St Peter’s, PAC, Sacred Heart proving to be the ones to beat, while St Michael’s records first win
Three schools are setting the pace so far this college footy season, while one team notched its first victory in a close, ‘gutsy’ encounter. See the match wraps from every Messenger Shield game.
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St Peter’s Sacred Heart and Prince Alfred all recorded huge wins again in round two, while St Michael’s triumphed for the first time this year. Here are The Messenger’s match reports from every game.
ST PETER’S 16.7 (103) WESTMINSTER 8.8 (56)
St Peter’s is undefeated after enjoying a 47-point victory over Westminster away on Saturday.
But the win was hard-fought as the visitors went into quarter-time one point behind.
St Peter’s coach Sam Elliott said his players were disappointing in the first term but he was pleased how they responded in the remaining three quarters.
“I thought we were really scrappy all day,” Elliott said.
“It was a credit to their pressure — they (Westminster) really brought it, physically.
“Our boys really had to dig in and find another way.
“We knew it was going to be tough here and it was a really good test for us so I think it will toughen us up.
“I was just really upset that they didn’t put their nose to the grind (in the first quarter), didn’t win the hard ball and expected someone else to do it.
“But after that I thought they were excellent in terms of their attack on the ball.”
St Peter’s skipper James Higgins was best on ground for St Peter’s, while Matthew Roberts and Lachlan De Cesare also played well.
Frank Packer and Felix Packer finished with four goals for St Peter’s, while Roberts booted three.
Elliott expected this weekend’s clash with Scotch to be another test.
“If we don’t respect our opponents, we’ll get what we deserve and that’s finding it hard to win.
“Our attitude is to try and play our best footy every week and then the results will take care of themselves.”
Westminster coach Tim Tim Weatherald said his side put up a good fight against a strong team.
But was disappointed Westminster failed to swing the momentum back in the second quarter.
“In the last five minutes of that first quarter when they (St Peter’s) kicked two late goals, they came into the second quarter with their heads up a bit,” Weatherald said.
“They got on a roll and we just couldn’t stop it.
“I was really proud of the lads and I thought we really stuck at it.
“Our boys didn’t give up.
“No one likes losing but I was proud they had a crack at it.”
Lukas Cooke and Will Wiseman booted two majors for the winners, while Harry Snodgrass, Connor Blackwell, Fin Bennett and Addison Dohnt kicked one each.
Jack Francis Luke McCranor, Lukas Cooke and Antonio Brown were best for Westminster.
SACRED HEART 14.16 (100) ROSTREVOR 3.5 (23)
Sacred Heart coach Jon Symonds said consistency will be the key in the coming weeks for his side as it looks to move to three straight wins.
Symonds’ side beat Rostrevor by 77 points away on Saturday and Symonds was pleased his players were able to notch a second-straight victory.
But he said playing well for four quarters was an area his team needed to improve to ensure it can match it with the other undefeated sides in St Peter’s and PAC.
Jacob Lochowiak was Heart’s top goal kicker with three, while Jaiden Magor, Henry McCauliffe, Luca Whitelum and Jakob Ryan kicked two each.
Riley Holder, Cooper Beecken, Xavier Robins, Lewis Rayson and Luca Whitelum were best for the hosts.
“It was a very positive day and we played very well,” Symonds said.
“Albeit I think in the second quarter Rostrevor got on top a little bit but we were able to overrun them in the end.
“But we’ve probably played three out of the four quarters at the level I’d like to see.
“Against those other sides and if we want to put ourselves in a position to beat them we are going to have to play at a consistently high level for all four quarters.
“I am hopeful we are building up to that and we get closer to achieving that this week.”
Symonds said his side
“We were stronger in a couple of areas, particularly around the footy defensively,” Symonds said.
“Also our willingness to run and things opened up a bit in the last quarter and allowed us to kick away.”
Tyson Walls, Alastair Lord and Xavier Tranfa were best in a Rostrevor side which was missing the leadership and class of AFL draft prospect Ned Carey.
Tranfa booted one goal as did Max Michalanney.
IMMANUEL 13.8 (86) ST MICHAEL’S 14.11 (95)
St Michael’s coach Mark Mickan praised his side for its “gutsy” triumph against Immanuel away on Saturday.
The Henley Beach school recorded its first win of this college football season, beating Immanuel by nine points in a thriller.
Mickan said his players performed really well under pressure and it was a “battle to the line”.
“It was a fantastic game of footy,” Mickan
“Immanuel played really well.
“We got off to a good start and then they caught up at half-time then it was on for the rest of the game.
“Fortunately is was us who were on top after the siren went.
“It was a really pleasing performance and our guys applied good pressure and got the result.
“It was a very gutsy effort.”
Skipper Zack Buck and fellow midfielder Adam D’Aloia were best on ground for St Michael’s.
Immanuel’s James Reuther kicked five goals, while Hugh Stagg finished with three for.
Callum Saunders also battled hard.
PRINCE ALFRED 26.14 (17) PEMBROKE 1.3 (9)
Prince Alfred coach Matt Slade said he was more impressed with his players’ ability to stick to structures than the big win against Pembroke at home on Saturday.
The reigning premier was way too strong, prevailing by 161 points.
“It was a good win,” Slade said.
“Not just the result but it was more about the processes.
“There were a couple of areas we addressed after the (Rostrevor) game that we wanted to clean up.
‘There was clear evidence that they’d taken it in and they incorporated it into the game against Pembroke which I thought was impressive.”
Harry Tunkin (three goals) was best on ground for PAC, while Luke Pedlar was also strong.
James Borlase, son of Port Adelaide premiership captain Darryl Borlase and Crows Next Generation Academy member, starred again, playing both up-forward and in defence for PAC,
Dylan Hopkins, Archer Bawden, Harry Penniment, Lachy Edwards, Oli Duffy and Nick Blackman battled hard for Pembroke.
Wil Hammond was the side’s goal kicker.
Pembroke football director Michael Bawden said PAC was just too strong and his team missed a few early opportunities.
“It was an extremely tough day,” Bawden said.
“We set ourselves for a big start and we were really pleased with our boys kicking the first goal.
“Unfortunately we didn’t make the most of our other forward entries for the rest of the game.
“Our midfield worked hard all day against some outstanding opponents,
“It was just something for us to learn from and we need to move on and have a really positive approach this week as we play against St Michael’s.”
SCOTCH 18.7 (115) BLACKFRIARS 15.7 (97)
Scotch took on division two side Blackfriars in a match at home on Saturday for no Messenger Shield points.
But the hosts were challenged by Blackfriars before storming to a three-goal victory.
Scotch coach Nathan Eagleton said the narrow win would hold his side in good stead for this weekend’s game against St Peter’s.
“It was a quality game of football,” Eagleton said.
“They (Blackfriars) really look it up to us.
“It was a nice open game of footy with a lot of goals scored and we were lucky enough to be on the end of a winning result.
“We played Pembroke the week before which was another quality game.
“We’ve had a couple of close ones and to get some good results is really promising.”
Cormack O’Reilly kicked seven majors for Scotch, while Zac Becker and Harry Lemmey booted four.
“I think we were pretty in control for most of the day,” Eagleton said.
“We were really strong in the midfield and then our outside run and a bit of class with the football in hand helped us get the result.”
THIS WEEK
Saturday August 8, 2.15pm
■ Immanuel v Sacred Heart
■ St Michael’s v Pembroke
■ Rostrevor v Westminster
■ Scotch v St Peter’s
■ Prince Alfred v Henley (August 3, trial match)