St Kevins shakes free of a determined AJAX outfit in the second half to remain undefeated

AJAX lacked the firepower to stay with undefeated St Kevins and dropped two games out of the four in Premier B following Saturday’s 41-point defeat.

Nicholas Wood of St Kevin's in action during the VAFA Premier B Round 14 match between St Kevin's OB and Ajax played at TH King Oval on Saturday, August 1, 2015, in Glen Iris, Victoria, Australia. Picture: Hamish Blair

AJAXlost ground in the chase for a finals berth in Premier B and now sits two games behind Old Melburnians in fourth, following its loss to the undefeated St Kevins on Saturday.

The Jackas were never blown away by St Kevins but also didn’t possess the firepower to beat the streak at T H King Oval.

They got as close as seven points at halftime until the Skobs took control and extended the lead to the final margin of 41-points.

David Fayman kicked four for Ajax.

Three quarters into their meeting with University Blues, Collegians looked the goods to get their first Premier Section win since May.

They took an eight-point lead into the last quarter but lost it as the Blues kicked eight goals to three to hand them their sixth consecutive loss and a place in the relegation zone.

Inaccuracy in the first three quarters left University Blues chasing the home side all day.

The Blues shot themselves in the foot with a wayward 7.12 compared to Collegians’ straight 10.2.

The Blues’ 22-point victory pushed them into the top four after Old Xaverians lost its spot in the four, losing to ladder-leader St Bernards.

Nick Corp was Collegians’ shining light with five goals.

Caulfield Grammarians had a forgettable day as they succumbed to Hampton Rovers by 70 points. The Grammarians’ fate of relegation appears sealed. The loss is their 12th of the season.

The Rovers racked up 25 goals with Daniel Corp and Ed Turner collecting four goals each.

Caulfield had five multiple goal-kickers but in a game with free flowing attack and a lack of defence it was not near enough to get the four points.

Old Haileyburians are doing their best to surrender fourth spot in Premier C as Marcellin made light work of the Bloods.

The Eagles had 11 goal-kickers in the 65-point win with no one kicking more than two in a strong team performance.

Haileybury holds onto fourth spot with one game in hand. But a poor percentage (93.43) could come back to bite them.

In Division 2 South Melbourne Districts were outmatched against St Johns at Lindsay Hassett Oval, with their final score not even matching the opposition’s first quarter total.

St Johns kicked 25 goals to six in their 118-point victory.

Elsternwick stayed with Old Paradians for three quarters with only a goal the difference at three-quarter-time.

The Wickers fought diligently until the bottom fell out.

Paradians kicked 12 goals in the final term to win by 77 points.

Power House put up a fight in Division 3 with Luke Stubbs kicking five goals against Aquinas in the 38-point home loss.

Albert Park went down by 20-points to Swinburne University.

The Falcons dropped off in the last term after having been within four points of the winners at the final change.

In round nine De La Salle sat at the bottom of the Premier table with a record of 1-8.

Since then De La hasn’t lost a game and now sits on five wins after grinding out a 17-point victory over reigning premiers University Blacks at Melbourne University Oval.

And with how the section has unravelled, they are just above the relegation zone and still in the mix for finals.

The improvement has come across all areas including inside midfielder Tom Curry.

“Tom continues to play some outstanding footy. He’s had a fantastic month after a really quiet start to the year,” coach Paul Satterly said.

Curry was dropped earlier on in the season but since returning to the seniors he’s been best on ground three times including the victory over Blacks.

“He’s been a real catalyst for our improvement,” Satterly said.

The matchup with Collegians at Waverley Oval this weekend will define which end of the ladder De La Salle will be fighting for.

Victory over the Lions will create a one-game gap between themselves and the relegation zone and move De La one game closer to University Blues in fourth.

Old Xaverians are also still in the hunt for finals contention despite losing to first placed St Bernards.

Old Xavs went on the front foot at St Bernards College and muscled its way to a 14-point quarter-time lead with three goals to one.

The scoring lifted from here but Xaviers’ two-goal advantage remained, as the Snowdogs couldn’t breach the gap. St Bernards proved it belongs at the top with five goals in the fourth term to reverse the margin and win by 12-points.

Chad Jones kicked a game-high six goals for the Snowdogs, Matthew Handley and Andrew Mathis each ended with four in the loss.

In Division 1, Old Geelong snicked clear in the third quarter to defeat Prahran Assumption at Como Park on Saturday.

The Two Blues stuck with the OG’s for two quarters with less than a kick separating the two at the quarter and halftime breaks.

But the hosts took the ascendancy in the third, with seven majors to open up a 38-point buffer at the final change.

The damage had been done in the quarter prior as Old Geelong finished the game 46-point victors.

Callum Wood kicked five for Old Geelong while Alexander Stewart and Carl Joyce contributed with three apiece.

Best for the Two Blues were James Musster, Daniel Anglin, Blayne Dempsey, Rick Ellis, John Robbins and Mathew Pell.

Ellis and Matthew Shaw each kicked three goals.

The OG’s stay in touch of a top two-spot as it sits third, one game behind ladder leaders Ormond with three games remaining. Prahran Assumption is sixth with a record of 6-9 and hosts fifth-placed Whitefriars on Saturday at Toorak Park.

Old Brighton Grammarians’ chase for a top-two spot on the Premier B table is alive after a grinding victory over a young Parkdale Vultures side at home on Saturday.

The Vultures got the early jump on the Tonners with the first two goals of the game but the Tonners regrouped and with the likes of Dylan Verney playing as the link across half back and setting things alight by foot, Brighton kicked ahead late in the term.

Parkdale closed the gap in the second quarter to two points at half time before firing after the break.

The Vultures delivered in the ‘premiership quarter’ when the Tonners couldn’t and nailed two goals against the tide while Brighton stumbled and hit the post twice.

It was a shootout in the final quarter as Old Brighton’s better forward line put five goals on the board to Parkdale’s three to win by 10 points.

Best-on-ground honours went to Charlie King for his two goals at crucial times. Daniel Anthony finished with four goals.

Despite the loss Parkdale coach Sam Radford was pleased with his sides four

quarter effort.

“I’m certainly not happy with the result but I’m happy with the way we went

about it today,” Sam Radford said.

“I thought the effort was really good, decision making was good, pressure was

great and in the end we just got beaten by a side with a bit more class.

“We are a really young side and as long as we keep improving and trying like that

we are in it and a chance to stay up in B grade.”

Parkdale’s hopes of remaining in Premier B will be tested

against the top two sides St Bedes/Mentone and St Kevins in the next fortnight.

“It’s exciting to see how we go against them and see if we can learn stuff and see

where we are at,” Radford said.

Perched at 4-10 and one game clear of the relegation zone, Parkdale is aiming for at

least one more win to stay afloat.

It’s a decisive month ahead for Old Brighton if it is to claim a top two spot with top four rival Old Melburnians this week, then second-placed St Bedes/Mentone in three weeks time.

Further down the table are the Hampton Rovers who stand in no man’s land, clear of relegation and a third straight finals appearance beyond them.

Hampton plays Fitzroy on Saturday at Brunswick St Oval. Both sit at 6-8 with four games remaining.

Up in Premier section Beaumaris remains at the bottom of the table and is destined to be relegated — two and a half wins away from safety in the month left in the home-and-away season.

The Sharks hosted Old Scotch in a scrappy, low- scoring affair and led 24-23 at three-quarter time.

The Cardinals then opened the floodgates with eight goals and won by 53 points.

St Bedes/Mentone, held onto second spot with a 30-point victory over fellow finals contender Old Melburnians.

The Tigers had to claw their way back into the contest after facing a 14-point deficit at

the half, which fell to four at three-quarter-time.

In the last St Bedes/Mentone doubled its goal tally with seven goals to one to

get up.

James Murnane was best-on-ground for the Tigers with four goals.

In Division 1, Old Mentonians were defeated by 100-points at Turner

Road Reserve by Kew.

The Panthers stood in the way of Kew’s climb for ladder supremacy and the

back-to-premiers wasted no time moving past the home side.

The Bears ended all hopes of an Old Mentonians upset by halftime and reached

the century mark minutes before the final siren.

Brad Norton led the Panthers with another best-on performance

while Kyle Conlon was OMFC’s only multiple goal kicker with three.