University Blacks and Collegians locked in close VAFA relegation battle as season heads toward a tense climax
IT could be Round 18 before 2014 Premier Division grand finalists University Blacks and Collegians’ safety is assured in the VAFA’s top tier.
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A YEAR can be a painfully long time in football.
With two rounds remaining in the 2014 Victorian Amateur Football Association season, University Blacks’ finals spot was secure.
The side would eventually find itself pitted against Collegians for Premier Division’s ultimate prize, securing a flag 40 years in the making.
But the 2014 grand finalists last week found themselves in a predicament few expected them to face this year.
Collegians was ninth on the ladder after Round 15, while University Blacks sat eighth — both confronted by the dreaded prospect of relegation.
“It’s pretty tight there at the moment,” Uni Blacks coach Luke O’Connell said last week.
“Certainly we’ve got one eye above us, but we’re aware that what’s happening below us is more important at the moment.
“It’s been an amazing year.”
It could be Round 18 before either club’s safety is confirmed, with little separating most teams in the VAFA’s top tier.
Uni Blacks holds a one game and percentage buffer over Collegians after beating Old Xaverians by 59 points on Saturday.
Jordan Foster slotted six goals in the comprehensive 18.12 (120) to 8.13 (61) victory at Melbourne University Oval.
“I guess that’s the beauty of the amateurs. No matter where you are on the ladder your season stays interesting the whole way through,” O’Connell said.
“We might end up with a grand final replay, just with a different context to it.”
O’Connell said the club took several positives from its recent 10-point loss to premiership contender St Bernard’s.
“That was a step forward,” he said.
“We’ve got guys coming back from injury, suspension and holidays, we needed to get games into them.
“We feel like now we’ve got one or two into the most important ones and I think that sets us up for the last (few) weeks.
“It’s certainly in our hands.”
Uni Blacks meets bottom side Beaumaris this weekend.
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