After a lean few weeks from Pascoe Vale, second spot was up for grabs when they faced Strathmore at Lebanon Reserve, and it was the Mores who took the narrow victory to enter double chance territory.
The Panthers were hot out of the gate leading by 31 points at the first change after recording 13 scoring shots to just two.
The Mores clawed their way back into the contest kicking five unanswered goals in the second term to bring the margin within a kick at the main break, and within a kick it remained heading into the final quarter.
For Pascoe Vale, a chance to maintain their one-game buffer on the pack was on the line, while Strathmore were presented with an opportunity to enter the top two, a position they’ve familiarised themselves with since the cancelled season.
The Mores took their opportunity and won by three points in the end, as Cooper Keogh kicked three goals with multiples to Athan Tsialtas, Andrew Gallucci, and Ben Holian.
Adam Iacobucci and Liam Cavanagh were named the best for Strathmore while Jayden Ranno and Matthew Watson (three goals) were among Pascoe Vale’s stronger performers.
Essendon Doutta Stars have secured their spot in the top flight for 2024 following a huge win over Maribyrnong Park.
Dominating from the outset, Douttas kicked seven goals in the first term to take a 40-point lead into the first change, a lead they would gradually build on throughout the game before storming home in the final quarter with six goals.
Essendon VFL skipper Billy Cootee returned to Douttas and was a standout performer with James Harrold, both among nine goal scorers.
A loss for them would have left the door very slightly ajar for Marby to leapfrog them for their 2024 position in Premier Division, but the young side showed the resilience that they have throughout 2023.
The two sides touted to be lining up in the final Rookie Me Division One game for 2023 in West Coburg and Deer Park enjoyed dominant wins over the weekend against Keilor Park and Hillside respectively.
The Burgers eclipsed the 200 mark scoring 31.18 (204) to the Devils’ 6.2 (38), with Omar Saad booting a whopping 10 goals, outshining otherwise big days from Patrick Martin (six goals) and Ibby Taha (five goals).
Deer Park scored 23.23 (161) to Hillside’s 5.4 (34) to move to 181 scoring shots through the last month of footy.
The Lions were queuing up with 11 goal scorers led by Lachie Smart’s five, an even more impressive effort considering the absence of key spearhead Todd Elton.
Following Keilor Park’s big loss and wins to Tullamarine and Westmeadows, they’re suddenly at risk of dropping back down to Division Two if they’re to lose to Westmeadows this week and drop enough percentage.
Westmeadows powered home to win by six goals against Craigieburn and set up their opportunity to remain in Division One, while Tulla enjoyed a similar margin in their win over Roxburgh Park.
The Devils have shown their competitiveness throughout 2023 after a hot start to the year, but haven't been able to turn in the wins.
Keilor Park can secure their fate with a win, but percentage will still very much be a factor if they’re to lose.
If the Devils reach their average score of around 60, a score of 105 for Westy will put them 0.09% above the Devils.
After beginning the season 0-5, Sunbury Kangaroos have moved into fourth spot with one game left in the Division Two season following their win against Burnside Heights.
On top all day, they kicked 13 goals to four in the second half to storm home to a 74-point victory over the Bears.
Sunbury Kangaroos boasted six multiple goal scorers with Zachary Ploog and Matthew Leonard bagging four goals each.
The Kangaroos have a healthy percentage buffer over Coburg Districts in fifth spot, but that won’t mean much if they lose to Oak Park and Coburg Districts beat Burnside Heights.
Oak Park will get another opportunity against Aberfeldie on the biggest day of all following a convincing win against Moonee Valley.
They controlled the game from the outset with two unanswered goals in the first term, before each side added on a goal in the second quarter to have Oak Park leading by 13 points at the main break.
The Kangaroos came firing out of the restart to add on three more unanswered goals in the ‘premiership quarter’ to run out the game full of confidence.
Oak Park would land one more blow in the final term to secure a 40-point win and their spot in the Grand Final at Windy Hill.
The league’s leading goalkicker Alex Quigley put on a show with six of the Kangaroos’ seven goals, with Savannah Byrne the other goal scorer.
Quigley was named among their best with Tafa Malumu leading the way along with Emily Findlay and Mia Briedis.
While Moonee Valley’s season has been cut short, it marked the first time Moonee Valley has competed in the top flight’s finals series under the tutelage of Dean Rioli. A phenomenal effort to make it this far!
Essendon Doutta Stars will play in the big dance after a stirring 33-point win over Burnside Heights in the Preliminary Final.
After an even start to the game, Douttas burst out to a 38-point halftime lead with six unanswered goals.
They made it seven unanswered heading into the final break, before the Bears managed three goals in the final quarter to reduce the margin that was a foregone conclusion by that point.
Jessie Hulett registered goal number 10 against Burnside Heights in 2023 with three on the weekend, backed up by two goals for Leyla Corkill, and singles to Stephanie Mitchell, Mia Tully, and Marie Napoli.
Megan Runting was named her side’s best alongside Hulett and Jayla Rutley.
The Bears’ stars certainly gave it their all not just on the weekend, but throughout the season where they challenged Greenvale on multiple occasions. And if not for a late goal the week prior, they were four seconds away from a Grand Final berth of their own.
Moonee Valley were eyeing off having two sides playing in the Grand Final, but Aberfeldie will do just that with their second side winning a nailbiter against the Fog.
Three points was all that separated the two sides at the final siren which was about as much that separated them for the entire contest.
Aberfeldie kicked the lone goal in the first quarter to lead by as many at the first change, before Moonee Valley took one-point leads into the next two breaks.
Abers made the most of their opportunities kicking 2.1 in the final term to the Fog’s 1.3 and held the advantage to move into the Grand Final.
