Essendon Doutta Stars have won two on the trot following their 44-point win over Avondale Heights on Saturday afternoon.
Following their win against Airport West last week, Douttas are aware that early wins are essential as a side that’s in the relegation mix.
Barry Prendergast’s young side played a solid four-quarter game, thwarting any runs from the Heights to keep them at arm’s length.
Declan Tully booted four goals and provided a strong target forward of the footy for Douttas, while Oskar Balta (four goals), Giacomo Thomas (three goals), and Maison Goodman (three goals), all chipped in.
For Avondale, the Robb twins provided all day, while Cam McLeod kicked three goals.
In the first of two Saturday night fixtures across the entire men’s competition, Maribyrnong Park hosted Aberfeldie under lights in their festival of footy which saw Premier women’s, under 18.5s, and reserves action at Monk Oval.
Kicking off at 7pm was the headlining Premier men’s clash in which Aberfeldie were pushed to the end before running out 17-point victors.
Coburg-listed Josh Kemp moved to the top of the goal kicking tally with three goals, while Max Simpson kicked two goals in his first game for the Two Blues this season.
For Marby, Kyle Harman, Max Griffin, and Jack Mantello kicked two goals each as Ethan Jackson was named the Lions’ best.
Widely considered the two teams to beat in Rookie Me Division One, Deer Park traveled to the Shoretress to take on West Coburg which resulted in a three-point thriller.
Deer Park struggled with their accuracy kicking 11.19, possibly indicative of the odd dimensions and their unfamiliarity of the ground, while West Coburg kicked 14.4.
West Coburg’s recruits continue to fire with returning juniors Dinny Cleary and Jonah Horo named the Burgers’ best, while Ibby Taha and Omar Saad kicked four and three goals respectively.
Lachlan Smart kicked three goals for Deer Park, while Tom Mundy kicked two and was named his side’s best.
It was a high scoring round footy in Rookie Me Division One which means one thing: bags of goals were aplenty!
A two-man show for the Fog at Ormond Park resulted in 11 of their 14 goals kicked by two players.
Costa Destikas kicked six and Ben Ryan kicked five. It wasn’t enough for Moonee Valley as they fell just short of Rupertswood.
At the other end of the ground, Rupo’s Zak Saad kicked six goals following a goal in each of his first two games this season.
Tullamarine defeated Glenroy by 63 points with Dom Micallef kicking a whopping nine goals, half of his side’s tally.
Both teams are currently sitting 3-0 with Oak Park one that many wouldn’t have been surprised about, but Northern Saints are a side that flew under the radar in the off season.
They defeated East Sunbury and Hadfield in Rounds 1 and 2, but their victory against 2022 finalist Burnside Heights on Saturday was a real statement.
Khodr Taleb moved to first place in the goal kicking tally with four goals in their 17-point victory over the Bears.
Oak Park are yet to play a 2022 finalist as they’ve defeated Taylors Lakes, Sunbury Kangaroos, and now East Sunbury, but they’ll come up against Coburg Districts in the Round 4 split round in Division Two.
They average 96 points a game while conceding just 56, as there’s been an even spread among their goal scorers with six players kicking four or more through early proceedings.
On the opposite side of the ledger sits the Sunbury Kangaroos (along with East Sunbury) with three losses so far from their three games.
It’s not all doom and gloom for them though with this being their third loss by just single digits, bringing their average loss margin to just under five points.
They have played three of the remaining four finalists from 2022 in the first three rounds and will face the red-hot Northern Saints next week at Eric Boardman Reserve.
Aberfeldie have steamrolled to a 3-0 start following a 57-point triumph over Hillside on Saturday.
They defeated Moonee Valley and Oak Park in the first two rounds and have now scored the most points in the Airport Toyota Women’s Premier Division.
Ellie Huggard and Ilaria Akers were named their two best players on Saturday, while Erica Markesich and Alicia Reivers bagged two goals each and stand as Aberfeldie’s two leading goal scorers.
Alex Quigley has hit the front of the leading goal scoring tally in Premier Division with a bag of five goals in Oak Park’s commanding win over Strathmore.
Quigley came in as one of the key recruits for Oak Park as she came across from Greenvale, and has “quigley” become their go-to forward, registering three and two goals for her side in their first two games.
The last time we saw Quigley in Premier Division, she kicked 36 goals in five games for the Sunbury Kangaroos in 2019.
After two huge victories to start the season, Gisborne’s dream start was halted by Essendon Doutta Stars after going down by five points in their twilight game on Saturday.
Gisborne trailed by 22 points at the final change and kicked four goals to one in the final quarter, but it wasn’t enough in the end.
Nyakoat Dojiok (three goals), Megan Runting (two goals), and Aleesha Hobbs all contributed greatly for Douttas as they move to 2-1.
After receiving a forfeit victory in Round 1 and having their second game cut short at quarter due to an unfortunate injury, Airport West were finally able to complete a full game.
They defeated Moonee Valley 2 by 57 points with Emily Gipp kicking four goals.
Coburg Districts were able to complete their first game last week, and defeated Westmeadows 2 by 74 points, including 30 scoring shots from seven different goal scorers.
