Norwood snap two-year losing streak

By Ryan Long.

Norwood ended a two-year losing streak, knocking off Bayswater this Saturday at Mullum Mullum Reserve by 16 points.

An exciting day for the club, putting an end to a 38-game losing streak; the last senior win dating back to Round Six, 2024 in Premier Division with a two-point win against Noble Park.

Both clubs entered the Round Nine clash looking for their first win of the year.

It was Norwood who jumped out of the blocks with a four-goal-to-zip first term, dominating clearances 17 to 5. Josiah Landy started the first term with 12 disposals, 3 tackles and 3 clearances.

Four goals to one in the second quarter by the visitors had Bayswater back in the contest before a tough slog in the second half saw Norwood do enough to win by 16 points, 6.17 53 to 5.7 37.

Senior Coach Brett Moyle gave credit to his young playing group for their continued determination over the last two seasons, leading up to the win.

“It actually takes a fair bit of resilience for young guys to sort of stick through all that," Moyle said.

“For our young guys who've stuck fat and been courageous to stick through the tough times, it was great to see them get some reward and hopefully there's more to come.”

Ned Renfree starred with four of the six Norwood goals, also having 17 disposals and taking seven marks for the afternoon.

Landy, Winter and Paterson, three of Norwood’s key stars, all had high disposal games, Josiah Landy finishing with 29, 17 of those contested.

Norwood had previously made strides forward in season 2026 with a very young list going up against opposition sides that are setting their sights on Premier Division footy next year.

Moyle noted that lapses in games against opposition sides have been costly and something the young side is still needing to work on.

“We definitely have had patches where we've been really competitive, even against the best sides," Moyle said.

“It even happened again yesterday; we have a period (in games) where an opposition side can kick three or four goals pretty quickly against us.

“But I think for us as a young group, there are going to be momentum-shifting games and we need to learn to manage when it's against us a little bit better.”

The win separates them from a winless Bayswater side who will be facing an uphill battle from here to survive another season in Division One.

Josh Treeby and Tyler Brown combined for 62 disposals, two of the highest ranked players on the ground for the Bayswater side.

It doesn't get any easier for the Waters, their next three games see them come up against three of the most in-form teams of the division, Montrose, Mitcham and North Ringwood.