Live stream: First week of VAFA Men’s Premier finals features Old Brighton, St Kevins, Old Scotch, Collegians

Down by four goals at halftime, Old Brighton showed their title qualities with a comeback for the ages. Meanwhile, the champs are out and Old Scotch are looking menacing. Watch the REPLAYS.

Minor premiers Old Brighton hit back from a four-goal quartertime deficit to overwhelm St Kevin’s and reach the VAFA Premier Men’s Grand Final.

Old Brighton now have a week off while St Kevins will now face Old Scotch in next weekend’s preliminary final after the Cardinals turned on the style to abruptly end Collegians title defence.

After conceding the opening two goals, SKOB went on a tear, kicking five goals straight in an incredible first-quarter burst to lead 23 points.

Old Brighton v St Kevin's - VAFA Premier men's semi final

They were still 22 points ahead at the main break and seemingly in total control.

Then a four-goal third quarter changed the game as Old Brighton made their move. They were still six points in arrears at the final change, but the momentum had swung.

SKOB got the first goal of the term early but could only manage one more point as Old Brighton finished hard to win 67-61.

Meanwhile, three goals from Angus Symons proved the catalyst for Old Scotch’s 86-42 victgory over Collegians.

There was only 15 points in it at three-quartertime, but Old Scotch kicked five goals to one in the final term to run out convincing winners.

Check the full weekend VAFA LIVE STREAM schedule below.

PREVIEW

If you thought the final round of the VAFA Premier men’s season was a roller-coaster, strap yourself in for the finals series.

The top four teams will face off over the next three weeks dreaming of premiership glory, with the grand final to be played on Friday, September 27.

Old Brighton and St Kevins finished first and second and faced off last week, with the minor premier holding on for a one-point win.

Tonners coach Marcel Bruin said he had “tried a couple of things”, but said it had been important to keep momentum going.

Michael Karayannis has been among the goals of late.

“We’re confident we’ll have a good showing,” he said.

“I think both sides would have walked away from that game happy with what they saw. They’re a very good clearance side and Luke Winter really got hold of us in the second half.

“We don’t want it to be a real clearance game this weekend.”

The Tonners will be without skipper Harry Hill for the rest of the season after he suffered a concussion last weekend.

Under AFL Victoria guidelines, players at local level must miss 21 days with concussion.

“We’ll utilize his experience off the ground,” Bruin said.

“Just having him there will give the boys a lot of confidence.”

For Collegians coach Jordie McKenzie, he said this season has a different pressure to 2023 when the Lions were flag favourites.

“We’ve been in this situation for a few weeks now, it’s been a high stakes game to keep our season alive,” he said.

Can Collegians kick on and defend their title?

“Our group is young and they’ve been standing up when required in the big moments.

“It hasn’t always been perfect but we’ve continued to find ways.”

McKenzie said the “hunter mentality” was something his players had embraced.

“The boys have really bought into it,” he said.

“We’re looking to do it again against another high quality side, that’s the biggest challenge we’re looking at.”

Originally published as Live stream: First week of VAFA Men’s Premier finals features Old Brighton, St Kevins, Old Scotch, Collegians