St Bedes/Mentone Tigers take control in last quarter, hold off rally by Old Grammarians

IT gets even tougher for Old Grammarians this weekend when they tackle unbeaten St Kevins in the last round of the home-and-away season.

VAFA: Old Brighton v St Bedes Mentone Tigers at Brighton Beach Oval. Tom Gunning and Tom Tyquin. Picture: Andy Brownbill.

OLD Brighton Grammarians displayed the standard required to match it with Premier B’s best but fell four points short of victory against St Bedes/Mentone on Saturday.

The Tonners owned the early game at Brighton Beach Oval with two quick goals to open the contest.

Ollie Cavallaro handed Brighton the first goal although scoreboard pressure fluctuated after the hot start.

St Bedes edged one back and held off Brighton for most of the first quarter despite losing key back man Paul Wintle for the rest of the game due to a head injury.

The scoreboard didn’t reflect Old Brighton’s dominance as the ball was trapped in their forward half and only managed 3.7 for the term.

St Bedes kicked its second goal with the last kick of the quarter to reduce the deficit to 11 at the first break.

Momentum swung in the second quarter as the Tonners repeatedly turned the ball over after being locked in its own half

Four goals in a row to St Bedes combined with full forward Luke Velluto’s three majors gave the Tigers a game-high 17-point lead at halftime.

The ebbs and flows continued with Old Brighton regaining ascendancy in the third in a five-goal to two quarter.

The fifth lead change put the Tonners ahead by three-points going into the final huddle.

St Bedes took control of the last quarter and appeared to have sealed victory with Alex Kane’s second, but Brighton did not lie down.

Daniel Anthony bobbed up with two late goals to reel the margin to four points — before the siren ended the fight back soon after.

Hamish Graham was commanding in the ruck for the Grammarians, as was Thomas Mariani through the midfield claiming best on ground honours for the Tonners.

Old Brighton faces another test against undefeated St Kevins at T.H. King Oval next weekend before finals commence.

Further down hosts Hampton Rovers were outclassed by AJAX in a 69-point defeat at Boss James Reserve.

The Rovers conceded six goals in the first quarter and could never get close to retrieve the margin after a slow start.

The difference was exceeding beyond 60-points in the third quarter and was bearing on disastrous.

But Hampton strung four goals together in the fourth to stop the deficit from blowing out even further.

Will McTaggart stood tall with three goals while Daniel Corp was Hampton’s best with two.

Up in Premier, Beaumaris fought diligently against University Blacks at Banksia Reserve before being outscored in the last quarter.

The Sharks led at quarter time 5.2-32 to 4.3-27 until Blacks flipped the margin in their favour by halftime.

Beauie remained in the contest in the fourth quarter however Uni Blacks kicked goals when required and moved 17-points clear by the final whistle.

Matthew Lovejoy finished with three majors and Steven Scott earned Beaumaris’ best on.

At Brunswick St Oval Parkdale Vultures were within six points of Fitzroy at three-quarter-time before being outgunned.

The Vultures kicked eight goals in the second quarter to grab an 11-point lead at the half.

Five goals straight to the Roys in the third quarter ate into Parkdale’s advantage.

Four majors in the last quarter were enough to give Fitzroy a 13-point win.

Charlie Dillon was Parkdale’s prime sharpshooter with six goals and Nathan Papatsanis played second fiddle contributing four.

Old Mentonians ended its season with a 17-point win over NOBS/St Pats at Alec Gillon Oval.

The Panthers retained a marginal lead after each break and survived a 10-goal shootout in the fourth to claim the final four points.

Old Mentonians’ Kyle Conlon tore the game apart with a seven-goal effort from the midfield in his third B. O. G performance in as many weeks.

Simon Richards celebrates a St Bedes goal against Old Brighton Grammarians. Picture: Andy Brownbill.

Collegians played the victor and the spoiler in the Lions’ upset win over Old Carey on Saturday afternoon, escaping the Premier relegation zone and ending the Panthers’ finals prospects.

The pair couldn’t be separated in the first quarter as the two were tied at 26 apiece at Harry Trott Oval.

And it was much the same in the second, although Old Carey’s accuracy produced a two-point advantage at the main break despite Collegians’ three more scoring shots.

The turning point came in the second half with Collegian kicking 12 goals to Old Carey’s four.

Seven majors in the third quarter created the buffer and another five in the fourth solidified a 40-point Lions victory.

Shura Taft finished with four goals and Sebastian Evans was best on ground for a second week running.

The four points boosts Collegians one game clear of the drop with one round remaining.

They travel to University Blacks in Round 18 while relegation rivals Old Scotch must beat Old Xaverians and hope the Lions lose to beat the drop.

In Premier B AJAX is finishing its season on a high after a healthy victory over Hampton Rovers at Boss James Reserve.

The Jackas got a hot six-goal start to the Rovers’ two in the opening quarter and gradually extended the margin throughout the game.

Hampton steadied the tide in the last quarter but the result was beyond doubt sounding a 69-point AJAX win.

AJAX’s Jake Lew had a day out slotting 10 majors; Adam and Bradley Caplan contributed three each.

Although AJAX closed the gap on Old Brighton in fourth to four points, they remain more than 30 per cent behind making finals.

Last-placed Caulfield Grammarians played host to first-placed St Kevins and had an expectedly rough outing.

The undefeated Skobs claimed a 128-point and 17th consecutive victory at Glenhuntly Oval.

Connor Wilson topped the Fields’ goalkickers with two while William Barker was the Grammarians’ best and kicked a major.

Old Haileyburians hold onto fourth spot in Premier C for another week, despite falling to Monash Blues by 28-points.

The Bloods were kept goal-less in the first quarter and couldn’t bridge the gap the Blues created with five opening-term goals.

And although Haileybury had control of the second quarter with six more scoring shots, eight of those were minor scores only closing the margin to 19.

Monash regained its cushion in the third and maintained it in the fourth to trump Haileybury.

Inside midfielder Jordan Toy earned the Bloods’ best on honours.

Albert Park closed its season with a 29-point win over Eley Park Sharks.

On the back of a six goal to one-third quarter, the Falcons were able to retain their advantage in the fourth to collect their fifth scalp this year.

De La Salle fought its way into the Premier section top four with an 18-point win over ladder leader St Bernards at Waverley Oval.

After defeating Old Trinity the previous weekend, De La jumped St Bernards to take a 10-point lead at quarter-time. The Snowdogs reduce the margin to two-points at the long break.

Inaccurate kicking at goal hurt De La Salle as it had eight more scoring shots than the Snowdogs in the first half. But an assertive third quarter gave De La a rightful 18-point lead at the final interval.

De La Salle has gone eight games without a loss.

Leigh Harrison bagged four goals for De La and Sam Haslem was best afield.

Thomas “Puck” Humphrey was among the best in his 100th game.

It has been a remarkable turnaround for De La. It has gone from being stuck in the relegation zone to earning a finals position with wins over the top two sides the past two weeks.

Other outcomes also fell De La’s way on Saturday with Collegians upsetting Old Carey to push De La above the Panthers.

One game remains in the home-and-away season and with a two-point buffer on the remaining contenders, only 10th placed Beaumaris is capable of taking De La Salle’s spot in the four.