WOMENS PREVIEW

By Alyce Collett

Despite some teams already playing in a Grand Final, two of the Outer East junior girls teams are still trying to make it to the Grand Final.

In Division One of the under 18s, Seville are up against Knox.

There have been two meetings between the sides so far this season, with Seville winning on both occasions.

One thing that Seville will be trying to avoid this week is what happened last week, where Heathmont came right back at them in the second half and almost win the match.

In the under 16 Premier Division, Mt Evelyn are up against local rival Montrose.

These sides have met twice before this season, with Mt Evelyn winning on both occasions.

One thing Mt Evelyn will be looking to repeat from last week is the fact that they were able to keep their opponent scoreless for half the game.

Meanwhile in the under 16 Outer East division, it’s Grand Final time.

It’s a battle of 1^st vs 2^nd – the ultimate Grand Final battle.

Yarra Glen finished on top of the table and had the first week of finals off. They then defeated Healesville and earned direct passage into the Grand Final.

Healesville on the other hand have had to go the long way to reach the Grand Final. They defeated Upwey Tecoma in week one before losing to Yarra Glen in week two. They then beat Upwey Tecoma again to reach the Grand Final.

This will be the fifth meeting of the two sides this season. Yarra Glen won the first two matches in the home and away season, while Healesville won the third. The most recent meeting was in week two of the finals, where Yarra Glen won by just under a goal.

 

Premier Division
Mt Evelyn vs Whitehorse Suns
After narrowly defeating Blackburn last week, Mt Evelyn live to fight another day and come up against a Whitehorse side who were comfortably beaten by Chirnside Park last week.

This is the third meeting between the two sides, with the Suns winning both of the previous matches. Mt Evelyn will certainly be hoping that they can do better than they did in the last meeting back in round eight, where they only scored one point for the entire afternoon.

One thing that Mt Evelyn will need to improve on is their scoring efficiency. Although most of the time it hasn’t been appalling, if it was better, even slightly, they could have had a very different season.

Mt Evelyn coach Daniel Byrnes is not underestimating the challenge his side faces this week.

“Whitehorse are a well coached group. We have a great respect for them as opposition and as a club. They have had the wood on us both times we’ve played so we need to make amends.”

“Like last week I expect it will be a great contest with both teams in it to the end. We will go into this game knowing that both teams are capable of producing some good footy.”

Division One
Upwey Tecoma vs South Croydon
After comfortably accounting for East Ringwood, Upwey Tecoma come up against a South Croydon side who will be looking to bounce back in a big week after a less than desirable performance against The Basin.

The sides have met twice this season, with South Croydon comfortably winning the first game, and Upwey Tecoma winning the second encounter by the smallest of margins.

Upwey Tecoma coach Bernie Ryan believes that it’ll be a great spectacle.

“ (It) should be a really good game, for us to win we must play to our team strengths and be accountable and respect the opposition for who they are.”

Both games brought quite contrasting results, and one creepy coincidence is that Upwey Tecoma scored the exact same score in both games. Make of that what you will. 

Outer East
Monbulk vs Thornton – Eildon
Both sides come off different results last weekend. Monbulk almost stole a win against Healesville, while Thornton – Eildon had a superb win over Yarra Junction.

This weekend sees the fourth time these two sides have met this season. In all three previous occasions, Monbulk were victorious, at times quite comfortably too.

Monbulk will definitely feel confident coming into this weekend, and one thing Thornton – Eildon have to work on is their slow starts. 

In all three previous meetings this season, they have not scored a goal in the opening term, and the most goals they’ve scored in the opening half is two. Monbulk on the other hand have kicked no fewer than three goals in an opening half against Thornton – Eildon.