AVONDALE HEIGHTS v ABERFELDIE
Thursday 2:10pm at Canning Reserve
THOSE who were inclined to write off Avondale Heights as a relegation-threatened cellar dweller were reminded of the quality it can produce back in Round 2.
The Heights put together a solid performance to beat Glenroy at Canning Reserve and was well-led by the likes of Brad Robb (three goals), Scott Harding (two), Ruairi Cleary (two) and Jack Watkins in the 14-point win.
It came with skipper Mathew Cravino missing in action, which would have been particularly pleasing for Donald McDonald in his quest to unearth the Heights’ next wave of homegrown talent.
Hisham Kerbatieh was again solid in his second outing in blue and white, while many EDFL pundits tend to overlook the class that Ciaran Sheehan brings to the table every single week as well.
There are some good players still running around at Canning Street despite the exodus the club has had to deal with in recent years and Round 2 showed us that, particularly in attack, Avondale Heights is going to cause headaches for most opposition sides.
But against the EDFL’s best back six, the Heights are in for a tough day here.
You can’t fault Aberfeldie’s 2-0 start to 2019.
The premieres haven’t exactly set the world on fire in their wins over Strathmore and Airport West, but they haven’t needed to.
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly how Avondale Heights can score the upset win here, but you should keep in mind that in this fixture last year, they managed to scratch out a draw against the league’s benchmark club.
GLENROY v STRATHMORE
Thursday 2:35pm at Sewell Reserve
It has been a concerning start to 2019 for Glenroy.
After failing to fire a shot against Keilor in Round 1, the favoured Roys couldn’t get the job done against Avondale Heights the following week.
They were without skipper Travis Dulic and Josh Ksiazek, who was best-on in the Reserves, but that doesn’t change the fact that Glenroy has been fairly underwhelming so far this season.
ANZAC Day presents the freshened-up Roys with a huge opportunity to get their season back on track, with Strathmore coming to Sewell Reserve off a six-day break.
The Mores are also coming into this at 0-2, but have been more than competitive in both of those losses against last year’s grand finalists.
On Good Friday, Strathmore went down to Keilor by 17 points after struggling to keep up with the Blues in the final term, conceding six goals to four.
Shane Foulds did the bulk of the work up forward with six majors and Kyle Weightman booted two, exposing the Mores’ lack of a power go-to forward in attack.
That’s where Glenroy could find an edge, with both Aaron Kite and Adam Winter capable of kicking bags.
This will be decided by which forward line functions better come Thursday.
EDFL Match of the Day is back on ANZAC Day, live from JP Fawkner Reserve.
— EDFL (@EDFLfooty) April 21, 2019
🆚 Oak Park v @westy_tigers_fc
⌚️ LIVE from 2pm
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OAK PARK v WESTMEADOWS
Broadcast Game
Thursday 2:15pm at JP Fawkner Reserve
Oak Park has had to wait two and a half weeks to make amends for its Round 1 loss to Hillside.
After a promising start, the Kangaroos fell away badly after quarter time and went on to concede 19 goals to five to go down by 70 points.
On a positive note, new arrivals Adam Meiorin (four goals) and James Barnes (one) acquitted themselves well while returning goal sneak Jack Kennedy was among the Kangaroos’ best with one goal to his name.
But the Roos could only muster a total of nine majors against Hillside and a similar output here won’t cut it against a Westmeadows side that has played some very good footy to start 2019.
The Tigers won a Coburg City Oval shoot-out with West Coburg in Round 2 and arguably should have emerged with the four points in Round 1 at home to Tullamarine as well, after taking a 29-point lead into the halftime break.
The class of new captain Robbie Castello has been on show and will prove invaluable as the season goes along, while both Ben Drummond and Omar Saad have been solid in front of goal with five goals to their names so far this year.
The better talent here will be in yellow and black but with a big crowd expected at JP Fawkner Reserve and an even bigger audience watching the game live via facebook.com/essendondfl, it’ll be a matter of pride for Oak Park to not only show up, but collect the four points.
