WINNING all home matches in a season will go a long way to reaching the finals although as good as this effort sounds a fair percentage of away fixtures must be won. In the days when League football consisted of 18 home and away games there were 11 clubs in Melbourne and one in Geelong. Potential finalists sometimes stumbled by losing too many matches at home. Others would fall by the wayside because of poor results in away games. On venue that frequently proved a hurdle was Essendon, colloquially known as Windy Hill. Not that this ground was any more difficult to play than Victoria Park or Princes Park or Geelong. Essendon at home was hard to overcome because for many years the Dons fielded strong teams and were a particularly consistent side.