Noble Park made it back-to-back wins on Saturday with a big second quarter lifting it to a 12.11(83) to 7.13(55) victory over South Croydon.
The Bulls scored the only five goals of the second quarter to pull away from the visitors at Pat Wright Oval in an otherwise tightly-fought contest.
The victory over eighth-placed South Croydon follows a win over fifth-placed Doncaster East, which has the Bulls sitting just percentage outside the top five despite an inconsistent first two months of the season.
“We’ve played some good footy- there has been effort and endeavour in nine out of nine games,” Bulls’ coach Steve Hughes enthused.
“Probably some structure stuff is really starting to take shape so we’re getting dividends in win-loss in the last few weeks which was really pleasing.
“It was a great defensive effort against Doncaster East and then our second quarter on Saturday broke the game open with some better ball patterns and movement and we put enough of a gap on the scoreboard to get the win.”
Coming up against teams with dominant key forwards has been a challenge, with East Ringwood spearhead Riley Weatherill exposing the lack of height earlier in the year with a six-goal haul against the Bulls.
But Noble Park appeared to take a step forward in that regard against Doncaster East, with league-leading goal kicker and former AFL player Josh Schache kept to three goals by Dean Jones.
“I think for us, it’s known we don’t have a lot of height so we’ve had to implement things from a team perspective where we’re trying to ensure that our key defenders who are quite small aren’t hung out to dry by some high-quality key forwards in the competition,” Hughes said.
“That’s a product of team defence and how we get the ball back and how much pressure we put on up the field.”
With the well-publicised departures of stars Kyle Martin and Jackson Sketcher in the off-season, coupled with newly-minted skipper Ben Marson’s injury in round one, former VFL player Lochie McDonnell’s experience has been important.
He has been well supported by Mitch Riordan, Kevin Kean and Jordan Marsden as the younger squad starts to make their mark at senior level.
Defender Josh Tour’s consistency in 2025 has also been critical, named in the best in six of his seven games.
“He’s been fantastic this year,” Hughes said.
“He’s previously been known as a really good lockdown defender but this year his role has expanded a little bit and he’s been able to get off opponents and support other contests in the air and he’s executed it well in recent weeks.”
The Bulls also had Ariek Lual in the backline on the weekend, playing just his second game in the Eastern League in 2025, having turned out for VFL side Casey four times in between a facial fracture.
Fellow VFL listed Noble Park player Matt Nelson was influential on the weekend, kicking three goals as he looks to break into Frankston’s lineup.
“He played close to his best game on Saturday as a forward which is difficult for his size,” Hughes said.
“Some of the time he’s playing on some of the best key defenders in the competition, which is challenging, but he’s playing his role well and we threw him up onto the wing for a period on Saturday which kick-started him a little bit.
“He’s a dangerous player with his speed.”
The Bulls face a sterner challenge against third-placed Rowville this weekend .
“We need to build consistency – we’ve still got things we need to work on,” Hughes said.
“Our fluctuations within games is not where it needs to be.
“We need to put together more four-quarter performances but most importantly, I’m really happy with the effort and energy and the boys are having a lot of fun.”
Meanwhile, Berwick was upstaged by the winless Mitcham 14.13(97) to 10.12(72), missing a golden opportunity to get its second victory of the season.
The Tigers pulled away in a five-goal-to-two last term despite the best efforts of Daniel Pinter, Jai Neal, Joshua Burgmann, James McLean, Benzhamen Todd and Tom Brennan.
Results: Noble Park 12.11(83) v South Croydon 7.13(55), Balwyn 21.16(142) v Vermont 9.7(61), Mitcham 14.13(97) v Berwick 10.12(72), East Ringwood 8.11(59) v Rowville 13.10(88), Blackburn 17.9(111) v Doncaster East 14.6(90).
Ladder: East Ringwood 32, Blackburn 32, Rowville 24, Balwyn 24, Doncaster East 16, Vermont 16, Noble Park 16, South Croydon 12, Berwick 4, Mitcham 4
Fixture: South Croydon (8) v East Ringwood (1), Vermont (6) v Mitcham (10), Noble Park (7) v Rowville (3), Berwick (9) v Doncaster East (5), Balwyn (4) v Blackburn (2).
