By Callum 'Articles' Ludwig
There was a fair contrast in the results as Lilydale took on Bayswater at home in round 14.
The day kicked off with a whopping 110-point win for the Lilydale U19.5s against a struggling Bayswater side, with the final score reading 17.12, 114 to 0.4, 4.
Despite the final scoreline, Bayswater was in the fight early as they held Lilydale to only three goals in the first term, courtesy of a goal each to the returning pair of Cobey ‘Set Shots’ and employee and devout promoter of Genesis Health and Fitness Ringwood Lachlan Baxter as well as a goal off the boot of everyone’s favourite reporter, Callum ‘Articles’ Ludwig in the last two seconds of the quarter making amends for an embarrassing miskick earlier.
With such a scoreline, there were a wealth of goalkickers on the day for the Dales with 4 for Baxter (despite the best efforts of Club President Anthony Simmons to accredit them to Football Manager Steve Potts’ son Jordan), 3 for Baxter’s usual partner-in-crime Bailey ‘Bounces’ Bateman, a pair of snags for Articles, Set Shots, Bailey ‘Tall Skinny Guy’ Grant and the young fella with the name of a potential new Game of Thrones character Phoenix Edyvane and one apiece for Zac ‘Chicken Schnitty’ Carolan and the usually wayward in front of goal Lachlan ‘Dangerous Dust’ Isbester.
Lilydale’s best on the day was led by the rebounding prowess of the surprisingly unharmed Astin Bucci, who took on the role of the injured Luke ‘Wristies’ Phillips, and he was joined by Chicken Schnitty, Lachlan Baxter (unfortunately not Jordan Potts!), Set Shots, Cooper ‘Backpacks’ Beckwith (despite claims he needed to ‘get a touch’ at halftime from older brother Macauley) and Bounces.
The U19.5s further cemented their position in fifth on the ladder.
The Reserves were next to take to the park in the blustery conditions and faced a tough result going down 1.6, 12 to 8.10, 58.
Lilydale’s sole goal for the day came from livewire forward and reluctant emergency ruckman Sean ‘Ranga’ Hajdu, who must’ve been relieved by the presence of Matthew ‘Sweet Chilli Philly’ Phillips in the ruck. The goal marks a strong run of form for Ranga with 3 goals in the last two weeks despite low-scoring games. He has also equalled his best season tally of 6 goals from at least the past seven years, with four games in the seasons still to come. Long may the Ranga run go on!
Lilydale’s best players consisted of Will ‘Fishy’ Pleming, skipper Trent ‘Chunk’ Davison, Mathew ‘Dip’ Di Pietrantonio, Mitchell ‘Peanut’ Blake, Sweet Chilly Philly and U17 player, boundary umpire, runner, waterboy and overall club hero Kyan Ellis who stepped up to help out the side.
Interestingly, a Luke Phillips appeared in the best for Bayswater, so as one Luke Phillips has gone down with an injury, another has stepped up, unfortunately just for the wrong side.
The Reserves sit eighth on the ladder.
In Beau ‘Beauner’ Michener’s 100th game and an overall important game for Lilydale’s seniors unfortunately they were unable to come away with a win, going down by four goals with the final score reading 10.6, 66 to 13.12, 90.
Debutant and craft small forward Harry ‘TikToks’ Mitchell made a mark in his first game, carrying his consistent goal contributions into the 1’s with a couple in the first quarter as Lilydale got off to a fast start kicking six goals straight in the first to Bayswater’s 1.3.
Bayswater pegged it back in the second and kept Lilydale goalless as the halftime margin sat at only five points Lilydale’s way, and the third quarter continued in a similar vein with the same margin in favour of the Falcons before Bayswater ran over the top in the last, keeping Lilydale scoreless.
Goalkickers were Beauner with 3, TikToks with 2, and one each for the Thumb Thumb Isaac ‘Bazinga’ Biasuzzo, Ryan ‘Dobby’ McNay, Jordan ‘Jaws’ Jaworski, Liam ‘Jeffa’ Jeffs and a sneaky snag for full-back Nick ‘Noodles’ Del Biondo.
Beauner received best-on-ground honours in his milestone game, followed by Marc Massarotti, Jeffa, Dobby, TikToks and Douglas ‘Marleys’ Wooton.
The Seniors remain ninth on the ladder.
A big thank you to the returning players from the 1991, 1996 and 2011 premiership sides who attended the long-awaited Premiership Reunions recognising their triumphs and to ‘The Suburban Footballer’ Tom Siegert who entertained everyone at the event.
Next week Lilydale takes on East Ringwood away.
