Tara Murray
Rupertswood went one step further to sealing its finals spot in the Essendon District Football League division 1 on Saturday.
Facing Roxburgh Park, another one of those sides fighting for a finals spot, the Sharks overcame a poor third quarter to get the job down at Lakeside Reserve.
After leading by just seven points at half time, the Sharks ran away with the match, winning 21.13 (139)-9.14 (68).
Sharks coach Arron Bray said they knew it was one of those eight point games that they needed to come away with the points.
“We are now two games clear and about 30 per cent on Roxy, [which is sixth]” he said. “It gives us a little bit of breathing space.
“We’d like to get that second chance. We won by 71 points, but we lost third spot on percentage to St Albans.”
Bray said they were happy with three quarters of the match. He said they needed to step up in the second half, which they did.
“We had a really good first quarter and then in the second quarter we went away from what was working for us, our work rate was not up to scratch.
“We gave them a bit of a sniff. We regrouped after time and were really good and we ran away with it.”
Bray said both sides were missing key players. He said they had two under-18s and two players who had been playing reserves in the side, come in and hold their spots really well.
One big positive out of the result for the Sharks was the form of Dean Galea.
Galea kicked seven goals for a second successive week. He now has 33 goals for the season.
“It takes a while to find that front half connection with what he is used to,” Bray said.
“He has had to adjust and we’ve had to adjust and we’re on the right track.”
Galea was among the best with Zac Saad, Jorden Braddy, Cam McRorie and Jacob Chahine.
The Sharks tests continue this week as they face fifth placed Hillside at Hillside.
Hillside returned to the winners list with victory against Craigieburn on Saturday.
Bray knows this is another important game in the context of their season.
“It should be a good game, hopefully we can get the chocolates,” he said.
“We win that one we’re nearly guaranteed to play finals and it gives us more breathing space with five rounds to go.”
The Sharks should be boosted with the return of several key players for the match.
Brent Swallow, Daniel Kavanagh, Jordie Tentonello, Logan Johnson, Brock Landt and Jakeb Coles are all set to be back this week, with more set to return in the following couple of weeks.
In division 2, the Sunbury Kangaroos upset Northern Saints to keep their finals hopes alive.
After trailing by five points at half time, the Kangaroos kicked eight goals to four to win, 13.14 (92)-10.12 (72).
The Kangaroos sit in fifth spot, a game and percentage behind Coburg Districts.
East Sunbury remains without a win, losing to Hadfield, 13.7 (85)-9.9 (63)
