David Braithwaite
IT will be a case of “home, sweet home” for Sale as the Magpies host Traralgon on Saturday.
The sides sit fourth and fifth respectively on the Gippsland League football ladder.
After winning their opening three matches, the Magpies have lost their past two on the road by 29 and 46 points.
The Magpies struggled against Moe last weekend. After the Lions kicked 4.3 in the first quarter, the visitors failed to trouble the scorers.
With Moe doing the bulk of the scoring it was no surprise to see defenders Will Leslie, Jamie Sweeney and Luke Di Ciero named among Sale’s best players.
They will come against a potent Traralgon forward line, led by coach Jake Best, who has booted 11 goals the previous two weeks.
Onballer Matt Northe and wingman Nick Lowden have also been in good form for the Maroons.
Following a loss at home to Maffra, the Maroons appeared to have turned their form around, with victories over Bairnsdale and Warragul, albeit sides currently in the bottom three.
With both sides on three wins, the victor on Saturday will consolidate their place in the top five.
MAFFRA again faces the prospect of having to turn its form around, when the Eagles host Morwell.
When the fixture came out, Maffra drew the horror start to the season, with matches against recent finalists Sale, Moe and Leongatha, along with Traralgon and Wonthaggi, who had recruited strongly.
The Eagles have not gone through the opening five weeks unscathed, recording just the one win.
The Eagles are the sole senior side yet to score 200 total points for the season, with only Bairnsdale having a worse percentage.
Maffra’s woes continued in Leongatha, where they kicked the opening goal of the grand final rematch, only to see the Parrots kick the remaining 11 goals to win by 66 points.
The Eagles were, however, missing key forwards Daniel Bedggood and John Butcher.
With the Eagles in seventh place, two wins outside the top five, if ever there was a match labelled “must win”, Saturday’s against Morwell is it.
A look at the ladder, showing Morwell in ninth place, would suggest the Eagles are heavily favoured, however the Tigers have played better than their 0-5 start would suggest. Three of the Tigers’ losses have been by 10 points or less.
SATURDAY’S round could see some mis-matches.
Among them could be in Warragul, where the win-less Gulls will take on the undefeated Wonthaggi.
The Power has scored twice the points it’s conceded, while the Gulls have a percentage of 56.
Enjoying a three-game winning run, Leongatha will head to Bairnsdale. The Redlegs have lost their previous four matches.
The match will see the team with the highest percentage (Leongatha) take on the team with the lowest (Bairnsdale).
Drouin will look to test Moe at Ted Summerton Reserve.
The Hawks sit in sixth place, having found form with back-to-back wins.
The undefeated Lions have been almost unstoppable in recent weeks.
COMING off its first loss of the East Gippsland football season, Stratford will host Wy Yung on Saturday.
The Tigers will be buoyed followed their first win of the season, but the ladder-leading Swans will present a far greater challenge than Paynesville did.
The Swans lost in Lindenow by 11 points at the weekend, but the fact they only had one less scoring shot shows they were right in a contest where free-flowing football was at a minimum.
The Swans had their chances early, particularly in the second term, when they failed to kick a goal despite registering seven behinds. Sides like Lindenow can punish those kinds of mistakes.
Stratford will welcome the return home, where it hasn’t lost in three starts this season.
After a tight first quarter, Wy Yung shook off Paynesville, adding 11 goals to three after the break to win by 58 points. A win like that will boost the confidence, as sixth-placed Tigers look reduce the eight-point gap between them and the top four.
With the top four sides now level on points, the Swans could fall as low as fourth if they lose on Saturday.
ONE of those top four teams, Boisdale-Briagolong, will venture to the league’s far east to play Orbost-Snowy Rovers.
The Bombers have strung together three consecutive wins to sit in second place on the ladder. They had the edge over a previously undefeated Lakes Entrance side at the weekend, winning by 23 points.
Saturday presents the Bombers with a good chance to build some momentum.
The Blues have shown improvement from their win-less 2019, having already won two matches against teams currently in the bottom four. However, their defeats to Lakes Entrance and Stratford were by 55 and 85 points respectively, suggesting there is some work to do against the top teams.
A positive going into Saturday’s match for Orbost-Snowy Rovers will be the fact both their wins have been at Lochiel Park, with the Blues perhaps looking to catch the Bombers on the hop following their long journey.
THIRD-PLACED Lindenow will head to Lucknow.
Following victory over Stratford, the Cats will be favoured to defeat a Magpies side which has lost its previous three matches and has the worst percentage in the seniors, even lower than win-less Paynesville.
THE Gulls, meanwhile, will host Lakes Entrance, which will be rebounding from its first loss of the season.
The Gulls will need to stick with the Seagulls for four quarters, as previous opponents have only needed one off term to take control of the match.
