By AKSHAY KAPADIA
IN THIS week’s battle between Westmeadows and Taylors Lakes, it was a matchup between second and third on the ladder.
At the end of last round, Westmeadows were sitting four points behind Craigieburn, who are on top of the ladder, while Taylors Lakes was sitting one game behind the Tigers.
Westmeadows came off a good thumping of Hadfield by 94 points, with Daniel Willcocks kicking seven, while Taylors Lakes had the bye after their 19-point loss to Glenroy.
In the first quarter, Westmeadows got off a brilliant start, kicking the first goal of the game.
Taylors Lakes soon replied with a free kick inside their forward 50.
The rest of the quarter was all the Tigers as they racked up another four goals.
The ball hardly made it into the Lions’ forward 50, and when it did the Tigers defence held strong, taking mark after mark to deny any chance of Taylors Lakes getting closer.
The Lions kicked the first goal of the second quarter, with the help of a 50-metre free kick that was easy pickings for Scott Drysdale.
Then it was Westmeadows’ turn to take the game out of Taylors Lakes’ grasp.
The remaining six goals of the quarter were for the Tigers’ and this gave them a 56-point lead going into the long break.
Taylors Lakes continued to struggle to get effective possession in their 50.
Some relief came for the Lions in the third term with Mark Xuereb kicking Taylors Lakes’ first goal in open play.
This was in a series of goals from both sides as play opened up.
The quarter was more evenly balanced, but the first half of the game was not lost on the Lions players.
Frustration started to show when a free kick in the Tigers’ goal square was given for an off-the-ball fight, resulting in another easy goal. At the final change, there was a 64-point difference between the two sides.
Jordan Foster kicked his seventh goal to open up the scoring in the last quarter.
Osman Allouch followed it up with another goal for the Tigers.
But from there, the Lions finally found their feet in the game. They kicked the last three goals of the game, including one just before the siren.
It was too little, too late as Westmeadows ended up winning the game by 57 points.
This result will see Westmeadows stay in touch with Craigieburn, who are still one game up.
As for Taylors Lakes, they drop out of the top four and into fifth, as Oak Park and Tullamarine both had wins over the weekend.
Next week, Westmeadows, head to Tullamarine to face the Demons in what will be an interesting match.
Both teams have a chance to make the Grand Final at Windy Hill, but with Craigieburn doing so well at the moment, it’ll probably be between these two to see who else makes it.
And as for Taylors Lakes, they head out to Craigieburn in what looks to be a very one-sided game on paper.
WESTMEADOWS | 17.11-113
Goal Kickers: J. Foster 7, C. Campbell 2, B. Heathcote 2, J. Fenton, A. Turner, J. Turner, M. Church, O. Allouch, D. Willcocks
Best Players: J. Foster, M. Peters, T. Abdallah, M. Bullock, D. DeBritt, M. O''Neill
TAYLORS LAKES | 8.8-56
Goal Kickers: C. Tiller 2, B. Memedi, S. Drysdale, A. Gallina, M. Xuereb, C. Tripodi, M. Morelli, D. Reinmuth
Best Players: C. Tiller, N. Franzi, M. Morelli, D. Walachowski, A. Longo, S. Drysdale
