KEILOR v GREENVALE
Saturday 2:15pm at Joe Brown Oval
KEILOR has set the benchmark for Strathmore Community Bank Premier Division.
The Blues were outstanding after quarter time against Aberfeldie last week and after coming away with a 36-point win without the services of Damien Cavka, Nick O’Kearney and Todd Stevenson, among others, they sent an ominous warning to the rest of the division.
Their success so far this season has come on the back of some outstanding individual form from Kane Barbuto, Dean Galea and David Isbister, all of whom were brilliant against Aberfeldie.
Throw in David Gourdis as a secondary tall marking option inside 50 and it’s easy to see why Keilor is on top of the ladder and well clear of the rest of the division in points scored.
So, the challenge facing Paul Chapman’s men is to figure out how to quell the in-form Blues.
They’ll be relying on Tom Cleary and Nat Caruso, who can play anywhere, to continue their good seasons and the Jets’ midfield needs to win plenty of ball throughout the day.
Fabian Deluca will need to win his ruck battle with Darren Walters and Jacob Thompson and Courtenay Dempsey both need to capitalise when the ball comes inside 50.
All in all, the stars need to align for the Jets to win, but they have every chance of handing Keilor its first defeat for the year.
ESSENDON DOUTTA STARS v GLENROY
🎥 Broadcast Game 📻
Saturday 2:15pm at Nipper Jordan Oval
ESSENDON Doutta Stars is under-performing at the minute.
For a club that wants to start pushing for finals, last week’s clash against Avondale Heights was a must-win and the Stars fell 20 points short in a low-scoring affair.
It is becoming clear exactly how much they are missing Alex Boyse as their key focal point up forward and since he’s been out of the line-up, the Stars have produced their two lowest scores for the year.
In the middle things are going well, with rucks Jordan Angus and Jake Toa playing well and Jordan Schroder and Bruno Laguda producing quality footy.
But once the ball goes inside 50, the Stars are lacking cohesiveness.
If coach Kyle Hardingham can’t get that right this weekend, then Glenroy will win.
Defence was Glenroy’s major shortcoming early in the year, but they’ve managed to clean up their act down back in recent weeks, conceding an average of just 8.7 goals per game in their last three outings.
If Ross Terranova can now get his forward line to follow suit, the Roys will soon start winning a lot more games.
In the absence of Aaron Kite and Jayden Walker, Lachie Ronaldson has battled hard to get on the goal sheet, but Adam Winter has been a little below his usual standard.
If the midfield battle breaks even then one of these two forward lines needs to get the job done on the scoreboard, so perhaps the game will be won in the middle.
ABERFELDIE v MARIBYRNONG PARK
Saturday 2:15pm at Clifton Park
Aberfeldie was more than entitled to have a small letdown after an outstanding start to the season.
Given it is chasing a three-peat of flags, it is very hard to maintain excellence at all times.
If you have the time to watch the EDFL Match of the Day replay of last week’s game on the EDFL’s Facebook page, then pay particular attention to Aberfeldie’s first quarter.
The premiers produced a clinic of high-quality, team-orientated forward craft, with Jayden Foster and Kyle Reimers causing havoc on Keilor’s back six.
Often forgotten about are James Peters and Zach Hislop, who both also played well, while Josh Pound was down on his usual output.
The game was lost further up the ground, but there’s plenty of time for Adam Potter to get his game plan down pat ahead of the business end of the season.
All of that said, expect a big response from Aberfeldie this week against Maribyrnong Park.
The Lions will be keen to continue their improvement against the reigning premiers after pushing Strathmore all the way last week.
Brandon Ryan played his best game of the year with five goals and provides Dean Laidley with another option up forward alongside the three ‘J’s in James Breust, Jock Cornell and Jordan Davey.
The young Lions need to be willing to scrap for their fair share of the ball and make use of the versatile forward line at their disposal, otherwise the refined and experienced Aberfeldie will find a way to carve them up.
It’s potentially a danger game for Abers, but they should bounce back.
STRATHMORE v AIRPORT WEST
Saturday 2:15pm at Lebanon Reserve
It’s officially panic stations at Hansen Reserve.
A poor performance against Keilor in Round 5 was followed up by an even worse showing last week at Greenvale, where the Eagles went down by 106 points.
Yet again, they started well, but couldn’t keep up the longer the game went.
It’s hard to pinpoint why the Eagles have fallen off so badly after a large majority of their current group played so well down in Division 1 in the previous two seasons.
They’ve only played 27 players this year, so the side is relatively settled, but among those that were missing against the Jets were ruckman Anthony Daw, key position type Clayton Rogers and defender, Matthew Duggan.
While they are three key outs, it still doesn’t justify an 18-goal loss.
The only thing keeping Airport West interested right now is the fact there is a lot of season still ahead, so the Eagles have time to get things back on track and avoid relegation.
But it has to start here against Strathmore.
The Mores are winning the games they need to to stay in touch with the top four, but they are gettable for teams like Airport West as well.
It is a young side that can be prone to go missing in games, but when they’re on, they’re really on.
Airport West coach Geoff Maddern simply can’t allow Strathmore to get the ball into the hands of Luke Jarrad and Nick O’Brien, both of whom can be lethal with the pill.
Hard, contested footy will be the go from start to finish if the Eagles are any chance of stealing a win from the Mores.
PASCOE VALE v AVONDALE HEIGHTS
Saturday 2:15pm at Raeburn Reserve
Was Pascoe Vale’s unexpected draw to Glenroy a small blip on the radar or a sign it is not yet a true contender in this premiership race?
The Panthers had close to their best 22 on the park, given both Patrick Veszpremi and Nick Mellington are VFL-listed and can’t be relied upon to be available in any given week.
Matthew Watson did his job up forward with five goals and Luke Foster was the best player on the ground, so you can easily make the argument that poor conversion in front of goal was the difference in the end.
The key now for Digby Morrell’s men is to put last week behind them and bounce back in style against Avondale Heights.
Good sides have a habit of making you forget about the games they should have won and didn’t, so if the Panthers do a number on the Heights here, no one will care about what happened at Glenroy.
But the Heights will be a tough out, and they’ve proven to be much better than many of us predicted before the season.
Last week’s win over Essendon Doutta Stars was impressive, with Hisham Kerbatieh and Jackson Robb both starring.
If they can get enough output from the likes of Ciaran Sheehan, Ruairi Cleary and Josh Fedele, as well Kerbatieh and Robb, then they’ll push Pascoe Vale all the way on Saturday.
But all things being equal, the Panthers should get up here.
