Red hot favourites Hillside delivered on expectations of a
premiership and promotion by storming to a 63-point win over Moonee
Valley in the Essendon District Football League division 2 grand final
on Saturday.
The Valley hit the front midway through the third quarter at Windy
Hill but were left stunned by Hillside’s reply as the Sharks won 22.13
(145) to 13.4 (82).
PICTURE GALLERY: Hillside v Moonee Valley grand final
Hillside Sharks beat penalty blues
Hillside star’s code switch proves golden
The Sharks will play in division 1 next season while Moonee Valley reflects on successive grand final defeats.
And although Moonee Valley came in a severe underdog after a
triple-figure belting by the Sharks two weeks earlier, it was obvious
from the early exchanges it would be a hard-fought contest.
Hillside regularly threatened to escape with the game but was
pegged back from a 22-point lead in the second quarter and an 18-point
advantage in the third.
But a 100m penalty to gift Moonee Valley a three-point lead 16
minutes into the third quarter was the last salvo The Valley fired.
Hillside’s cooler heads prevailed to continue another day-long
trend; the quick reply goal in response to scores from Moonee Valley.
And the reply wasn’t just Fab DiLizia’s goal straight from the
centre clearance, it was six goals in a 14-minute burst that decided the
match.
DiLizia and his distinctive left-foot roundhouse kicking style
snapped through three goals in the surge — four for the quarter — and
added three more in the last term to finish the game with eight.
When John O’Brien popped up to break the Moonee Valley goal
drought 14 minutes into the final term, it ended a run of 10 unanswered
for the Sharks that had taken Hillside from three points down to 60
ahead.
Michael Turner won the best-on-ground medal for Hillside, while
teammates DiLizia, Paul Edwards (four goals) and Jarrod Catania (five)
were all outstanding.
O’Brien and Michael Tanner booted three goals each for The Valley while Duishan Perera and Ned Wilson were among the better on-ballers.
