Live stream: VAFA Premier Men’s Round 18, Old Brighton v St Kevin’s

Old Brighton almost gave up a 41-point lead and will be looking over their shoulder at St Kevin’s ahead of the finals after a thrilling final-round clash. Watch the must-see REPLAY.

Talk about a finish to a season.

In the most thrilling game of the VAFA Premier Men’s season, Old Brighton held on by their fingertips to finish the season undefeated at home and as minor premiers.

But they will be fervently looking over their shoulder heading into next week’s semi-finals after nearly giving up a 41-point lead to rivals St Kevin’s Old Boys.

The Tonners scored solitary behind in the final term, a point which ultimately proved decisive, as they held on for a 13.7 (85) to 12.12 (84) win in the final round of the season.

The green and yellow machine launched an audacious comeback bid in the second-half at Brighton Beach Oval, with a returning Tom Jok booting three majors in the comeback.

St Kevin’s trailed 84-44 at one stage, and managed to get it back to a one-point margin, outscoring their rivals 40-1 in a thrilling fightback.

The two sides will meet again in next week’s major semi-final after Old Xaverians kicked two late goals to relegate Old Scotch to third-place on the ladder.

Old Scotch will clash with Collegians, after the defending premiers snuck their way into the top four with a 12-point win over Fitzroy.

Old Brighton vice-captain Tom Fisher was clearly nervous when told his side would need to suit up against St Kevin’s again in a week’s time.

“It has been pretty awesome this season, that was the toughest test we have had at home all year,” he said. “They brought everything at us.

“I think we are two really even sides, if you are off for 10-15 minutes at any stage in the game, the other team can expose that.

“We need to bring our A game next week if we want to win it. Bring on the finals.”

The Tonners will be sweating on the fitness of captain Harry Hill who failed to finish the match with a suspected head knock.

If Hill’s knock is deemed a concussion it will rule him out of all of the VAFA Premier Men’s finals series due to the league’s 21-day concussion protocols.

PREVIEW

St Kevin’s coach Anthony Lynch says Old Brighton is the “perfect team” to play on the eve of the VAFA Premier Men’s finals.

Last year’s grand finalists travel to Brighton Beach Oval to take on the minor premiers in the final match of the home and away season.

St Kevin’s needs to win to secure a top-two finish with Old Scotch just two points behind it in third.

Watch the Premier/Reserves double-header LIVE and EXCLUSIVE on Kommunity on Saturday.

St Kevin’s coach Anthony Lynch is looking forward to the challenge of facing Old Brighton. Picture: Dennis Timm/VAFA

Lynch saw the Tonners’ system and spread of talent as their biggest strength and said it would force his side to match them as a collective group.

“They’re so even, I think they’re a system-based team who plays for each other,” Lynch said.

“They don’t rely on three or four stars to get it done, they’re just so even across the board, very well-drilled, so disciplined to task.

“When you play teams like that you know you have to play as a team yourself because you can’t rely on five of your better players playing well (to win).

“In some ways it’s the perfect team to finish our home and away season against because if we’re going to have any success we’ll rely on our group to get it done.

“When you’re playing against the best team in the comp at doing that, it’s a good benchmark test.”

If SKOB wins on Saturday, they will face Old Brighton again in the second semi-final a week later.

Lynch says his group “can’t afford to look too much further than this week” and won’t be holding any tactical punches to save mystery for a potential finals clash.

“From our point of view, we need to continue to find form because we’ve had a bit of a patchy month up until last week,” he said.

SKOB sit second on the Premier Men’s ladder heading in the final round. Picture: Dennis Timm/VAFA

“Last week against St Bernard’s, I was really happy with the way we played and happy how we grinded out a win, so I am hopeful that’s got us back on track.

“We can’t afford to look too much further ahead than this week and what an opportunity to test ourselves against the team who has been on top all year.

“At the end of the day, it’s nothing more than us looking to find form, we don’t have the luxury of having already secured top spot.

“We need to win to secure top two and need to find form, so we won’t be hiding anything, we need to play at our very best.”

St Kevin’s can lose the match and still hold onto second position, provided Old Xaverians defeat Old Scotch.

REPLAYS

Old Brighton v St Kevin’s - VAFA Round 18 (Reserves)

Originally published as Live stream: VAFA Premier Men’s Round 18, Old Brighton v St Kevin’s