De La Salle turns the tables on Old Trinity, avenge 80-point loss to stay in the finals mix

DE La Salle weathered a fourth-quarter fightback by Old Trinity to keep itself in finals contention in the VAFA.

VAFA Premier: De La Salle ( in blue and yellow ) v Collegians. 22. Aaron Kneebone for De La Salle.Picture: Stuart Milligan

DE La Salle coach Paul Satterly walked away from his side’s victory at Old Trinity on Saturday full of praise for his side’s efforts.

They held onto a 10-point lead at three-quarter time before Trinity kicked in front midway through the fourth, but De La reclaimed the advantage and the win.

“They have a lot of belief at the moment which is great,” Satterly said.

“Confidence plays a big part and to the boys’ credit they really bonded well and played a real team orientated type of footy.

“Twelve months ago we played out there (at Trinity) and we lost by 80 points so we’ve come a long way.”

For the first time this season Old Trinity was held scoreless in a quarter as De La Salle turned the trick in the opening term to take the early ascendancy.

Trinity ground its way back into the game across the next three quarters as De La’s 10 extra scoring shots only warranted a 10-point lead at the final change.

The first two majors put Trinity in front at the 10-minute mark but De La responded with the next four to ice the match.

De La Salle is two points behind fourth placed Old Carey Grammarians with two games remaining.

“We feel like we need to win the last two to cement a spot in the finals, so next week (against St Bernards) is a really important game,” Satterly said.

“When we played St Bernards earlier in the year we led them at three quarter time but didn’t finish it off.

Old Xaverians remain in the mix to play finals in Premier section but three straight loses have dwindled their odds.

They struggled against lower ranked University Blacks at Melbourne University Oval on Saturday, losing by 59 points.

A five goal to one first quarter put the visitors on the back foot. And an inaccurate 1.5 in the second put them 28 points behind at halftime.

Blacks’ Peter O’Rourke was best on ground and Jordan Foster contributed with six goals.

In Premier B, St Kevins had an 80-point win over Parkdale for its 16th consecutive victory. It took until the last quarter for Parkdale to kick its second goal.

In Division 1, Old Geelong secured its finals place with a 105-point win over NOBS/St Pats.

Collegians are sitting in the relegation zone but their 96-point win over Beaumaris on Saturday proved they are a better side than that.

Six teams are separated by only one game in Premier and although they aren’t finals contenders, Collegians have shown they are up to playing in the top grade.

Following a lacklustre opening quarter, Collegians kicked four goals to Beaumaris’ two to go into the halftime break 32 points ahead.

The Lions’ inaccuracy in the first half only delayed Beauie’s misery as the Sharks went scoreless in the third and conceded another seven.

Five more goals going the way of Collegians in the fourth term and another goal-less quarter for the visitors completed the contest.

Nick Bobeff topped the home side’s scorecard with three and Sebastian Evans was named best on ground for his efforts.

Collegians are now even with Old Scotch at 6-10 with two games left — the remaining fortnight will decide which one gets dropped.

In Premier B AJAX’S hopes of playing finals took a beating from St Bedes/Mentone at Brindisi St Oval.

The Tigers locked away the result before halftime, as the Jackas were outgunned 11 goals to four.

AJAX fought diligently in the third quarter but the attempt was fruitless as the margin increased to 58 points. Six more goals in the fourth to St Bedes/Mentone handed Ajax a 96-point loss.

Adam Caplan was the Jackas’ only multiple goal scorer with two. AJAX must win the last two games of the regular season and have Old Brighton lose its last two for a chance at finals.

Adam Caplan kicked two goals for AJAX in its loss to St Bedes/Mentone Tigers. Picture: Hamish Blair

Further down the table Caulfield Grammarians unsuccessfully hosted Mazenod at Glenhuntly Oval.

The Fields went into the quarter-time huddle six points ahead but fell away soon after.

Mazenod had a 16-point lead at halftime, led by 20 points at three-quarter-time before winning by 43 points.

James Shanahan excelled for Caulfield with five goals while Damien Bryne was Mazenod’s best.

Old Haileyburians rekindled their previous month’s form to bounce back onto the winners list against Oakleigh.

The Bloods’ six-goal barrage in the first quarter to the Krushers’ one was the difference. The Bloods celebrated club veteran Hamish McLauchlan’s 250th with a 43-point victory.

In Division 2, South Melbourne Districts fell narrowly short of its second win of the season against Monash Gryphons.

The Swans looked gone for all money at three-quarter-time trailing by 44 points.

South Melbourne closed the gap to just eight points before time ran out.

Old Brighton Grammarians all but solidified their top-four spot with an 11-point win over Fitzroy on Saturday.

The only thing which could keep the Tonners out of the finals would be two big losses in the last two games of the home-and-away season. The Tonners had a 17-point lead at quarter-time. Things heated up late in the second quarter with two quick goals keeping Fitzroy in the contest. One came from Nathan Ligris, who nailed his shot from the boundary. He was yellow-carded immediately after for a gesture to the Brighton crowd. Fitzroy hung with the Grammarians throughout the third quarter but looked to have lost control midway through the fourth.

Old Brighton received a 12-point play following a Tonners goal as repeated free kicks from Fitzroy gave Brighton a shot from the goal line — two goals before being returned to the centre.

But the Roy’s regained their composure and kicked a spree of goals before the final siren to go down by 11 points. And according to Old Brighton coach Greg Hutchison they were fortunate to hold on.

“We got 36-points up halfway through the last quarter and to Fitzroy’s credit if the game had gone another five minutes they might have won.” Hutchison said

Nicholas Marston was best on ground for his efforts in defence and Daniel Anthony bagged another four goals.

Tom Nicholls was also one of the best in his 100th game for the Tonners.

Hampton Rovers struggled against finals-bound Old Melburnians at Boss James Reserve on Saturday.

OMFC took the ascendancy in the first quarter with four goals to Hampton’s one and the Rovers could never close the gap.

For the first three quarters the margin never exceeded 22-points before Melburnians kicked away in the last to stretch the final deficit to 48-points.

Will McTaggart kicked two in a rare game for the Rovers while Ned Fallon and Bryce Pewtress also finished with two apiece.

Captain Leigh Fletcher was once again Hampton’s best.

Parkdale fell back into the relegation zone after losing to undefeated St Kevins at Gerry Green Reserve.

Parkdale struggled like many before them against the first placed Skobs and never got off the ground.

After the first quarter the discrepancy stood at 21 with Parkdale being held goalless.

The margin grew over the next two quarters as the home side managed just one goal compared to St Kevins’ 11.

St Kevins had an 84-point advantage going into the last quarter, as a 100-point victory was ominous.

But Parkdale didn’t lie down and won the fourth with five goals to reel in the final difference to 80 points.

Thomas Redmond was Parkdale’s best and Josh Manning was the only multiple goal kicker with two.

Currently 2 per cent separates Parkdale and eighth placed Mazenod even at 4-12.

Mazenod have Old Melburnians and Ajax in the next two weeks while Parkdale will need to upset either Hampton Rovers or Fitzroy to guarantee avoiding relegation.

In Division 1 Old Mentonians broke a two-game losing streak by defeating Whitefriars by 55-points at Turner Road Reserve.

The Panthers mauled the Friars from the outset with four goals in the first quarter and followed up in the second with another five.

Whitefriars won the third quarter and closed the gap to 35-points at the final change.

But Old Mentonians kept the Friars goal-less in the last term and bagged three of their own.

The Panthers were inaccurate throughout the day with numerous scoring shots missing the mark.

Dustan Mills led the way for Old Mentonians with four goals and Kyle Conlon was best afield for a second week straight.