Old Melburnians crushes Caulfield Grammarians in last game of footy at Junction Oval
AFTER an even first quarter, Old Melburnians kicked clear of Caulfield Grammarians, taking a 47-point halftime lead which blew out even further in the second half.
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THE final ever game of footy played at the famous Junction Oval won’t be remembered too fondly by anybody at Caulfield Grammarians.
After the Fields’ reserves went down by 98 point earlier in the day, the seniors struggled to keep up with Melburnians and eventually fell to a 59-point loss, their 11th for the year.
Only one point separated the two at quarter time but a half-hour or so later the game was over, with Old Melburnians enjoying a 47-point lead.
Daniel Meddings and Timothy Yelland each kicked two goals for the Fields but little help came from elsewhere.
Grammarians remains a game clear on the bottom of the Premier B table but relegation is not yet a formality with five games still to come.
AJAX on the road is up next. The Jackas go into that game just one win outside the top four after clinging onto their slender lead against Old Brighton Grammarians when the final siren rang at Gary Smorgan Oval.
It was a dogged, low-scoring affair riddled by poor kicking and rushed behinds and after AJAX kept the Tonners goal-less in the first half, Old Brighton clawed its way back.
The margin was eight points at three-quarter time after the Tonners finally hit the scoreboard with three goals in the third quarter but with the help of two goals from Jake Lew and a best-on-ground performance which included a goal from Evgeni Routman, the Jackas held on for a three-point win.
The win closed the gap with Old Brighton on the outskirts of the top four and kept the Jackas’ finals prospects intact.
In Premier Section Collegians’ fight to avoid relegation took another hit, this time at St Bernards.
The Lions have lost five games in a row since beating lowly De La Salle in May but on Saturday never got blown out of the water by the ladder-leading Snowdogs.
The Lions led by a point at half-time but could only kick three goals in the second half to eventually go down by 17 points.
With no Shura Taft on the park, Julian Eimutis was Collegians’ lone multiple goal-kicker with two while James Jorgensen and Dylan Swann were among the Lions’ best.
In Premier C Old Haileyburians is still comfortably sitting in the top four but on Saturday was surprisingly taken down by Williamstown CYMS.
The Bloods’ backline had no answer for CYMS forward Nick Ebinger, whose six-goal haul was the difference in the visitors’ 30-point win.
Brett Voss kicked three for Haileyburians.
South Melbourne Districts could not follow its first Division 2 win of the year with another one on the road against the Northern Blues.
The Blues dominated on their home turf at Ruthven Reserve and had the game won by quarter time with a 49-point lead. The final margin blew out to 95.
Elsternwick’s day wasn’t much better against Melbourne High School Old Boys, kicking only five goals in a 99-point loss.
DE La Salle’s fight to avoid relegation received a small boost but not with a win at Old CareyGrammarians.
Instead, De La managed to snare a draw against the finals-bound Panthers after coming back from 18 points down at half-time.
Tom Curry finished the day with two goals and was De La’s best as the visitors battled hard to keep up with Carey throughout the day.
Down by 10 points at three-quarter time, De La kicked six goals to four in the final term but some wayward kicking (2.7) in the first term eventually proved costly and ultimately the points had to be split.
Sam Williams, Antony Forato (one goal) and Tom Humphrey were the main De La contributors.
Old Xaverians has moved a game clear in the top four after taking care of bottom-placed Beaumaris at Toorak Park.
Matthew Handley again starred up forward for Xavs and best-on-ground Marcus Allan was the support act with four goals as the hosts kicked clear of the Sharks in the second half.
Xavs outscored Beaumaris with eight goals to two in the second half to score its seventh win of the year.
In Premier B undefeated St Kevins is now just one win away from securing top spot after getting the job done on the road to Hampton Rovers.
The inaccurate Skobbers turned in their lowest score for the year but were able restrict the Rovers to just six goals for the day to earn a hard-fought 20-point win.
With ex-Hawk Stephen Gilham out of the side, Henry Parkes became the main focal point up forward and kicked three of the Skobbers’ seven goals for the day. Gerard Gleeson kicked two.
JOSH Manning snagged a lazy five goals in Parkdale’s gritty eight-point win over Mazenod.
The Vultures have been hovering around the Premier B relegation zone for a lot of their season and went into Saturday’s Round 13 clash at Gerry Green Reserve hoping to make some inroads in their fight to stay up in the second tier for another year.
While it all began pretty well with an 11-point lead at quarter time, the Vultures were kept scoreless in the second term but luckily still held onto a slender lead going into the sheds with Mazenod only adding four behinds.
A recognisable game of footy finally broke out in the third term and Parkdale was the beneficiary of that on the scoreboard, kicking five goals to Mazenod’s three to lead by 21 points at three-quarter time.
While the visitors came home strongly in the final term, Sam Radford’s men managed to hold on for a crucial fourth win of the year.
Manning’s bag of five earned him best-on-ground honours while Daniel Moloney and Mathew Ryan were also solid in the hard-fought win.
The result moved the Vultures a game clear from of the relegation zone — above ninth-placed Mazenod.
However, the upcoming three-week block of games makes for daunting reading for Parkdale, with finals-bound Old Brighton Grammarians, St Bedes/Mentone and St Kevins all coming up next.
Meanwhile St Bedes has risen to second place on the table after easily taking care of Fitzroy.
The Tigers led at every change and completely dominated the Lions on their home deck at Brindisi Street Oval, effectively killing off the game by half-time.
Tim Doherty and Luke Velluto each kicked four goals and Patrick Tyquin continued his good year with another three as St Bedes capitalised on its 62-point half-time lead to go on and score an easy 84-point win.
Tyquin was best-on-ground and Daniel Garside also drew praise from Mick Dwyer and his coaching staff in the Tigers’ ninth win of the year.
With Old Brighton faltering in its game against Ajax, St Bedes is now equal with Old Melburnians at 9-4 but enjoys a much better percentage over the Oms.
Old Melburnians will be the next opponent for the Tigers this weekend back at Brindisi Street Oval before a local derby away to Parkdale in Round 15.
In Division 1 Old Mentonians snapped a three-game losing streak to help its bid to avoid the drop. The Panthers are now two games clear of the relegation zone after outlasting Yarra Valley at Doncaster Reserve.
The margin never strayed beyond a couple of kicks for most of the day before the Panthers eventually ran over the top of the Bushrangers in the final term with four goals to one.
Tristan Strange was a star in the 25-point win for Mentonians with one goal and Luke Hull led the way up forward with three.
Games against Kew and St Mary’s Salesian will both be tough challenges for the Panthers in the coming fortnight before relegation is decided in the final two rounds against Whitefriars and NOBS/St Pats.
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