EFNL 2025: Finals berth ‘in our hands’, Heathmont coach declares following ladder-leader upset

Heathmont’s 27-point upset of ladder-leader Templestowe on Saturday has ignited a hot Eastern Division 2 finals race – with the Jets drawing within striking distance of the top five.

The 14.6 (90) to 9.9 (63) result tightened the screws on fifth spot – currently occupied by Mulgrave with a 5-5 record – as Heathmont, Ringwood and the Waverley Blues share a 4-6 return.

Sitting in sixth, Heathmont senior coach Scott Hamill said the weekend’s boilover was “reward for hard work”, with his charges recovering from a 1-5 start.

They’ve since won three of their past four – including the scalp of Mulgrave.

“Even though we got beaten with the last kick of the day against the Waverley Blues (a fortnight ago), we’ve had a really good month of footy, and our last four weeks has been really good,” Hamill said.

“We’re starting to get some continuity in the way we’re playing our football.

“The belief has probably always been there … each player has a real trust in one-another.”

Missing key trio Daniel Cooper, Josh Warren and Michael Fogarty, Templestowe trailed at all changes on Saturday as Hamill lauded his side’s four-quarter effort.

“We knew they had a couple out, but I thought it was a really good four-quarter performance – we hadn’t put four quarters together this year,” he said.

“We always knew it was going to be a tight competition and I think if you don’t play your best footy, you’re not going to win.”

The coach heaped praise on Josh Buceto for his best afield grunt work in the midfield.

“The last couple of weeks we haven’t had (James) Appleby, so we needed that inside mid to go in,” Hamill said.

“Buceto’s filled that void really well – he’s got some great qualities on and off-field, he was super for us, and he has been all year.”

Croydon (fourth), Ringwood (eighth) and East Burwood (ninth) await in the next three weeks.

“If we can manage to beat Croydon, we’ve beaten three sides in the top five so I think it shows our best is good enough, we’ve got to keep putting it together,” Hamill said.

“Our focus isn’t the rest of the competition, our focus is purely on ourselves and what we can do.

“For us to play finals football, it’s in our own hands.”

Originally published as EFNL 2025: Finals berth ‘in our hands’, Heathmont coach declares following ladder-leader upset