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Round 7 Preview - Strathmore Community Bank Division 2

By ADEM SARICAOGLU


MOONEE VALLEY v ROXBURGH PARK

STAR Weekly’s Tara Murray is the only EDFL Tipster that has picked Roxburgh Park this weekend, which this reporter finds rather astonishing.

The Magpies are 3-2 and are coming off two huge wins, albeit against Hadfield and Burnside Heights respectively, but they’ve shown that they’re a force to be reckoned with in their first five games of the season.

Maybe the Tipsters are leaning Moonee Valley’s way because of the Ormond Park factor.

Away sides are going to be uncomfortable at Moonee Valley all season long as the facility gets a major upgrade, and so far this year the Fog is undefeated on home soil.

It kept its undefeated record intact last week against Hadfield, but it wasn’t the Fog’s best effort for 2018.

It did what it had to do to get the W.

This will be won in the midfield, where on paper Moonee Valley has the edge.

Up forward is where Roxburgh Park can get them, with Tumay Hamza and Luke Capuano combining for five last week in the absence of Osama Saad.

BURNSIDE HEIGHTS v NORTHERN SAINTS

Six weeks ago, you would have laughed at me for suggesting Burnside Heights is the favourite in this one, but I truly believe the Bears should win this.

Both these sides are seemingly closer on paper than what we predicted before Round 1, with the Bears clearly showing improvement and the Saints struggling to prove they are currently worthy of contender status in Strathmore Community Bank Division 2.

While in the long run you’d still think Northern is the more likely of the two to end up in the final four, right now Burnside Heights is in better form.

The Bears haven’t been at home since Round 2 and played quite well on the road against the Valley and Coburg Districts.

But like most sides do in this kind of phase in their development, they had a letdown last week at Roxburgh Park.

The Northern Saints on the other hand are on a three-game losing streak and last week could not keep up with a struggling Coburg Districts side at Charles Mutton Reserve.

Paul Dunn needs to get his side back on track and it starts here against the Bears this weekend.

COBURG DISTRICTS v EAST SUNBURY

This is a ripper match-up on paper.

East Sunbury enjoyed a week off after suffering its first loss of 2018 at Moonee Valley in Round 5 and looks to have truly arrived as a Division 2 contender.

But it’s games like this that the Thunder need to be winning in order to solidify their place among the best of the division.

Coburg Districts, in the long run, should be OK.

The Lions still have one of the better lists in the competition and simply have not performed at their best in the first six weeks of the season.

Last week’s win over the Northern Saints showed us that they’re going to be a chance in every game they play and to be fair, the Lions haven’t been blown out in any of their five games so far this year.

If they can stay healthy, they should eventually come good at the business end.

The Thunder will want to turn this into a shoot-out, but it won’t be easy at Cole Reserve.

Flip a coin.

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