AIC AFL senior footy: Ironman Iona push on, Padua pushes on
AIC AFL footy’s round 2 finished with a bang in a blockbuster between competition benchmarks Laurie’s and Villanova. Match report, full round wrap up here.
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St Laurence’s College have taken down heavyweights Villanova College 52-40 in an AIC classic at Yeronga AFC.
Ben Morison led the way for his team as they charged from behind to snatch victory.
It was a sight to see as the passionate Laurie’s supporters came together with their tunnel and war cries, getting around their schoolmates for securing an incredible victory.
It was Laurie’s who started the proceedings and it was Laurie’s who finished in style. Man of the Match Morison getting his side on the board early.
Villa’s first goal came from the left boot of big man Jackson Connor, who somehow sent it through the sticks with bodies draped all over him. Dan White made it all happen with a tremendous kick from long range to find Connor surveying in close.
Oscar Tank then added six more to Villa’s tally with a superb goal from the left sideline, dotting it over with his left.
Villa held a 16-7 lead after the first quarter, courtesy of Jake Fazldeen, a disrupter, tone setter and expert chirper.
Morison opened up the scoring in the second, having no troubles at all slotting it from in front.
Then, to bring up his third of the day, he dove into his bag of tricks to whip out a freakish off-balance goal at an almost impossible angle.
Making it three unanswered goals to the boys in black and gold was Laurie’s Mataia, a tall athletic effort player.
Villa’s Charlie Corrigan stepped in to stop the bleeding but in no time at all Laurie’s Zac Bidgood was marking and scoring to give his side a dominant 33-18 lead heading into half time.
The highlight of the day came from Villa’s magic duo Mason Honeyman and Connor, who scored one each to get within three points late in the third.
Honeyman struck first with a Hail Mary boot from close to half way, before Connor, set up by Frasier Lay and Tanks, curled one in from a tough angle out left.
All of a sudden Villa were in striking distance down 34-31 with a quarter to play.
But back for seconds was Bidgood, gliding downfield with the rock before converting to push Laurie’s ahead 40-32.
It gets better.
Back for his fourth feast of the day was Morison the difference maker, nailing a dagger from distance to earn a 12-point buffer with just two minutes to play.
He was wearing bright green headgear on the day, as well as an invisible cape.
Indeed he produced a “follow me” sort of performance for his Laurie’s teammates.
Honeyman did his thing and gave Villa a fighting chance with one last goal but Jackson Parker and Ben Davis had other ideas, seeing their side to the finish line 52-40.
Final score: Laurie’s 8-5-52 beat Villa 5-10-40.
Earlier in the week, Ironman Iona pushed through a gruelling two games in three days to grab victories.
And Ambrose Treacy marched to victory while Eddies were brave in defeat and Padua winners again.
SEE THE WRAP BELOW
AIC AFL FOOTY: HOW ROUND 1 UNFOLDED HERE
AIC FIRST XI CRICKET PLAYERS OF ROUND 2 REVEALED HERE
In the cross suburb clashes during the past, Villanova College has never beaten St Laurence’s since the reintroduction of AFL to the AIC sports program, although COVID regulations did interrupt the recent history between the teams.
Villanova will be spearheaded by captain Hugo Crawford who plays across the half back flank and covers a lot of territory in his games.
Crawford was co-captain of the Queensland under 17 AFL team last year and is a member of the Brisbane Lions Academy.
The vice-captains for Villanova are Charlie Corrigan and Jake Fazldeen.
“Charlie is centre half forward and he guides the team’s forward structure. He plays his club football at Coorparoo AFC and was coached in the Colts last year by Sam Wiltshire and teammate to another SLC coach Rory Lake in the seniors,’’ said Villa coach Brian Pascoe.
“Thus, he is very well known to the coaches from both teams.’’
Jake Fazldeen is an on-ball player who plays through the midfield. He is a member of the Brisbane Lions Academy and was last year a member of the Queensland under 16 AFL team.
Villanova and Laurie’s squad lists are at the bottom of our story.
Laurie’s will be led by Jaydon Macaulay, a Brisbane Lions Academy L3 member after being co-captain of the Brisbane Lions Academy L3 last year.
Macaulay, a third year First XVIII player, is a talented ball user, who works hard from the midfield.
Vice captains Lachlan Warwick and Jack Kalan who are also playing in their third First XVIII season, will also give the boys in black and gold a big boost.
Warwick has a dangerous left foot and has become very important in both attack & defence for his side so far this season while Kalan’s calming nature provides a level head to the team.
“He has been an exceptional leader over the past two weeks,” directpr of sports Sam Wiltshire said.
“Wyatt Greenaway, also a member Brisbane Lions Academy L3 2023, provides experience and poise, as well as a tireless work rate from the midfield.”
Meanwhile, in recent matches played over the last five days, Padua College enjoyed a 12.8 to 2-4 win over Ambrose Treacy College, with the side featuring outstanding team play.
RELATED LINKS
ROUND 2: AIC FIRST XI - RECORDS TUMBLE, SAINTS MARCH IN
AIC FIRST XI: ROUND 1 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK HERE
“Our team played a very good game,’’ said Tom Giuliano, the Padua College 1st XVIII head coach.
“We played a strong brand of football, starting with our midfielders who won the ball in the middle but there are still many areas we need to improve on.
“We have a big game against Iona, who are playing very well at the moment.’’
Best onground for Padua was Jordan Chambers. “Jordan played a very good game. Playing forward for the majority of the game, Jordan showed excellent composure and precise ball use, both by foot and hand,’’ Giuliano said.
He was well supported by Aston Wilson and Darcy Hoey. “Aston started the game down back, but played forward last quarter. He used the ball well and directed traffic for our team all day.’’
Giuliano said of Darcy Hoey, “He played a great game at half-back and wing. He had great foot skills and took lots of intercept marks during the game.’’
Ambrose Treacy were too good for St Peters Lutheran College, 14-12 to 3-4.
“ATC started the match with intensity that had been missing from their past two games and came out breathing fire,’’ said ATC’s Jarrod Turner, Head of Sport.
He said the inclusions of Jack Harrison and Jarvis Warr aided in a fast start by the Warriors and allowing them to kick the first six goals of the match to take a handy lead to half time.
“A few positional changes allowed St Peters to get a few quick goals before ATC steadied and ran away comfortable winners in the end,’’ Turner said.
Best player for ATC were Jack Harrison, Michael Romelo, Jarvis Warr and Spencer Glover
Despite the loss, St Peters showed some pomising signs from St Peters with longer periods through the game where they were able to compete the way they wanted to.
The third quarter in particular saw St Peters gain ascendancy in the ruck through the dominance of Daniel Norris which allowed the midfield of Jayden Evans and Finn Booker to get plenty of the ball, pushing the ball forward for our forwards to convert on the scoreboard.
“We have seen a marked improvement over the last three weeks around the ground and in particular our contest work and getting better at defending the turnover ball,’’ said Mark Holman, the St Peters AFL coordinator.
Best Players for the Saints were:
Daniel Norris in the ruck and in particular centre bounce contests was able to give first use of the ball to the midfield group. His vertical leap is very good for a first-year player.
Elijah Kim also competed well in different positions on the night and for a fifteen-year-old is slowly gaining confidence against the bigger bodies of the older boys.
Dudley Ratcliff provides good re-bound from full-back with his penetrating kick gaining good metres from the back half of the ground.
“Our midfield group worked tirelessly on the night, as mentioned, and hopefully can be rewarded a little more moving forward from the men in white,’’ Holman added.
Iona College were faced with a gruelling two games in three days heading into round 2.
Firstly the Black and White secured a decisive 98 point victory over St. Peter’s last Wednesday afternoon at home, finding their groove.
They were led by their midfield group who showed their flair and in the end, were too strong. The final score was 15.17-107 to 1.3-9.
Ben Lillico again showed his dominance in the midfield. “There’s little doubt Lillico has added a different edge to this side. As a year 10 student, Ben will only continue to develop and be a key cog in Iona’s success,’’ said coach Anthony Bannerman.
“Bryn Corten put in another superb performance in defence. St. Peter’s were unable to get past Bryn and his unwavering defensive resolve,’’Bannerman added.
And Talan Cross, in his debut, put his stamp onto the game early. “The speedy winger’s pressure allowed Iona to capitalise on the scoreboard due to Cross’s influence,’’ the coach added.
Then the Iona boys backed up on Friday against St. Edmund’s College, winning 12.9-81 to 0-4-4.
Despite missing half a dozen of their best 22, Iona delivered a statement, conceding just one goal over the last eight quarters of footy across two games.
Max Milner was best afield with 25 disposals and a goal in a breakout performance. “Milner stepped up for a depleted Iona and led from the front all day,’’ Bannerman said.
Clancy Muniandy was everywhere and his strong contested marking allowed Iona to surge forward. The versatile Muniandy will only continue to get better as the season goes on.
“Damon Dunlop, the vice-captain, played a crucial role in mitigating Eddie’s forwards.
“The key defender has come up when Iona needed him most and proves once again he is one of Iona’s biggest weapons,’’ Bannerman said.
Iona now face Padua College on Friday evening at Yeronga AFC.
Despite the defeat, the St Edmund’s College boys continued to improve and although the scoreline blew out, it was not a one sided affair.
Indeed SEC only trailed by five goals at the start of the final quarter.
“Coming up against an opposition with greater exposure to AFL the Eddies boys adapted to a gameplay of man on man which aided in keeping them competitive for the majority of the match,’’ said coach Michael Podolak.
“Key player rotations and experimenting of others in unfamiliar positions in the final quarter helped Iona increase the final margin.’’
Notable mentions go to Conrad Browne and Tafitio Ffalinenko-ahki who battled hard within the midfield.
Robert Brown was also superb at centre half back, intercepting a lot of ball and making it difficult for the Iona forwards.
Jayme Polkinghorne and Lochlan Perry continue to improve for Eddies in their roles and have been keen to take on new opportunities when they arise.
Villanova College’s squad for Wednesday: Oscar Tanks, Jackson Connor, Zac Joyce, Isaac Lynch, Frasier Lay, Callum Lamb, Christian Porreca, Charlie Corrigan, Isaac Solomon, Jake Fazldeen, Jack Johannesen, Tom Audet, Ben Lawrence, Hugo Crawford, Larry Clark, Jackson Moloney, Griffin Cullen, Lachlan Brown, Mason Honeyman, Max Downie, Dan White, Mitch Voss, Ben Addley. Emergences: Keiran Micheletti, E Will Serafini
St Laurence’s College squad: Riley Clarke, Tyan Prindable, Jack Cosgrove, Nicholas Estella, Wyatt Greenaway, Isaac Smith, Will Munro, Harri Armstrong, Riley Dutton, Darcy Augustin, Cooper Mataia, Tyler Lauritsen, Thomas Nadenic, Diesel Richter, Jack Kalan, Terrell Thorne, Jayden McLeod, Lachlan Warwick, Jackson Parker, Charlie Norris, Connor Lambert, Ben Morison, Lery James, Jack O’Malley, Jaydon Macaulay, Zac Bidgood, Ben Davis, Jensen Wolf, Patrick Doyle, Joseph Elisseos, Jack Williams.
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