SAAS First XVIII football round two: Immanuel College tops Scotch College by 88 points

A much-improved college side bounced back from an opening week loss with a massive 88-point win in round two. Read the full SAAS First XVIII match reports.

A big response was made by Immanuel when it played Scotch in round two of SAAS First XVIII college footy, while Sacred Heart edged a fired-up opponent and Prince Alfred College continued its positive season start.

Here are The Messenger’s reports from Saturday’s division one matches:

IMMANUEL 14.18 (102) d SCOTCH 2.2 (14)

Immanuel bounced back from its round one loss to PAC to handily defeat Scotch by 88 points on Saturday.

Second-year coach Mark Bickley was thrilled with the win, his side starting fast and never looking back as it quelled almost every promising attack by the their opponent.

He said the result was reflective of the different stages of the two football programs in play.

“Scotch has gone through a fair bit of turnover this year where they’ve lost a lot of Year 12s, similar to us last year, whereas now we’ve got the luxury of having a good bunch of senior guys in the side,” Bickley said.

“It was a bit of a scrappy game which is a credit to them but I was pleased with our performance, especially our defence – I felt we had really good defensive position throughout the game.”

Immanuel captain Isaiah Wilksch has been a force to start 2022. Picture: Dean Martin

Immanuel captain Isaiah Wilksch continued his positive start to the year for the school, while Oscar Talbot produced his first standout game of the year in the contest.

Bickley said that while he got a strong team output from his players, there was still much to work on.

“A lot of guys had good games and I thought Oscar (Talbot) responded well after last week,” he said.

“We wanted to be very clean and pinpoint more targets though and we weren’t able to do that in all four quarters so there’s a bit to work on there.

“We could’ve kicked a bit straighter too but that should come with more playing time.”

Immanuel coach Mark Bickley was pleased with his side’s win over Scotch. Picture: Dean Martin

Immanuel will face Rostrevor in round three, their opponent putting together a promising display against Sacred Heart over the weekend.

Bickley said his side would need to be at its best.

“We need to finetune a couple things and make sure we’re executing at our best,” he said.

“It will be a good week on the track for us and a good test against Rostrevor.”

SACRED HEART 11.12 (78) d ROSTREVOR 9.9 (63)

Sacred Heart faced a strong challenge from Rostrevor but managed to overcome a late push by its opposition to grab a 15-point win.

In a neck-and-neck battle over four quarters, Rostrevor got to within just two points before Will McCabe stood up to boot a massive goal to seal the win for Hearts.

Coach Jon Symonds said the game provided his team with an important challenge.

“It was a really tightly contested game, a great game of footy,” Symonds said.

“We were challenged in a lot of different ways through the week with a few out with sickness and a couple injuries, so the boys showed great resilience to dig deep and get the win.”

Sacred Heart captain Tyson Coe was the leader his side needed in a close win over Rostrevor. Picture: Maya Thompson Instagram: @midfieldphotog

McCabe’s four goal performance was of major significance for Sacred Heart, with two coming late in the fourth to negate Rostrevor’s strong run home.

Club captain Tyson Coe was also impressive for the second straight week, something which pleased Symonds.

“Will was particularly important for us obviously with some big marks and clutch goals and Tyson’s leadership has been matched by his form so far this year – which is big for the team,” Symonds said.

“Jack McAuley was huge too. He was brilliant in full back and defended strongly for four quarters.”

Hearts will now have the bye this week, which will provide an opportunity for the side to rest after a tough week.

“We’re going to give them a bit of a spell this week and let them recover,” Symonds said.

“We’ve got a bit of the flu flying around and this is going to give us an opportunity to rest up and get back to fitness for the next test.”

PRINCE ALFRED 16.14 (110) d WESTMINSTER 10.3 (63)

Prince Alfred recorded its second win with a sturdy display against Westminster, pleasing coach Matt Slade.

It was a fast start from the Reds but Westminster put together a big second term through its work out of the ruck and the middle to have scores even at the main break.

Prince Alfred did its work in the second half though, dominating contested possessions in the final two terms to gain a clear-cut advantage.

“We have to credit Westminster, their work rate was really good and they made it difficult for us in the second term,” Slade said.

“The boys worked themselves out of a bit of a rut there and cleaned up their skills in the fourth quarter which was great to see.

Prince Alfred College defender Will Charlton (left) was best on ground for the Reds against Westminster. Picture: Brenton Edwards

“Our intensity definitely lifted as well and we managed to play how we want to play footy late in the game, it’s just now about doing that over four quarters.”

Will Charlton was dominant across half-back for the Reds, winning countless contests on the ground and in the air and hurting Westminster with his distribution.

He acted as a source of motivation for his side as it soon began to dominate in all areas, namely in the ruck and out of the middle.

Slade said he would be looking for similar efforts from his side in this weekend’s clash against arch rivals St Peter’s.

“We’re trying to get a bit more player-driven to start games, we want to see them stamp their authority on the game early instead of letting things happen and then looking for guidance,” Slade said.

“I don’t think too much has to change and some guys are looking better as the weeks go by but we’re going to need to be consistent through four quarters to get a win against St Peter’s.”

DIVISION TWO RESULTS:

• Sacred Heart Two 15.9 (99) d Pembroke 8.9 (57)
• St Michael’s 11.8 (74) d Prince Alfred Two 8.9 (57)
• Trinity 20.11 (131) d St Ignatius 13.15 (93)
• Mercedes 15.9 (99) d CBC 7.8 (50)