Murray Silver is enjoying life with his new team-mates at Keilor Park. 67890 Picture: EMILY LANE
By Liam Twomey
WHEN a football club signs a new recruit they hope the player will have an impact – that he will provide an ingredient for success that was previously missing.
That being the case, Keilor Park Football Club receives perfect marks for recruiting Murray Silver.
Silver joined the club to play with friends for the 2011 season and will play with them all the way to the finals.
“Playing at Keilor Park has been a very enjoyable experience, they are a really good bunch of blokes,” Silver said.
The big forward sits on 93 goals for the season after 14 rounds of football. He has terrorised back lines throughout division two with a 16-goal haul against Jacana and a 14-goal haul against Mooney Valley being two stand-out performances.
Keilor Park co-president Marco Castello said Silver had been a great signing.
“He is a very smart player the way he uses his body and gets in between his opponent and the ball. He has given us a great target this year,” Castello said.
“It takes the pressure off some of our other forwards with three talls down there and it makes it hard for the opposition to match up on three great players.”
The arrival of Silver at Keilor Park, as well as a number of other new faces, has led to on-field success. They have won their last five matches to be sixth on the division two ladder and are now planning a finals campaign.
“We have had a lot of new players this year, it’s just taken a few weeks to gel and the boys are starting to do that now,” Silver said.
“Under coach Lee Coles we are really starting to get a grasp of the game plan.”
Castello has also enjoyed a purple patch of form.
“We always wanted to make finals and we have achieved that now.
“Once we get there anything can happen.”
Silver was almost able to bring another tall marking target to the club in Hawthorn premiership player, Trent Croad.
The two are good friends after playing junior football together and were keen to line up side-by-side again.
“It would have been good to play with him, last time we played together was TEAL cup back in ’96.”
The search is now on for the unlucky defender who will have to line up on Silver and watch as he reaches his 100-goal milestone.
The on-field success continued for Keilor Park on the weekend after they thrashed Hadfield by 57 points.
Keilor Park got the jump on its opponent in the first quarter and opened up a 20-point lead.
Hadfield was unable to chip away at the margin, which was extended by a solitary point heading into half time.
Keilor Park showed why it has been such a successful team in recent weeks in the second half, kicking six goals in both the third and fourth quarters to set up the comfortable win.
Luke Larsen played his best for the year for Keilor Park, kicking six goals. He was well supported by Steven Gamble who kicked five in a best-on-ground performance.
Christopher Smith and Paul Koulouriotis were excellent around the ground in the 23.12 (150) to 14.9 (93) win.
Keilor Park move to fifth position on the EDFL division two ladder and begin preparations for a blockbuster clash with sixth-placed Airport West this week.
ALSO in division two, Hillside has produced one of its best performances for the year, thrashing league stragglers Jacana by 195 points.
The highlight of the win was a 13-goal second quarter after a close start to the match. Tumay Hamza and Andrew Knezevic were outstanding for the winners, kicking five goals each.
Edward Schellander was best on ground in the 4.5 (29) to 34.20 (224) win.
The win was Hillside’s third for the year and has allowed it to hang on to 11th position on the ladder. Hillside will try and make it back-to-back wins on Saturday when it takes on eighth-placed Glenroy.
East Keilor has been dumped from top spot on the ladder after a shock loss against ninth-placed West Meadows.
The match was closely contested throughout the day as both teams spent time in front.
Westmeadows went into the final change with a six-point lead but was able to produce an outstanding six-goal final quarter to run away with a 22-point win and shock the competition.
Michael Spooner played a lone hand on the East Keilor forward line, kicking eight goals in the 17.13 (115) to 14.9 (93) loss.
East Keilor now sits in second place on the ladder, behind Tullamarine which is the new competition leader. East Keilor will look to bounce back next round when it takes on third-placed West Coburg.
In division one results, the second half of the spilt round was held on Saturday when Keilor took on Oak Park.
Oak Park had been in a purple patch of form in recent weeks, rising from fifth to third on the ladder.
Their winning ways continued on the weekend, proving too strong for Keilor and running away with a 37-point win.
The first quarter was a high-scoring affair as Keilor got the jump on its more highly fancied opponent, opening up a six-point quarter time lead.
They continued to play well in the second term but the scoring began to dry up for both teams.
Dylan Joyce and Rodney Van Riet were proving a handful for the Kangaroos around the ground while Marty Pask was looking dangerous in the Keilor forward line.
After the long break Oak Park showed why it has become such a force in the EDFL. They began to dominate the match, reeling in the home team and then breaking open the game in the final term to secure the 13.5 (83) to 17.18 (120) win.
Oak Park now occupies third place on the EDFL ladder, equal on points with Greenvale and Maribyrnong which are in fourth and fifth respectively.
For Keilor, Pask continued his good form after kicking four goals last week. He added another three and was Keilor’s most dangerous forward.
Timothy Moore and James Armstrong fought hard for Keilor, which remain in sixth place on the EDFL ladder but is three wins behind fifth-placed Maribyrnong Park.
In one round of football Maribyrnong Park dropped from first place to fifth after its loss against Strathmore last week.
Keilor enjoys back-to-back home matches on Saturday when it takes on Avondale Heights in a battle of sixth against seventh on the ladder.
