Pascoe Vale v Keilor
IS the loser of this out of finals contention?
Somehow, now a third of the way through the home-and-away season, both Pascoe Vale and Keilor find themselves in Strathmore Community Bank Premier Division’s no-man’s land with a combined five wins from 12.
But they’re in their respective predicaments for different reasons.
Pascoe Vale went down by 40 points to Aberfeldie after falling away after half time last week at Clifton Park.
The Panthers’ two wins came in the opening fortnight against two of the division’s battlers – West Coburg and Craigieburn.
They have since lost four on the trot, including home games to Essendon Doutta Stars and Greenvale.
Pascoe Vale is suffering from an inexplicable yet genuine home ground disadvantage when at Raeburn Reserve, and for that reason go in as an underdog despite Keilor’s injury woes.
The Blues were down to one on the bench for much of the last quarter as Greenvale kicked clear from them last week.
Mick James and Damien Cavka were missing to begin with, but by the end of the game Keilor had Dean Galea, Dylan Joyce, Jordie Grainger and Kieran Bell all under an injury cloud.
Galea is hoping to get up from his hamstring complaint after fighting off his striking charge at tribunal earlier this week.
A must-win for both clubs with finals aspirations.
Strathmore v Aberfeldie
It seemed unimaginable a month ago, but is this a sneaky Grand Final preview?
Some Premier Division pundits believe the ‘Griff’ is back in a big way after three successive wins.
The most-impressive of those came last week away to Essendon Doutta Stars, with big man Hamish McIntosh leading Strathmore to a 40-point win with four majors.
All the big names have lifted for Nathan Grima since the Good Friday loss to Keilor, with Adam Iacobucci, Andrew Horne, Jaryd Cachia and both Grima boys all lifting in recent weeks.
Add to that a fit and firing Michael Firrito and finally it seems the Mores have hit their groove.
Their litmus test comes here at home to undefeated Aberfeldie.
Adam Potter’s men have been flawlessly good to start Season 2017 and are right now deserving premiership favourites.
Up forward Kyle Reimers and Al Kefford are proving a dangerous goal-scoring duo, through the midfield the Blackwell boys and Josh Cubillo have lifted and their back line is as staunch as ever, led by skipper Luke Davis.
Here the pressure is on Strathmore – it’s a game Aberfeldie can afford to drop.
Greenvale v Avondale Heights
Greenvale’s form is as good, if not better than Aberfeldie’s of late.
Even without ruckman Fabian Deluca last week, Keilor was no match for Paul Chapman’s men.
The Jets’ midfield is the most potent in Strathmore Community Bank Premier Division, contributing half of the winning score against Keilor.
There’s a belief about them at the moment that the rest of the division is struggling to contain, and it’s hard to pinpoint exactly how Avondale Heights can go about nullifying them at Section Road.
Avondale Heights is really battling and, as we’ve seen in recent seasons, there simply isn’t enough help for its stars Patrick Rose, Mat Cravino and Cam Wood.
Rick Horwood did introduce some fresh blood into a side that really needed it, but it’s not delivering as of yet.
Defensively, their midfield needs to be vigilant in this one.
West Coburg v Essendon Doutta Stars
The Burgers are enjoying a two-game winning streak.
Essendon Doutta Stars hasn’t won a game since April.
It sets up an intriguing backdrop to what on paper seems like a relatively easy W for Douttas.
However, being at Coburg City Oval and having finally found its mojo, Digby Morrell’s plucky young side should be priming themselves for their best performance yet.
Ruairi Cleary continues to impress up forward while the likes of Michael Tang, Setanta MacAodha and Dane Lucas are going to cause headaches for Dean Wallis.
The Stars simply aren’t clicking at the moment and if they don’t get it right this week, they won’t win.
Losing Patrick Veszpremi, if he doesn’t get up, will again hurt and further test Douttas’ depth again.
Maribyrnong Park v Craigieburn
Granted Maribyrnong Park is sitting pretty at 5-1, but this is actually not ideal timing for Craigieburn to be running into the Lions.
Reason being is that Maribyrnong Park is looking to keep improving.
Before the Interleague break, Strathmore played itself into form and kickstarted its season at the expense of Craigieburn and the final margin blew out past 200 points.
Will Robbie Castello look to do the same thing here?
Also at play is the percentage boost on offer.
Teams looking to play finals will need to ensure they top up their percentage when opportunities present, so Marby won’t want to miss that boat here.
The key for Peter Bugden and his men will be to stop that, not only in this match-up but for the remainder of the season.
It’s at the point now where pride needs to be restored for Craigieburn.
Clearly the personnel isn’t there, so the Eagles need to dig deep and push these sorts of opposition sides as best they can.
There’s a long way to go and Craigieburn can still shape how Season 2017 plays out from here.
