Hillside v Tullamarine - Radio Game
PERHAPS last week’s bye came at a good time for Hillside.
With successive losses against Westmeadows and Glenroy, the Sharks slipped from the top of the ladder down to fourth.
The Essendon Ford Division 1 pundits were just about ready to hand the flag over to Hillside, but this recent form slump may just kick Steve Burns’ men back into gear.
This will be a solid test for both sides and Tullamarine itself is looking to make a statement in this one.
Granted, the Demons have won their last two, but they were against Hadfield and East Keilor respectively.
In fact, the only genuine scalp they can currently claim is that of Airport West back in Round 1.
With Jack Sims and Dean Bartrop finding some form against the Cougars last week and Hillside fit and raring to go after a week off, we think (and hope) this will be a more than worthy broadcast game.
Oak Park v East Keilor
All the pressure is on Oak Park in this one.
At home so far this year the Kangaroos have beaten both Glenroy and Taylors Lakes.
In fact, only Hillside has been able to beat Michael Hooper’s men at JP Fawkner.
Coming off a percentage-booster against Hadfield, Oak Park should be primed for its biggest game of the season to date.
Dean Clare, Cam Hare, Liam Molloy and Aden Harris all ran themselves into some form against the Hawks and need to continue that against what is becoming an increasingly more desperate East Keilor outfit looking for its second win of the year.
The Cougars were never really in it against Tullamarine last week and are lacking regular contributors on a consistent enough basis.
While more often than not staying competitive in most games, they simply haven’t proven themselves finals worthy and this may just be their last chance.
With relegation now seemingly no longer a factor, East Keilor essentially has nothing to lose in going after the rest of the division.
But if the Cougars drop this one, they may just kiss goodbye their finals aspirations.
Glenroy v Taylors Lakes
This is the most intriguing game of the round.
Glenroy has now proved itself to all the doubters after a wonderful display against Airport West in the radio game last week.
The question now is how they handle expectation - because as we sit, they are the new premiership favourite.
With bigs Travis Dulic, Jayden Walker, Scott Gilliland and Luke Capuano all firing, Glenroy is the most physically-imposing team in Essendon Ford Division 1.
Add to that the ground speed of Josh Trembearth and Matt Walker and they’re just about the complete package.
But Taylors Lakes is a tricky match-up.
The Lions have been up and down this year and from week to week, you just don’t quite know what you’re going to get.
The talent is certainly there, with Matt Morelli, James Vistarini and Luke Hodgkin all enjoying quality seasons, but the whole 22 needs to step up at Sewell Reserve.
Westmeadows v Hadfield
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse for Hadfield – they run into an angry Westmeadows mob looking for some redemption.
The Tigers have dropped back-to-back games to Airport West and Taylors Lakes and, aside from Hadfield itself, remains the only team in the division with a percentage below 100.
That should change here at Willowbrook, and it’s really hard to mount a case for anything else occurring.
Even with the mounting injury toll the Tigers are currently suffering through, there simply is no exposed form that would indicate the Hawks can go with them here.
Steve James was let go as senior coach last week and that had no effect against Oak Park with the Hawks still losing by a three-figure margin.
With the division poised the way it is, Westmeadows simply needs the percentage boost and unfortunately, it’s going to be at the expense of Hadfield.
