Pair of young guns fire, Heidelberg West jumps into NFNL Division 3 top-four

Heidelberg West cracked the NFNL Division 3 finals race wide open with a critical win over Old Eltham Collegians with a pair of young guns playing key roles.

Heidelberg West defeated Old Eltham Collegians.

Heidelberg West has thrown the NFNL Division 3 finals fight wide open with a nail-biting one-point win over Old Eltham Collegians.

In the battle for fourth, the Hawks completed a season sweep of the Turtles at Eltham College to move into a finals spot with a game in-hand.

With scores level, Zach Tranter intercepted the ball at half-forward and kicked long to the goalsquare.

Nick Paton proved the hero, shutting down an attempted clearance to rush the ball through for the match-winning point with under a minute on the clock.

Alex Williamson intercepted the resulting kick-in and while it kicked into the man on the mark, it was enough to seal a thrilling victory, 8.11 (59) to 9.4 (58).

Heidelberg West has moved into the NFNL Division 3 top-four.

Heidelberg West coach Michael Missen said he didn’t feel any nerves, confident his players would win the day.

“I thought we were playing pretty well and the game was on our terms for most of it,” he said.

“You could see in the way the players were going about it that we were going to keep coming and I was confident we’d get over the line.

“We did it the hard way – we had 19 scoring shots to 13 – and it felt like we had the game under control but weren’t able to put Old Eltham away.

“Last year we lost to the Turtles by a point at home, in pretty similar circumstances, so it’s exciting for the future that we’re growing as a group.”

Old Eltham started strongly, building a 12-point lead at quarter-time and extending the margin to 14 points at the half.

However, it was all Heidelberg West in the second half as the Hawks booted three goals to nil in the third term to take a two-point lead at the final change.

Inaccuracy dogged the visitors in the fourth as they kicked 1.6 but it proved just enough.

Heidelberg West held on by one point.

A pair of young guns played pivotal roles in the win, Dane Dmitrovic named best-on-ground and Michael Adams impressing in defence.

Dmitrovic was prolific on a wing and kicked a goal, while Adams shut down league-leading goalkicker Matt Williamson after half-time.

“I was really pleased with a couple of young blokes actually, Dane and Michael hadn’t really played a senior game between them (before the season) and they both stood up and made important contributions.

“Mick has played mostly forward and ruck but we had to send him back to play on (Matt) Williamson and he did a really good job on him.

“He’d kicked four goals in the first quarter and a half but Mick kept him to a touch or two, I don’t think he kicked a goal after he went on to him.

“Dane is getting better each week, he’s learning what it takes to play senior footy.

“He’s got some electric speed and is getting better with his decision making and kicked a really important goal in the third quarter to put us in front.”

Marcus Hill, Daniel Kelly and Brad Moore also impressed or Heidelberg West.

Daniel Hallett continued his outstanding form, named best-on for Old Eltham Collegians, while Seb Francis-Perkins, Ben Cox and Williamson (four goals) were also strong.

The result sees Heidelberg West leap-frog Collegians into the top-four on win percentage.

The Hawks have a game in hand with the Turtles yet to have their second bye, which will come after games against Laurimar and Kinglake.

West faces a difficult run home with Kilmore at JJ Clancy Reserve this week followed by Laurimar, Mernda, Kinglake and Lalor.

DIV 1: LLOYD FIREWORKS INSPIRE BUNDOORA

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DIV 2: HOW LOWER PLENTY HELD ON FOR FIRST WIN

Missen believes his team’s best can match it with the top teams.

“We’re level with a game in hand … regardless we’ve got to keep winning, we’re not getting ahead of ourselves, it’s a bloody tough comp,” he said.

“If we bring our best footy we’ll be in every game we play and the rest will look after itself.”

Elsewhere in Division 3, Leigh Gilbert’s 15 goals led Kinglake to a 216-point win over Lalor, Kilmore kept Reservoir to just three behinds in a 116-point win and Laurimar edged Fitzroy Stars by nine points.