EAST SUNBURY v MOONEE VALLEY
IN what has been a remarkable season so far for Strathmore Community Bank Division 2, both East Sunbury and Moonee Valley have spent multiple weeks on top of the ladder.
But as players start to go down with injury and others make themselves unavailable as the weather dips into single figures, some teams suddenly hit a wall in the middle of the season.
In both cases here, it’s not too hard to figure out why they’ve slipped down the ladder in recent weeks.
This is a huge game because five won’t go into four come the end of Round 21, and both sides are at risk of being the unlucky team to miss out on finals – which would be an unacceptable outcome either way.
East Sunbury’s depth was put to the test at Roxburgh Park last week and failed miserably.
The Thunder’s last two losses have resulted in a 46.15 per cent drop in percentage and that could prove quite costly come late August, so they need to get their offensive mojo back.
The Valley’s slowly re-assembling its ideal 22 and to push an in-form Northern Saints to within a couple of points is a good sign that win number six isn’t too far away.
On-form the Fog wins, but pressure will be on if it’s close late.
This might just be the biggest game of the year in the division.
BURNSIDE HEIGHTS v COBURG DISTRICTS
Coburg Districts is one of those sides that will be hoping to forget their first half of the season and focus on what’s ahead.
The Lions have had two weeks off, giving Chris Tankard plenty of time to push the reset button and hopefully instil some belief within his group that only 12 months ago was an undisputed flag fancy.
With names of the ilk of Vesnaver (times two), Lucin, McGill, Lynch and Blackley, there really is no reason why Coburg Districts can’t turn things around and become the form team of the entire division again.
If they are to have another crack at getting to Windy Hill in mid-September, then it has to start here.
The Lions had their pants pulled down by Burnside Heights back in Round 5 and if lightning strikes twice for the Bears, then it’ll be hard for Districts to recover from it.
Flashy would be the most apt way of describing Burnside Heights right now.
The Bears are clearly much better than they’ve ever been, but they’ve still got a long way to go.
They couldn’t afford to be off their game against the Hawks last week, let alone to go down to them.
Young, up-and-coming teams are going to have their ups and downs and we’re seeing that first-hand with the mixed form of Josh Covelli, but if finals are still their goal, then Aidan Stott’s men need to be willing to bring their A-game when opportunities like this present.
ROXBURGH PARK v HADFIELD
Not so long ago this looked like the likely grand final match-up in this division, but a plucky Jacana side surprised everyone and won their way to Windy Hill back in 2015.
Much has changed since then, and now this is a match-up between the ladder’s top and bottom sides.
That said though, it was wonderful to see Hadfield get a win last week.
Brett Pitts and his crew should be commended for their efforts so far this season and to beat Burnside Heights, especially at home, was just reward.
The question now is whether the Hawks can build on it.
To rest on their laurels now and not win another game would still be a disappointing outcome for Season 2018.
There’s very little chance they’ll get win number two here, but Hadfield should at least have a bit more confidence that they can trouble any other side in the division.
Defensively they can restrict the opposition’s flow, so Roxburgh Park needs its prime movers in Harley Short and Jack Elliott to have a good day at the office.
But at the same time, Michael Farrelly might be wise to rest anyone that’s carrying any niggles, because the worst-case scenario in games like this is losing key players to injury.
The Magpies need to be smart here.
