EFNL Premier Division 2024: Balwyn snares top spot with 46-point win over Rowville

The Tigers made it 4-0 in their 17.6 (108) to 8.14 (62) victory at Seebeck Oval, handing Rowville its first loss of the season.

A 28-point half-time lead was spearheaded by four first-half goals from Jack Tillig before the visitors’ multi-pronged attack continued its charge.

Finishing with five multiple goalkickers – including ex-VFL man Nathan Oakes with five – Balwyn senior coach Brenton Sanderson praised “an even contribution from 22 players” in the 46-point win.

“When you look at our best players on the day, you probably could’ve thrown another half a dozen or 10 players in there,” Sanderson said.

“We had Jack Tillig who kicked four goals all in the first half … it opened up the game for us a bit, and ‘Oaksey’, who’s a midfielder kicking goals – another five for him.

“It’s probably not the most conventional forward structure we’ve played with at Balwyn … we’re spreading it around a bit, too.”

Oakes’ best-afield showing took his goal-tally to 17 from four matches.

Sanderson said the midfielder was relishing opportunities in attack this season.

“Whenever he’s in that front half he’s getting some good match-ups and making the most of the opportunities – he’s been really accurate,” he said.

“But we still need him in the midfield as well – we almost need two of him at the moment.

“He’s such a difficult match-up.”

Tipping the Hawks off top spot on Saturday, Sanderson said his side’s stingy back six had been key to an unblemished start.

Ranked second for scores against at 219, the Tigers have restricted Norwood to 61 points, Vermont (36) and East Ringwood (60), alongside Rowville’s 62.

“I think what we’re doing at the moment is we’re defending well,” Sanderson said.

“If you look at our first four weeks, we’re keeping sides to reasonably low scores and particularly in our last two weeks against really good quality sides, we’ve been able to restrict them.”

But Sanderson admitted Saturday’s match was “closer than what the scoreboard showed”.

“They (Rowville) lost three players this week back to the VFL, so that’s one of their challenges, when you’re trying to look for balance,” he said.

“They also missed some opportunities, hit the post three times and missed some shots that they would typically get.

“While it (the margin) was 46 points, it was probably more like a two or three-goal margin on the day – we took our chances and they had a couple of narrow misses.”

Meanwhile, there’s little for the Tigers to worry about on the injury front at the moment.

“We’ve got some really good players in the twos at the minute because we don’t really have any injuries at all to the guys at the top end,” Sanderson said.

“At the moment, we’ve got our best 22 out there … it’s a great position to be in.”

Balwyn is away to Berwick in Round 5 while Rowville hosts South Croydon.

Originally published as EFNL Premier Division 2024: Balwyn snares top spot with 46-point win over Rowville