By DANIEL MOSCA - Division 2 Seniors
WITH the Finals around the corner, the Yarraville Seddon Eagles cemented a top-two spot on the ladder with their 86-point win over the Manor Lakes Storm on Saturday.
It was an impressive bounce back game from the Eagles, who were upset by Glen Orden a week earlier and risked dropping to third place by season's end with Caroline Springs hot on their tail.
Instead, the Eagles guaranteed themselves a home final, setting the tone early against the Storm and outscoring the visitors in every quarter.
Yarraville Seddon started off strong and never looked back, dominating Manor Lakes out of the middle and finishing the game with nine different goal scorers.
They received strong contributions from Kevin Upton and Chris Topalidis, who led the team with six and four majors, respectively.
Manor Lakes, meanwhile, were dealt a humbling blow by the Eagles after coming into the match with two straight wins for the first time this season, including an impressive 93-point blowout over West Footscray last week.
Unfortunately for them, they failed to regain last week's momentum, suffering their 13th loss of the season and falling to 3-13 overall.
The game played out much like the last one these two clubs played in Round 11, where the Eagles dominated possession and ran away 69-point victors over the storm.
And just like the round 11 clash, the Eagles got the jump on the Storm early, booting four of the first five goals to take a 19-point lead into the first break.
The home side picked up right where they left off in the first quarter, rattling off another six goals in the second quarter to extended their lead to 36-points going into the main break, capped off by a sensational goal late in the half by Upton.
Manor Lakes came out of the half-time break looking to make amends for their first half play. They earned themselves a number of hard ball gets and after goaling through forward, Jackson Lesko, they cut the lead to 30-points and looked primed to make it a contest.
However, their brief surge would prove to be short lived as Yarraville Seddon took little time reasserting their dominance over the visitors, once again outclassing them in the centre and suffocating Manor Lakes with their forward pressure.
They kicked 13 goals to six in the second half en route to another dominant performance over the Storm, beating them for the third straight time.
The two teams met three times this season, with Yarraville Seddon winning all three games by an average of 86-points.
In other results, North Footscray steamrolled Albanvale by 141-points on the back of 11 goals from forward, Tyren Montebruno.
Elsewhere, Caroline Springs bounced back from their loss last week to rout Glen Orden by 121-points.
Last Modified on 09/08/2016 12:02