Vermont maintained second place on the First Division ladder with a methodical 67 point drubbing of Lilydale.
In bleak conditions with constant rain and an arctic chill in the air, the Eagles put on a solid four quarter display never once allowing the opposition to ever settle.
Given the capitulation a fortnight earlier the team has bounced back in superb style and with still a number of quality players still on the outer due to injury the current prediction by pundits that Balwyn in September may be a simple walk in the park may yet still have another twist.
Tom Schneider and Ryan Mullett were simply outstanding in conditions better suited to ducks on the rain swept Lilydale Sports Oval.
Schneider relished the tough conditions on offer and Lilydale coach Simon Rourke was constantly left bamboozled just how to counteract his dominance.
Topping off his performance with three goals, the diminutive midfielder was given plenty of outside assistance by silky skilled skipper Ryan Mullett.
Mullett showed that he is just as sublime wether it’s a wet or dry track gathering plenty of possessions and kicking two classy goals to top off his performance.
While he is a big bodied player, Ben Crowe arguably put in his most polished performance since arriving at the club during the off season.
His attack at the ball and constant pressure in the forward fifty really upset the Lilydale defence and his skills by both foot and hand were exceptional in the conditions.
Another big body making his presence felt was returning ruckman Robbie Ross.
Having had a long stint on the sidelines the multiple Premiership ruckman really made the Eagles look a lot more physical in the contests.
With no wind at all to speak of the Eagles opened up the first quarter in a strong fashion kicking four goals to nil to open up a more than handy 27 point lead.
Goals to Daniel Mendes, Andrew Ellis, Justin van Unen and Mullett with the skipper’s goal the pick of the bunch on 24 minutes when he swooped upon a Lilydale kick in to drill home the ball from forty metres.
The hosts after copping a serve at the quarter time break having been questioned by Rourke about their will to want to win the “hard” ball came out with more purpose and reduced the deficit to fourteen point’s midway through the quarter with goals to Ben Weightman and Dean Carswell.
The Eagles though bounced back to push the lead back out to 26 points at the main break with goals to Ryan Wilson and van Unen.
Weightman kicked his second of the afternoon to mathematically keep the Falcons alive five minutes into the third quarter only for the goal to be cancelled out quickly with a fine running effort from Mullett.
When Schneider ran into goal soon after the mathematics was all but gone as the lead blew out to 36 points.
Weightman again kicked a goal for the hosts to sneak the margin to under five goals.
But frustration was creeping into the Lilydale game and never more so when they gifted Ross any easy conversion from close range after he was man handled at a stoppage.
With rain now sweeping down at the start of the final quarter, the Eagles seemed to really excel in the conditions with four goals in the opening ten minutes blowing the margin out to 59 points.
Nathan Henley converting two free kicks with Wilson firing home a wonderful snap while Schneider converted with aplomb after marking strongly.
Schneider once again made now mistake just shy of time on slotting home a free kick as the Eagles kicked 5.3 to Lilydale’s sole behind for the quarter.
Final Score:
Vermont 4-5-(29) 6-7-(43) 9-12-(66) 14-15-(99)
Lilydale 0-2-(2) 2-5-(17) 4-7-(31) 4-8-(32)
Vermont Goals: T.Schneider 3, J.van Unen, N.Henley, R.Mullett, R.Wilson 2, R.Ross, D.Mendes, A.Ellis 1.
Vermont Best: (Watson’s choice) T.Schneider, R.Mullett, D.Millhouse, B.Crowe, R.Ross, N.Henley.
Next Saturday Vermont has a week’s rest due to the round 14 split round. On Saturday August the 3rd the Eagles return to action with the round 15 away clash at Scoresby.
Last Modified on 22/07/2013 15:56
