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Strathmore Community Bank Division Two Preview - Preliminary Final

By Adem Saricaoglu


MOONEE VALLEY v BURNSIDE HEIGHTS
Preliminary Final
Saturday 2:15pm at Coburg City Oval

THERE isn’t much separating Moonee Valley and Burnside Heights coming into this Preliminary Final.

The two home-and-away meetings were split and both games, played in Rounds 2 and 11, were closely fought with the away team eventually getting up on each occasion.

Both are also capable of pushing the Sunbury Kangaroos in the Grand Final next weekend, so we have ourselves a cracking Preliminary Final here at Coburg City Oval.

Moonee Valley will enter this weekend’s clash as the favourite but not by much, especially given it played undermanned in last week’s Semi Final loss to the Kangaroos.

The Fog was without its two leading goal kickers, Jordan Faba and Rocky Ferraro, who combined have booted 79 goals for the year.

Their absence forced utility Braden Padmore to spend most of his day inside forward 50 and while he played a stellar game and kicked four goals, the Valley would probably prefer to have their prime mover a little further up the ground.

Cory McGrath also drifted forward and kicked a goal of his own but at the end of the day, the near-full strength Kangaroos overpowered the Fog in the second half and eventually won the war of attrition.

The Bears took the field in their inaugural senior men’s final with a good complement of their best 22 and in a similar fashion to that of Sunbury, they were able to break away late and score a comfortable 40-point win over Coburg Districts.

It was one of those games where everything eventually clicked.

Josh Covelli looked unstoppable and was ultimately the difference with a stunning six-goal performance that wowed the Section Road crowd.

His one-on-one marking ability ranks among the very best of the division, but what often gets overlooked is his ability to defy his size and move well across the ground, which proves effective both on the lead and defensively.

At just 24-years-old, he’s playing career-best football and looks to have completely overcome the ankle problems that kept him out of the line-up in the latter stages of the home-and-away season.

He’s therefore a nightmare match-up for any opposition coach, but rest assured that Shanon Carroll will have done his homework on how he thinks his side can limit Covelli’s influence.

It will start by winning the midfield battle, so the likes of Ned Wilson and McGrath need to be working hard from the get-go.

The Fog will also need to lock down on Adam Sullivan, Vincent Angelone, Matthew Peterlechner and Anthony Fawcus, all of whom are recognised stars of Strathmore Community Bank Division 2.

It’ll be a game that most likely comes down to who better executes inside forward 50 and, on their day, both of these sides are very good at it… as long as they have the personnel on the park to get it done.


FINALS ENTRY PRICES:

Adults: $15.00
Concession: $8.00
Under 14 years: FREE

ANIMAL ACCESS RESTRICTIONS:

No animals will be permitted into any finals venues, except for dogs to assist people whose vision is impaired.

MATCH FILMING & PHOTOGRAPHY - ALL VENUES:

The EDFL will only permit approved media outlets and suppliers to take photos and film matches at all EDFL Finals venues.

Any photographers or videographers who are not wearing the official EDFL Media Coloured Vest will be asked to cease their activity immediately or risk being ejected from the venue.

All Media Vest requests are to be referred directly to adem.s@essendondfl.com.au.

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