It was a case of deja vu for Whittlesea and Lalor in their Northern Football League division 2 clash on Saturday.
As in the sides’ two previous meetings this season, the Eagles came away with the points.
But it wasn’t without a fight as the Bloods led at all three changes before Whittlesea’s extra composure clinched the 18.9 (117) – 16.12 (108) victory.
Eagles coach Brad Dean said he always felt his side could win even though it trailed for much of the match.
“This has been the pattern between the two sides,” he said. “They started better, but we were in front at the end.
“We spoke at half-time about how our third quarters had been fantastic in the past six weeks. They [Bloods] missed a few opportunities in the last quarter and we were more composed in the last five minutes.”
The most pleasing thing for Dean was that his younger players proved to be the difference.
“The more experienced players play at the same level week in and week out,” he said. “The younger guys are more up and down, but they got us back into the game.”
He singled out the defensive jobs of Paul Higgins and Jaron Murphy.
“We moved Paul onto Tom Hughes, who’s one of the best forwards in the competition,” Dean said.
“He had kicked four goals at that point. Paul set up five or six attacking opportunities and from then on kept Hughes goalless. We gave Jaron the job on Scott Dowell to keep him quiet. I didn’t give him much choice and he said he’d give it a crack. But he still got a lot of the ball and had his attacking flair.”
Dean said he would love to have Murphy for the finals, but playing for Calder Cannons would come first.
The win moved the Eagles to the top, ahead of the Bloods on percentage, and a win this weekend will clinch a finals spot.
“We set ourselves for a hard period against Hurstbridge, Lalor and Fitzroy Stars,” Dean said. “We wanted to win at least two of the three, and we’ve won the first two.”
Elsewhere, Thomastown did its final hopes no harm with a win over third-placed Hurstbridge. The Bears won a thriller 9.11 (65) – 8.12 (60) and swapped positions with Hurstbridge as a result.
The Bears are two points behind both Whittlesea and Lalor.
In division 1, Bundoora is back in the top five after its win over Northcote Park, while South Morang was among the winners in division 3.
