Dylan Joyce clears the ball away for Keilor. 68896 Picture: EMILY LANE
By Liam Twomey
A GALLANT Keilor gave Greenvale a few nervous moments in their Essendon District Football League clash on Saturday before going down by 27 points.
With Greenvale pushing for a top two finish and Keilor unable to make finals, the contest may have looked like a mismatch on paper. However when the ball was bounced it proved to be anything but, as both teams produced a high level of football.
The Blues will rue a wasteful first quarter, which saw them go step for step with their more highly fancied opponents only to continually break down when kicking the ball inside their attacking 50.
They could only manage one goal in the first quarter but were able to stay in the game thanks to an excellent defensive effort, limiting the margin to 11.
The frantic pace continued in the second quarter as both teams traded goals early.
Keilor had the better passages of play. Despite being outplayed at times, Greenvale were able to find a couple of goals from seemingly nowhere to maintain a slender 10-point lead at half time.
Keilor coach, Mick McGuane, said he was impressed with his team’s play in the first half.
“I thought we were right in the game at half time,” McGuane said. “In the second quarter I thought we really dominated the game but we just couldn’t put the scoreboard pressure on that we needed. We had our chances, it was 17 inside 50s to about seven so it cost us in the end.”
There was a finals-like intensity in the third quarter with Keilor going for back-to-back upsets after the heroics against Aberfeldie last week.
The Blues fought hard all around the ground but could not bring the margin under a goal. Greenvale seemed to have an answer for everything.
A quarter of hard work could only reduce the overall margin by one point which seemed to leave Keilor flat going into the final term.
Greenvale ran away with the game, kicking four last quarter goals to secure the win. “They just had better ball control. It was a lot better than ours. We were really decimated from quarter time onwards with two blokes going down injured,” McGuane said. “That really hurt our defensive structures and also our forward line with Pask not being on the ground.
“It really showed in the second quarter when we were dominating but didn’t have that long get out of jail kick for us. Who’s to know what could have happened.”
For Keilor, Jimmy Messis was outstanding all day and was named best on ground in the 12.11 (83) to 8.8 (56) loss.
“They are a good side and not many sides score heavily against them. They are a very good side defensively and we tried to make it a ball control game. Sometimes when we had to use the right kick we didn’t and would turn it over,” McGuane said.
“They would score from that. Five or six of their first eight goals were because of that. From our point of view we need to learn to marry up the decision making with the execution.”
The loss leaves Keilor in sixth position on the EDFL ladder but the signs are positive for next season.
“We are a competitive group and we are a proud group,” McGuane said. “We were good for three quarters but we were completely overrun in the last quarter. They out possessed us, they used it well and they scored.
“They out-muscled us and out-possessed us late in the game. I thought our guys battled manfully, you couldn’t question their attitude or their effort to compete. We just didn’t have the polish that Greenvale had to finish the game.”
IN other Division One results, the Maribyrnong Park resurgence continued, smashing Taylors Lakes by 59 points.
Chris Stewart dominated for the Lions with seven goals in the 20.14 (134) to 11.9 (75) thrashing.
For Taylors Lakes, Mark Desousa was named best on ground.
Saturday was the last home and away round in B Grade football for the year and the finals mystery was finally solved.
The unlucky one is Keilor Park which has missed out on a berth in the top six following its 11.7 (73) to 19. 8 (122) defeat at the hands of West Coburg.
The result leaves Keilor Park in seventh place, one game outside the top six. If they had won one more game over the season they would have finished in fifth.
The news was better for East Keilor who turned around a recent slump in form to secure fourth spot on the ladder after smashing Roxburgh Park 24.30 (174) to 9.4 (58).
Hillside was unable to finish its season on a high note, going down to Hadfield by 26 points, 18.6 (114) to 13.10 (88).
