The much-hyped rematch of last season’s Essendon District Football League grand final proved to be a fizzer on Saturday as Aberfeldie smashed reigning premiers Greenvale by 55 points.
In what was the game of the round, Aberfeldie was out of the blocks brilliantly at Greenvale Reserve and controlled the game from start to finish to win 16.18 (114) to 9.5 (59).
The Two Blues made their intentions clear in the opening term, with nine shots on goal to two.
But inaccuracy meant the visitors went into quarter-time leading by only 22 points. More poor goalkicking prevented Aberfeldie from killing off the game in the second quarter.
The Jets had posted only 2.2 by half-time, shut down by Aberfeldie as the Two Blues streamed 40 points ahead.
Greenvale finally came to life in the third quarter with six goals to eat into Aberfeldie’s lead, but it wasn’t enough – the dominant visitors kicked five of their own, led by Darcy Daniher (five for the match) and Lance Oswald (four).
Aberfeldie also controlled the final term, slamming home four more goals and holding Greenvale to just one.
Jaryd Thompson kicked three of Greenvale’s nine goals, while Stephen Brewer and Chris Burns were the leading lights.
Disappointed Greenvale president Bruce Kent gave credit to Aberfeldie.
“They played very, very well, I’ve got to say,” he said. “They were a lot stronger today.
“It’s hard to say how much different it was to the grand final because we had 11 players out of our side and they may have been missing some as well.
“But they were very good. They were well up at half-time and we pegged them back to about four goals in the third quarter but they came home a bit stronger than us. They’ve recruited well and it showed today.”
Kent predicted it could be a few weeks before the Jets fielded a full-strength team.
“We’ve had a few retire and then there are players out injured or overseas,” he said.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to field our best 22 in the next few weeks.”
It doesn’t get any easier for Greenvale, with a trip to Avondale Heights this Saturday.
The Jets’ defence will need to be much tighter given the dangerous Avondale Heights duo of Dean Galea and Patrick Rose, both former VFL goalkicking stars.
