By Jason Barbin
@JBarbin10
ROUND 9 REVIEW
The remaining four games of Round 9 were played last weekend with no surprising results, though East Brighton gave Caulfield a good run for its money.
Caulfield 9.11 (65) def East Brighton 6.10 (46)
It took a solid final term for Caulfield to finally break away from East Brighton in a fantastic display of football at Koornang Park.
The Bears trailed by a solitary point at three quarter time but piled on three goals to one behind in the last to run away 19-point winners.
Jake Buggy was the match winner for the victors, booting three goals in a best afield performance while Cameron Roughead and Rowan Clark were influential.
Neither side was able to break away from the other during the first half of play, each kicking 4.8 to remain even stevens at half time.
A solitary behind separated the two sides during the third term as they each kicked two goals but it was the Vampires who led, before the Bears burst away in the final term with three goals.
Mark Jamieson and Liam McKay were named East Brighton’s best.
Murrumbeena 22.15 (147) def Mount Waverley 7.12 (54)
Murrumbeena kicked 11 goals in each half of play to run out comfortable 93-point victors against Mount Waverley at Murrumbeena Park.
After missing a month of football, Luke James was at his blistering best with seven goals in a best on ground performance while Mark Marasco and Alaster Bradley combined for eight goals.
Thomas Valenta, Cory Hargrave and Chris Niclasen were also in good form for Paul Howroyd’s side.
A contested first quarter saw the Beena lead by just 15 points at quarter time before a seven-goal second term stretched the margin to 50 points by half time.
After conceding the first goal of the third term, the Beena piled on three more to increase the lead to 61 points before finishing the game off in style, outscoring the Lions eight goals to three.
Hampton 15.7 (97) def Skye 10.5 (65)
Despite several challenges from the visiting side, Hampton was able to keep Skye at arm length largely thanks to an excellent showing from Mark Devereaux.
Devereaux booted three of the last five goals of the game to steer Hampton to victory with a best afield performance with Thomas Woodward and Dylan Chisholm also kicking three goals.
Callum White and Matthew Pola were in good form for the Hammers, while Zach Harland and Nathan McConville were among the best for the Bombers.
Hampton was able to burst away in the opening half, booting five goals in the first and four in the second to race away to a 25-point lead.
Skye was able to remain in the game during the third term however, booting three goals to trim the gap to 21 points at the final change, but Devereaux put his stamp on the contest with three final quarter goals to lift the Hammers to a 32-point triumph.
Highett 12.20 (92) def Clayton 4.5 (29)
It wasn’t always pretty, but Highett was able to get the job done against Clayton, winning by 63 points at Turner Road Reserve.
Three players finished the game with two goals for the Dogs, who lifted their scoring with seven goals in the second half, though inaccuracy plagued them throughout.
Nathan Scott was at his influential best and was named as the top Dog in the win, while Yianni Pasialis and Beau Jedd were also impressive.
Highett seemingly had control of the game from the outset, racing out to a 16-point lead at quarter time and extending it to 27 points by half time, though accurate kicking could’ve made for a bigger lead.
Clayton was unable to capitalise on the Dogs’ inaccuracy however, as the home side booted seven goals to two in the second half to run away with the win.
Matthew Wilson was named Clayton’s best with two goals while Jordan Collins was also among the best.
