By AKSHAY KAPADIA
ON SATURDAY, top-placed Craigieburn faced up against Glenroy who were sitting at fourth on the ladder.
Craigieburn were looking to extend their winning streak, while the Roys were looking to stay in touch with the top four with an unlikely away win.
The Eagles got off to a shaky start in the first quarter.
Inaccurate kicking up front meant that they were kicked 3.5 in the first term.
The Roys were more accurate in front of goal kicking 3.1. This kept Glenroy in the game at the first break, only trailing by four points.
In the second quarter, however, the tide changed, and the Eagles kicked into gear.
They were able to amass a total of nine goals in the quarter to Glenroy’s three. This had Glenroy taken out of the game as they lost control of possession and it became very easy for the Eagles to move forward.
At the halftime break, the Eagles were up 42 points – a significant jump after a tight first quarter.
The third quarter didn’t help the Roys either, as the Eagles went from strength to strength.
Craigieburn found another man up forward in which they could kick to.
Aaron Kite on the half forward flank played a key role in the second half to help extend the lead for the Eagles even further, kicking two for the quarter.
The final quarter was all Craigieburn’s way.
They added another three goals (two from Kite) as they only kept the Roys to three behinds.
The Eagles finished with a massive 76-point win over the Roys in what ended up being yet another complete performance.
For the Eagles, they were able to find new avenues for kicking goals, without having to rely on the Cloke brothers – though their inaccuracy in front of goal prevented the final margin from blowing out even more.
For the Roys, they were outclassed from the second quarter onward.
They need to create more play from the back line and turn it into hitting targets up forward to hit the scoreboard.
Next week, Glenroy have Oak Park at home.
It’s important that the Roys pick up wins in competitive games as they may struggle later on in the big games where the four points are needed.
Craigieburn have a much-needed break as they hit their bye round.
CRAIGIEBURN | 17.22-124
Goal Kickers: A. Kite 4, G. Robertson 4, J. Cloke 2, S. Laffan 2, D. Courouzou 2, C. Cloke 2, C. McErlain
Best Players: A. Kite, N. Reichelt, D. Courouzou, J. Page, J. Piggott, J. Young
GLENROY | 7.6-48
Goal Kickers: A. Flavel 3, A. Winter, A. Delbusso, L. Sullivan, J. Trembearth
Best Players: L. Cox, J. Trembearth, S. Gilliland, S. Golding, M. Willox, A. Delbusso
