An eight-goal second quarter helped East Keilor to an impressive 31-point win over Coburg Districts in division 2 of the Essendon District Football League on Saturday.
After going into quarter time leading by two points, the Cougars flicked the switch when play resumed, kicking 8.5 for the term.
The dominance wasn’t limited to the attacking 50 either, with Coburg scoring just one goal in the 30 minutes.
That proved enough to seal the 16.11 (107) to 10.16 (76) win for East Keilor and earn the praise of coach David Battistella.
“We’ve been pretty solid over the past month and I felt like this was just a good game of football,” he said.
“We backed ourselves in that second quarter. We had played a lot down the line in the first quarter and made it a bit too obvious what we were doing.
“We took a few chances [in the second] and it just seemed to click.
“Momentum’s massive if you get a couple of quick goals in a row, then anything can happen and I think that’s what occurred.”
Twelve East Keilor players kicked goals, with four getting two or more. Riza Balla was the most impressive, being adjudged the Cougars’ best player.
“To have 12 individual goalkickers is fantastic,” Battistella said.
“I don’t think we’ve got anyone in the top eight goalkickers [in the division].
“For me, that’s huge. We don’t rely on any one particular person.
“It’s harder to shut a team down when there are three or four guys who can stand up at any given time.
“I’m a massive believer that if you share the workload, it’s a lot harder to stop than if you rely on two or three.”
The win keeps East Keilor within striking distance of ladder leader Roxburgh Park – it’s just one game behind Park with two rounds left before finals.
Elsewhere in division 2, Keilor Park came up short against Moonee Valley, 16.9 (105) to 15.5 (95).
Liam Twomey
