Top Tier Still Tightly Contested
02 Jul, 2009
This seasons A Grade competition has already proven to be thrilling and with another weekend of close encounters set to kick off this Saturday, it’s anybody’s guess what sides will be top 5 when the dust settles on Monday.
In a season of upsets it’s only been North Beach and North Fremantle who have been able to break away from the rest of the competition, with all other sides being separated by only the one win. The competition is so close in fact, that Stirling, current occupants of bottom spot, defeated top of the ladder North Beach only three weeks ago.
Whitford too have also caused some upsets over the past few weeks. Sitting bottom of the ladder at the beginning of round 8 they went on to defeat top 5 side Wesley Curtin before accounting for finals contenders Fremantle CBC and Collegians to take them within a game of the top 5.
The only team to break away comfortably from the pack is North Beach – Whitford’s opponent this weekend.
North Fremantle have also managed to break away from the log jam of teams from 3 to 10, but only just, losing two out of the past three matches to keep them within striking distance of the teams circling below.
Perhaps the biggest surprise packet though, has come in the form of Fremantle CBC who got promoted after a fantastic 2008 B Grade season and have taken out A Grade stalwarts Whitford and Wesley Curtin.
With the competition so close this weekend is set to separate the contenders from the pretenders as all the matches prove vital in the run home to September. Collegians (9th) are taking on Wesley Curtin (6th) with both sides only one win outside the top 5, Trinity Aquinas (3rd) must win against University (7th) or face life outside the top 5, while Fremantle CBC (4th) face West Coast Cowan (5th) to close the gap between them and North Fremantle (2nd) who will be taking on bottom placed Stirling (10th).
