STRATHMORE v ESSENDON DOUTTA STARS
Saturday 2:15pm at Lebanon Reserve
THE only thing Strathmore was missing from its 2019 CV was a big scalp.
Now that the Mores have ticked that box with an impressive road win at Greenvale last week, it’s time to take Matthew Horne’s young men very seriously.
Without skipper Andrew Horne, Luke Baniowski or Athan Tsialtas at its disposal, Strathmore put together a very impressive four-quarter effort to beat the Jets at one of the EDFL’s tougher away venues.
It served as a massive reminder that Strathmore should not only be included in finals calculations, but perhaps also be considered a dark horse premiership contender.
But the home form hasn’t been great and with five of Strathmore’s next seven games being played at Mascoma Street, this an important game to set the tone for the second half of the season.
Essendon Doutta Stars is very hit and miss but more often than not, they seem to miss.
At first glance, to have pushed Keilor within a couple of kicks looks OK, but the Blues were both undermanned and sloppy at Nipper Jordan Oval last week.
Key forward Alex Boyse was named but did not play for Douttas last week and his potential inclusion could prove vital this week.
The experienced heads in Jordan Schroder and Charles Lill are both playing well, but they need some of their younger team mates to lift around them.
Although Lebanon Reserve doesn’t seem to suit their game style, the Mores should win.
GLENROY v ABERFELDIE
Saturday 2:15pm at Sewell Reserve
Glenroy will be all too aware that Airport West is on the improve.
If the Roys don’t put together a good second half of the season, then they may end up back in Division 1 in 2020.
They do have a handy two-pronged attack in Adam Winter and Adam Del Busso but if the midfield isn’t doing its part to feed them, then they can’t have much of an impact.
We saw evidence of that in their two-goal loss to Maribyrnong Park last week.
The task gets no easier here, with Aberfeldie putting together a nice run of form despite some personnel issues through the midfield and back line.
Aberfeldie has an abundance of talls and was last week able to throw Joel Madden into defensive 50 to help fill the void left by the absent Ryan Allan.
Despite being without the league’s best stopper, Aberfeldie still managed to keep Pascoe Vale to just eight goals at Clifton Park.
The ‘two Adams’ inside Glenroy’s forward 50 have their work cut out this week.
PASCOE VALE v AIRPORT WEST
Saturday 2:15pm at Raeburn Reserve
The Panthers did well to gain our trust early in the season, but now we have serious doubts about their premiership credentials.
They arguably had the stronger 22 out on the park at Aberfeldie last week but couldn’t stay in the game for long enough and conceded three goals to eight after half time.
If Digby Morrell’s men fail to deliver a strong response here at home to Airport West, then some EDFL pundits will start taking Pascoe Vale out of their premiership picture.
The Panthers will be hosting a newly confident Airport West outfit that came out of the Queen’s Birthday break with a much-improved showing at home to Avondale Heights on EDFL Match of the Day last week.
The Eagles were tested early by the Heights but withstood the challenge and played out the four quarters, eventually running away with an 82-point win, it’s first Premier Division win in 1407 days.
They established multiple avenues to goal through Damandeep Aujla, Ned Gentile and Chris Lawton, woth Tyson Young also returning to form with two goals from midfield as well.
Pascoe Vale is a vastly different side to Avondale Heights with a taller forward line and more midfield depth, but Airport West will be able to hurt them on the spread if they can bring the heat again this weekend.
MARIBYRNONG PARK v KEILOR
Saturday 2:15pm at Monk Oval
Maribyrnong Park should be sniffing an upset here.
Brandon Ryan has been a genuinely impressive find up forward and combined with James Breust, the Lions suddenly have one of the better two-pronged forward attacks in Premier Division.
Scott Clarke, Jock Cornell and John McKenzie are also playing good footy and with that core all firing, Maribyrnong Park is going to be a tough out for any opponent for the remainder of the season.
That certainly applies to Keilor despite what the ladder and win-loss ration may tell you.
The Blues have been undermanned all year and up until last weekend, their injury woes mainly took effect in midfield.
Now they have some issues up forward, with Dean Galea and David Gourdis both failing to finish last week’s game at Essendon Doutta Stars.
Many pundits have doubted Keilor and been proven wrong so far, but there’s every chance they’ll take the field this weekend with a weakened line-up.
The young Lions should be licking their lips if Keilor’s team selection does pan out that way.
AVONDALE HEIGHTS v GREENVALE
Saturday 2:15pm at Canning Reserve
The loser of this game will enter the second half of the season under a fair bit of pressure.
Avondale Heights would probably have ensured safety from relegation with a win at Airport West last week.
But the Heights didn’t have the legs to keep up with the Eagles and not only took the ‘L’, but took a big percentage hit as well.
Admittedly they were without Scott Harding and Ciaran Sheehan, the only two ex-AFL players on their otherwise young list, but the 82-point loss was still unacceptable.
Both of Avondale Heights’ wins this season have come on home turf, so Donald McDonald will be hoping his charges can re-capture some spark at Canning Street this weekend.
But the Heights are going to be facing another disappointed team on the rebound.
The Jets were without both Carusos, David Sardo and Jacob Thompson last week, but still should have had enough play makers on the park to get the job done over Strathmore.
They didn’t, and it might be the difference between a top two finish and a sudden death semi-final berth come September.
But before you condemn Greenvale for falling short, consider that fact that in the absence of those mentioned above, Courtenay Dempsey was solid as a standalone forward and both Fabian Deluca and Addam Maric were tremendous out of the middle.
The ingredients are all there for Greenvale to make a run late in the year, but they need to start producing more consistent footy from quarter to quarter.
If the Jets are serious about challenging the top two, then expect a very strong response here.
