Old Eltham Collegians seal NFNL Division 3 finals place with final round win
The equation for Old Eltham Collegians was simple, win and you’re in, and the Turtles enter NFNL Division 3 finals in form but it was heart-break for Ivanhoe.
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Win and you’re in.
That was the simple equation facing Old Eltham Collegians and that’s exactly what happened on Saturday.
The Turtles’ 21-point win over second-placed Old Paradians saw them jump into fourth, leap-frogging Ivanhoe after its loss to Mernda.
Epping’s giant 131-point victory over Lalor secured it fifth and left the Hoers heart-broken in sixth.
Collegians will face the Pingers in an elimination final on Saturday, storming into finals with the equal best record in NFNL Division 3 over the past month.
Four straight wins has Turtles coach Matt Sleeman confident his team can make an impact and potentially improve on back-to-back preliminary final appearances.
“It didn’t look likely at some stages of the year but I feel like we deserve to make finals with the season we’ve had,” Sleeman said.
“It’s a pretty even competition, even with the lop-sided draw, and outside of Fitzroy Stars the next five sides are pretty even.
“We only played Fitzroy once and lost to them by seven points and we’ve beaten everyone else.
“We go into the finals with the best record of late – outside of the Stars – we’ve won four in a row and beaten three of the sides above us.”
Knowing a win would secure a finals berth, Old Eltham burst out of the blocks at Eltham College.
The Turtles led by 13 points at quarter-time and then held Paradians goalless in the second term to take a 46-point advantage into half-time.
The Raiders hit back in the second half, kicking eight goals to four, but the gap was too much to overcome.
Tim Ellis was named best-on-ground in the win, while Brent Macaffer, Hugh Kavanagh and Kieran Malone impressed.
Malone and rejuvenated veteran Ben Gill both kicked a match-high three goals.
“I did the stats and Tim only had 11 or 12 possessions, but gee, they were a good 11 or 12 possessions,” Sleeman said.
“He took five or six intercept marks, at crucial times, and there’s things he doesn’t get a touch for – he won some good one-on-one battles and knocked it out.
“The back-end of the season, he’s been so solid for us down back and he’s re-signed for us next season.
“Ben is an absolute dream to coach.
“I got a really nice message from him last night, he said ‘thanks for putting your faith in me … I never thought I’d play in another senior final again’.
“Hearing what it means to him, just playing footy, playing in the seniors, he’s going to play in a final next week and now he’s a chance to help us win a final.
“He kicked his 700th career goal last week and he’s just a handful for whoever plays on him.”
For Old Paradians, Joel Tolli was best afield, while skipper Marcus Nolan, Noah Whittle Kyle O’Sullivan, Lachie Kerr (three goals) stood tall.
The Raiders will meet Mernda in a qualifying final.
Old Eltham and Epping will clash at Lalor Reserve, the winner keeping their season alive.
Sleeman said the club was confident it could repeat its win over Epping from just four weeks ago.
“I said to Zach, my assistant, if you’d asked me before the round I probably would have said Ivanhoe (was my preference),” he said.
“With Scott Selwood coming in and Andy Otten there, Zach made a good point that we haven’t seen them and they could be the difference.
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“We match up well against Epping, we beat them both times and I think they had good sides in.
“I think Lalor’s ground suits us and we’re looking forward to it, we’ve got both sides in the finals and the club is in a really good spot. It’s an exciting place to be.”
Elsewhere in Division 3, Fitzroy Stars secured a first minor premiership with a 36-point win over Kilmore.
Epping smashed Lalor by 131 points, Mernda ended Ivanhoe’s season with a 57-point win and Kinglake was too good for Reservoir with a 44-point triumph.
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