Fitzroy has jumped out of the Premier B relegation zone with win over Ajax

After a tough fortnight, Fitzroy bounced back with a historic first and moved out of the VAFA Premier B relegation zone with a win over Ajax.

Ted Clayton celebrates a goal for Fitzroy. Picture: David Crosling

Fitzroy secured a slice of history on Saturday and moved clear of the VAFA Premier B relegation zone in the process.

The Roys’ 23-point win over Ajax was the club’s first at Gary Smorgon Oval and saw them jump to eighth, percentage ahead of Old Carey in the battle for survival.

Following tough losses to top sides University Blacks and Old Haileybury, it was a critical result to get Fitzroy’s season back on track.

Played in freezing conditions at Albert Park, a six-goal-to-one third quarter set up the breakthrough 11.6 (72) to 7.7 (49) win.

Roys coach Luke Mahoney said his players were rewarded for their defensive efforts in the second quarter, limiting Ajax to just 1.1 with the wind.

Fitzroy coach Luke Mahoney. Picture: Peter Casamento.

“The wind was blowing straight into our faces from across the lake, so I would have preferred to have been playing than standing on the bench,” he said.

“We did restrict them quite well … Ajax play a certain way and we were pretty focused in stopping them doing that, the guys were really disciplined and strangled them a bit.

“The last quarter they threw caution to the wind and played a lot quicker but certainly the damage had been done in the third quarter.

“We kicked six goals straight, which makes life a lot easier, and that was from getting a lot of good, deep entries rather than flying shots from 50-60m out.

“We moved the ball a lot more efficiently, Lachie Harris was a really good presence at full forward and Nino Lazzaro got his hands on the ball as well.”

Harris finished with three goals while Lazzaro added two majors as eight Roys got on the scoresheet.

Werribee-listed big man Darcy Bennett was dominant in the ruck, while reigning best-and-fairest Max Ellis was a wall in defence.

“That was Darcy’s best game for us, he was dominant, and gave our onballers first use a lot of the time,” Mahoney said.

“We’re pretty lucky to have him running around for us … he’s certainly ready to go (at VFL level) but there’s a couple of guys at Werribee ahead of him.

“Max has won our last three B&Fs at full-back and played a great game being the captain of the backline and had an important role on their key target (Toby Lipton).”

The win is all the more critical with the competition taking a two-week hiatus.

Fitzroy were denied games against Williamstown CYMS and Old Carey by Melbourne’s lockdown but VAFA will not be rescheduling games.

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The Roys return on July 24 against De La Salle before hosting winless Parkdale Vultures on July 31.

Mahoney is looking to finish the season strongly and cement his club’s place in Premier B.

“We’ve been a little stiff with how the draw panned out,” he said.

“The top four sides have certainly kicked away at the moment and we’ve played them six times and the other five sides four times, so we missed out on playing a couple of teams around us because of the break.

“Our form probably isn’t as bad as what it might look from a win-loss perspective and we’ll be trying to come home with a positive record in the final six (matches).”