Thomastown claim third straight win after outclassing Diamond Creek in the NFL Division 2
Thomastown has moved into the NFL Division 2 top four after a comfortable win over Diamond Creek at home on Saturday with Anthony Capeci snagging six goals in a first-class performance.
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Thomastown has moved into the NFL Division 2 top four after a comfortable 25-point win over Diamond Creek at home on Saturday.
The Bears were dominant in the opening three quarters, leading by 54 points early in the final quarter before the Creekers kicked the last five majors of the game.
The 16.14 (110) to 13.7 (85) win was Thomastown’s third straight and left it sitting third on percentage behind Banyule and Whittlesea.
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Bears coach Ben Chapman recognised the late-game lapse in concentration but said any win was positive in an even competition.
“After losing Round 1, to win the next three has been really encouraging and we hope that’s a platform we can build on,” he said.
“We kicked the first goal of the last quarter, so we got out to the best part of nine goals, but to Diamond Creek’s credit they came hard after that, they dominated general play for the last 20-25 minutes.
“We spoke about it after the game — whether we took the foot off or they lifted — to concede the last five goals was disappointing but to still have a good win over good opposition was pleasing.”
After an even start, the Bears midfield took control, with Dylan Chapman dominant in the ruck, and piled on 11 goals to six across the second and third quarters.
Anthony Capeci proved too hard for the Creekers backline to handle, kicking six goals, while James Rizzolio added three.
“(Anthony) is a very dangerous forward, particularly when he’s on,” Chapman said.
“He’s able to find space inside 50m and can do things a lot of players can’t. He’s been threatening to do that and yesterday it all came together for him.
“Dylan Chapman was really good in the ruck, giving our midfielders first use, and I think that was the catalyst for us getting on top.”
Entering Round 4, six teams were locked on two wins in Division 2 and Chapman said almost every fixture this season was an “eight-point game”.
“We know the competition is really even, you look at the results, there’s no such thing as an easy game,” he said.
“Our expectations, naturally, after playing finals (last year) is to be able to build on that … but just because we played finals last year doesn’t give us an automatic ticket.”
Elsewhere in Division 2, Whittlesea escaped with a win over an inaccurate St Mary’s 13.7 (85) to 6.21 (57) while Fitzroy Stars upset Eltham 9.13 (67) to 5.7 (37).
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