General News
26 May, 2023
United in heritage: Calivil back in Swallows' nest
THE old Northern United colours will be back today when Calivil hosts its first heritage round at Raywood in six years. Calivil players will wear maroon and gold jumpers for the clash against Maiden Gully. The Demons rose from the merger of Calivil...
THE old Northern United colours will be back today when Calivil hosts its first heritage round at Raywood in six years.
Calivil players will wear maroon and gold jumpers for the clash against Maiden Gully.
The Demons rose from the merger of Calivil and Northern United ahead of the 1997 Loddon Valley football season.
But the traditional Raywood round has either been cancelled by COVID or moved to Calivil since 2017 when netball courts at Northern United’s old home ground failed to meet the grade.
The courts are now back up to scratch and former Calivil president and a member of Northern United’s first two Bendigo league flag teams, Rod Lea, said the club was looking forward to honouring the tradition and heritage of football in the area.
“It’s very important that we recognise where everything has come from,” he said.
“We still train at Raywood every Tuesday and after a few years not there for a match, it will be good to be back,” said Lea who was one of the first recruits to the new-look Swallows for their BFL era of domination.
Calivil broke through for its first win of the Loddon Valley season last Saturday. And while slight favourite to clip the Eagles’ wings at Raywood, the Demons will have to cover the loss of three key players injured in the victory over Mitiamo.
They will play for the George Thompson shield with tbe best player to be awarded the Kevin Demeo medal.
Tom Rial injured his shoulder within minutes of the opening bounce and Will Cole also copped a shoulder blow later in the match.
Veteran Walter Miller, sitting on 198 games, will miss the rest of 2023 after breaking his leg in the final quarter.
Saturday’s heritage round starts with East Loddon Rams up against Marong in the Central Victoria under 18 league.
FOUR wins on the trot, winning three grades of football in one day ... that’s been the experience of Inglewood for the first time in two decades.
The Loddon Valley league club has lifted itself from the lower bowels of the ladder to being a genuine finals contender.
Occasionally, however, a step backwards is required to take two forward and this could happen in Saturday’s match of the round against Pyramid Hill.
The Bulldogs will welcome Inglewood to Mitchell Park and know that while they have come closest to Marong so far this season, it was the Blues who totally outclassed the premier Panthers for more than a quarter of football.
What will separate the two top teams this Saturday could be goalfront accuracy and who can best string together a solid four quarters - neither have achieved the latter yet this season.
And Pyramid Hill has a few players running into super form. Collis and Micevski have shown they’re just warming up and will test the diversity of Inglewood’s improving midfield.
This should be a ripper match with the Bulldogs at home with the edge.
After breaking the ice last Saturday, Ant Dennis’ Calivil should aim for a follow-up victory on Saturday against Maiden Gully.
The Demons have a superior clearance across the midfield where Maiden Gully relies too heavily on Damien Wust to generate momentum.
The Eagles have lacked on-field discipline in the first seven rounds, something Calivil is working on and this could prove a real difference.
Bears Lagoon Serpentine is home for a second week, this time taking on Mitiamo.
The Bears have simply too much strength to be overly troubled by Mitiamo and should jump back into the top three after this round.
In the final match, last year’s grand finalists Bridgewater and Marong meet for the first time since September.
Marong won the flag by 94 points and there’s every reason a repeat margin is possible. Most interest will be at opposite ends so see how goal sneaks Grenfell and Martyn fare for the day.