Whittlesea secured a hard-fought win over top of the ladder Macleod in Northern Football League division 2 on Saturday.
With both sides in the top three, there wasn’t much between them all day.
Whittlesea led narrowly at each of the three breaks and were able to come away with an 11 point win, 13.11 (89)-12.6 (78).
Eagles coach Garry Ramsay said the game was a high standard of football and was pleased with his team’s improvements.
“I’m more pleased with where our footy’s improved, from the start of the season to where we are now,” he said. “Our actual standard of footy has improved a real lot.”
The weekends result was evidence of that improvement as when they last faced Macleod back in Round 7 it was a 29-point loss, making the win a 40-point turnaround from earlier in the season.
Ramsay heralded the performance of ruck Khaled El-Leissy as well as Mitch Andrews, Taidhg Bland, Lachlan Shinn-Mahony, and Paul Higgins who snagged three goals.
Ramsay said the key to their final quarter win was not making mistakes that we had in the past.
“When the game was close, we stuck to a plan and didn’t make mistakes. Rather than play brilliant football we were cool under pressure,” he said.
The result of the match, leaves a three-way tie for first on the ladder with Whittlesea, Macleod and Diamond Creek all on 44 points.
Diamond Creek has claimed the top spot based on percentage, with Macleod in second and the Eagles in third.
Whittlesea will take on Diamond Creek this Saturday, in another tough, top of the table clash.
Ramsay described the challenge as an exciting one to test how much they have improved, and whether they can continue that improvement against another top side.
Diamond Creek have beaten Whittlesea on its last three encounters, including one earlier in the season.
Elsewhere in division 2, Thomastown was defeated by 21 points against St Mary’s, while Old Paradians suffered a 68 point loss to Diamond Creek.
