aren’t playing … I never want to use injuries as an excuse … but at the same time they’re significant injuries.

“We’re definitely really bullish about the second half of the year.”

Ten individual goalkickers filled the scorecard for the Panthers on Saturday, led by a bag of five from Sam King and four from gun recruit Leigh Odermatt.

Odermatt has featured in the Panthers’ best in six of seven matches played this season – but Newlands is hopeful the return of Dwyer to full-forward will further complement the Eastern league great.

“(Odermatt) is probably the best centre half-forward going around, he’s very hard to match up on and I think every side’s starting to see how good he is,” Newlands said.

A date with second-placed Surrey Park awaits on Saturday as Chirnside Park kicks off the second half of the campaign.

The club featured in finals for the first time since 2009 last season and the coach declared the “shackles are off” as it looks to build on its 3-5 win-loss record for another tilt.

“The second half of the year, I think the shackles are off and we just go for it,” Newlands said.

“We’re getting our players back which is great and it might take another week or so, but we’re really confident that we can still do the job we need to do.

“If we can make finals, who knows what happens from there, but I think we’ve just got to give ourselves every chance to have a crack.”

Croydon North-MLOC 3.3, 5.7, 9.9, 15.13 (103)

Chirnside Park 7.6, 13.8, 18.18, 21.21 (147)

Croydon North-MLOC

Goals:

J. Crowe 4, M. Hayhurst 4, C. Wangman 2, L. Poli, S. van der Westhuizen, N. Hearne, A. May, D. Butera

Best:

W. Robinson, D. Butera, J. Crowe, N. Volk, L. Volk, M. Hayhurst

Chirnside Park

Goals:

S. King 5, L. Odermatt 4, G. Stephens 3, P. Hager 2, J. Clavant 2, J. Belli, X. Leslie, S. Atkinson, C. Clavant, D. McGee

Best:

C. Clavant, S. King, L. Odermatt, S. Atkinson, K. Harper, P. Hager