Ashburton
and Brimbank took further steps to cementing their places in the
finals with victories in Round 17 of the WPL, to open up a six-point
gap between the top five and the rest of the league. In other
matches, Keilor, Cranbourne, Box Hill and Bendigo all posted
comfortable victories.In the Round 16 catch-up game between Keilor Park and Ashburton on Saturday, Keilor took the points in a close contest. The match was goalless at half time, but the visitor scored twice, with a just solitary reply from Ashburton to ensure the three points went to Keilor.
Box Hill Inter proved too strong for Heidelberg United at Olympic Park on Friday night, defeating its host 4-1 to continue its winning run, which now stretches to ten consecutive games. The result keeps Inter second, hot on Cranbourne’s heels, but potentially has greater significance for Heidelberg. The defeat leaves United six points adrift of a finals berth, a margin that could prove too large to overcome with only five matches remaining in the season.
Bendigo Vipers climbed a place to seventh with a comprehensive 5-0 victory over Eltham on Saturday. Bendigo moves to 22 points, one behind Heidelberg, but with its finals hopes fading as well. The victory breaks Bendigo’s recent drought that had seen it go six games without a win and gives it a welcome boost. The defeat was Eltham’s second big loss in three weeks, and leaves it ninth on the ladder with sixteen points.
Cranbourne Comets produced another big win to maintain its two-point advantage at the top of the ladder, defeating Eastern Lions 7-1 to record its sixteenth win of the year. The defeat is the Lions’ fourth in succession, and twelfth of the year, and continues its poor run of form that has left it threatened by relegation. The Lions remain tenth on the ladder, two points clear of the University of Melbourne.
South Melbourne’s chances of making the finals were effectively ended with its 3-1 defeat by Brimbank. The defeat leaves South eighth with twenty points, nine behind its opponent Brimbank, which occupies the fifth finals position. The victory was Brimbank’s ninth of the season, and keeps it level pegging with fourth-placed Ashburton.
Keilor Park showed no ill effects from its Saturday match, as it backed up to record its second victory in as many days, defeating Ballarat and District 3-0 on Sunday. The victory, combined with Saturday’s, moves Keilor eleven points clear of fourth-placed Ashburton, and it seems certain to have secured third place on the ladder. Ballarat remains twelfth, still with a solitary point, ten points away from safety, with only fifteen more available.
Ashburton came away with the points against the University of Melbourne by the slenderest of margins, a single goal being enough to secure the points and ensure it remains fourth on the ladder. The University remains one win away from safety in eleventh, after its fourteenth defeat of the season.