By TOBIE CHAPMAN
THE Essendon District Football League has prevailed in a four-point thriller against the Goulburn Valley Football League in their WorkSafe AFL Victoria Community Championships clash at Windy Hill.
The inaugural Championships saw the exciting prospect of metro and country clashing, and the contest did not disappoint.
The Goulburn Valley struck the first blow with a soccer-off-the-ground from Daniel Willis opening the scoring. They continued to control much of play for the first term, but struggled to find targets going forward as the Essendon District half back line repelled most entries.
Capitalising on these missed opportunities were dangerous forwards Danko Bzenic and Dean Galea who began to work their way into the game for the Essendon District.
Bzenic kicked his sides second goal for the day and also began to have an impact further up the ground, helping set up his West Coburg team mate Tom Baravi soon after as they went into quarter time with an 11-point lead.
The Essendon District started the second term strongly and it began to look they might be too classy for their opponents, kicking the next three goals to push out to a 31-point lead early in the term.
The Goulburn Valley finally began to settle once more as Steven Stroobants showed composure to hold up in traffic and set up Farren Priest.
The two sides continued to trade goals for the rest of term thanks to some slick attacking work and some lacklustre defence.
Jason Cole was leading the charge for the Goulburn Valley, kicking a goal and racking up important touches to see his side trail by only 17 points at halftime.
Although a free-flowing second term had seen 11 goals kicked, the third term was the complete opposite. A scrappy affair ensued and it wasn’t until the 17-minute mark that the first score was registered, a long bomb from Brodie Filo bouncing off hands on the goal line.
Luke Cartelli had seen a lot of the ball in the first half and he popped up with the mark of the day on the wing, his kick inside 50 resulting in a free kick to Patrick Veszpremi.
Veszpremi went back and kicked a difficult goal from beyond the arc to finally break the deadlock in time-on.
Ash Holland’s impressive ruck work and some strong contested ball skills from the Goulburn Valley midfield saw some reward, as a clearance resulted in a free to Nicholas Warnock, who then kicked his second goal.
Shortly after, Caleb Vearing was caught holding the ball deep in defence and Sam Martyn made no mistake, reducing the margin to just nine points at the final break.
In a sign of the trouble Galea was causing, Goulburn Valley coach Scott Beattie had begun to play a loose man in front of him, but even that couldn’t stop the dangerous forward from marking on the boundary line.
From 45 metres out on a difficult angle Galea showed his composure and experience, kicking an important goal to help halt the Goulburn Valley’s momentum and extend the lead.
Veszpremi kicked his second goal from another free kick, the lead now 15 points halfway through the term.
It prompted an instant response though, explosive forward Farren Priest making the most of an opportunity to goal.
Ash Holland was playing a big role, as the Goulburn Valley came away with another centre clearance to send it forward. Daniel Willis was on the end of it and collected high by Daniel Campisano, but from only 25 metres out pulled his shot to the left.
With time the enemy, Ben Reid won the loose ball and found Brodie Filo, who then pinpointed a pass to the running Stroobants.
Stroobants then kicked a tough goal on the run to bring his side within two points once more.
However, there was no fairytale comeback to be had for a valiant Goulburn Valley side and they were unable to find another goal.
The Essendon District led for all but the opening few minutes, and held on for an impressive victory which sees them move up to fourth in the WorkSafe AFL Victoria Community Championships rankings.
Jason Cole was best on ground for the Goulburn Valley and was the key player in their final term. He was almost successful in dragging them over the line and was unlucky to have a second goal called as touched.
For the Essendon District, the experienced Stephen Brewer took the honours. His cool head across half back and through the midfield saw numerous attacks cut off and he did not make a mistake all day.
Earlier in the day in the Under 18 curtain-raiser at Windy Hill, the EDFL was too good for the Goulburn Valley, winning by 60 points.
CLICK HERE to view JAG Imaging’s gallery from both games.
SENIORS
ESSENDON DISTRICT FOOTBALL LEAGUE | 13.9-87
Goal Kickers: D. Galea 5, D. Gourdis 2, P. Veszpremi 2, D. Bzenic 2, T. Baravi, M. Cravino
Best Players: S. Brewer, R. Castello, A. Iacobucci, F. Caruso, D. Galea, T. Baravi
GOULBURN VALLEY FOOTBALL LEAGUE | 21.11.83
Goal Kickers: N. Warnock 2, S. Stroobants 2, D. Willis 2, J. Cole 2, S. Martyn, L. Morgan, N. Gilliland, B. Clifton
Best Players: J. Cole, A. Holland, J. Morgan, S. Martyn, B. Reid, B. Clifton
UNDER 18s
ESSENDON DISTRICT FOOTBALL LEAGUE | 17.13-115
Goal Kickers: C. Bonello 6, J. Roumeliotis 3, J. Davey 2, T. Young 2, R. Townsend, L. Capuano, C. Bond, J. Ranno
Best Players: R. Townsend, S. Rasinac, J. Toa, T. Young, C. Bonello, P. Ntalianis
GOULBURN VALLEY FOOTBALL LEAGUE | 8.7-55
Goal Kickers: T. Herbert 3, J. Trotter, B. Cooper, A. Byrne, J. Gattuso, P. Marks
Best Players: C. Mueller, S. Newton, L. Smith, A. Byrne, J. Brett, T. Herbert
