Round 6 Wrap-Ups

DIVISION ONE with JASON BARBIN

Round 6 has come and gone and a battle has emerged for the final 2 spots in the top 5.

Chelsea Heights looked to keep control of 3rd spot on the ladder when they took on East Malvern at Beazley Reserve. The Heighters controlled the game from start to finish and never trailed. A disappointing effort from East Malvern who know they can perform better. Luke Manders starred for the Heighters with 8 goals.

St Pauls continued their unbeaten start to the season, but it wasn’t one of their better performances. Missing gun forward Luke James, St Pauls relied on a variety of goal kickers to get over the line against a Cheltenham side eager for a good contest. Classy midfielder Jackson Barclay was best on ground for the Rosellas and Michael Johnstone was best afield for the Doggies.

Heatherton continued their improved form of late but unfortunately they ran into a brick wall called St Kilda City. The Saints piled on 27 goals from 13 different goal kickers in a dominating performance that brought them one game closer to a top 5 position. Of those 13 players, Rick McConchie had 6 while Jake Grey continued his good form with 3. Though they were well beaten, the Tonners have looked a better team and a win could be just around the corner.

Clayton surged into 4th spot on the ladder with a commanding performance against Highett at Turner Reserve. The win was set up with an 11 goal first half as the Clayton midfield got on top early and were relentless in their attack on the ball as they blew Highett away. Alex Johnson was best afield with 8 goals for Clayton while Andrew Carey had 3 for Highett.

Dingley also continued their hot start to the season with a road win against East Brighton. The Vampires looked the better side to half time, despite missing a bunch of key players, but it was short lived as the Dingoes outscored the Vampires 8 goals to 2 in the second half after trailing by 1 point. Andrew Frost and Mark Jamieson were best for their respective sides with 2 goals each.

 

DIVISION TWO with THE FOOTY TRAGIC

Well my expert status is restored (for one week at least); Five winners again!

First game saw Bentleigh taking on South Yarra which should have been a shellacking, but South Yarra finally turned up to play. Bentleigh ended up winning by nearly 8 goals but they wouldn’t be happy with that. The old cliche of 'bad kicking is bad football' needs to be inserted here! 9 goals 25 behinds is certainly ugly football. South Yarra battled hard all day and were still in it at 3/4 time, however only managing 3 points in the last quarter won’t win too many games, especially when the other side gets 12 shots at goal, even if they only score 4 goals 8! Still, the win was enough to keep Bentleigh top of the ladder for another week.

The local derby at Murrumbeena certainly turned out to be an entertaining affair. Murrumbeena kicked 7 goals to Caulfield’s 1 in the second quarter, and this was where the match was one. The Bears outscored the Lions in the second half but fell short by 3 goals in the end, and the return game later in the year should be a humdinger!

Speaking of humdingers, the match of the day between Oakleigh District and Skye turned out to be just that! Oakleigh got away to a 3 goal lead at quarter time and Skye kept pegging away and pegging away and finished full of run in the last half to fall short by 2 lousy points in the end. Once again inaccuracy in the 3rd quarter cost the Bombers dearly, and this is another match to look forward to in the return bout later in the year!

Springvale Districts hosted Hampton in a game they may have taken lightly. Luckily for them Hampton never really got going until the last quarter, but it was all too late and the Districts hung on for a 15 point victory.

Moorabbin, buoyed by their win the previous week, took on Mordialloc  at Widdop Cresent in the final game last week. Mordialloc struggled on the small ground and it was only their 3rd quarter effort of 5 goals to Moorabbin’s 1 goal that was the difference. Like the other matches this round, no team really put 4 quarters together but most of the underperforming clubs seemed to put in better efforts, making for an interesting couple of weeks.

 

DIVISION THREE with 'GOOD' WILL HUNTER

Fans were treated to a high-scoring shootout at Barry Powell Reserve on Saturday as Ashwood upstaged Lyndale. After the Magpies’ blistering start the Pumas had managed to reduce the deficit to five points by the main interval. However, seven last quarter goals saw the visitors home by 34 points. Mitchell Saunders was a standout up forward for Ashwood with four majors and Jarryd Uren was again prolific.

Endeavour Hills put in their best performance of the year, but it wasn’t enough to secure the points over Hallam at Barry Simon Reserve. The Falcons led at every change before the Hawks came roaring back to pinch the lead late in the final term and hold on for a remarkable five-point win. Luke Harlen played a blinder, kicking a bag to help Hallam to its first victory of the year.

Over at Power Reserve a gallant Carrum Patterson Lakes gave Doveton an almighty scare. With both sides managing only four goals each to three quarter time and, with less than a kick the difference, an upset was certainly on the cards. But the ladder leaders powered home, booting six goals in the final term to win by 23 points. Brett Hidgcock and Kaine Bundy were instrumental in getting the Eagles over the line, while Daniel Graves was among the best for the Lions.

The next game saw Dandenong put in a commendable performance against Mount Waverley at Greaves Reserve. The Redlegs fought hard all day and were never out of the contest. But with Jarrod Wilkin again starring and Keaton Tribe handy up forward with three goals, the Mountain Lions had the firepower in the final term to run out 32-point winners. Dandenong’s James Farrugia and Matt Van Schajik were also influential.

The final game saw a very one-sided affair at McDonald Reserve with Sandown kicking 32 goals to thrash Black Rock by 161 points. The Cobras’ were back to their devastating best and a 10-goal second term had the game all but won by halftime. Clinton Sheedy and Jake Chapman did the bulk of the damage on the scoreboard, booting an incredible 20 goals between them.

 

UNDER 19s with 'GOOD' WILL HUNTER

Clayton claimed its first victory of the year with a three-goal come-from-behind win over Carrum Patterson Lakes at Roy Dore Reserve. The Lions led at every change, but ran out of steam and Clayton took control in the final term. Nathan Collins was superb and ruckman Jack Gavin was handy up forward with two goals for the Magpies.

Down at Beazley Reserve, Murrumbeena withstood a late charge from Chelsea Heights to record a hard-fought 17-point win. In a low-scoring game, the visitors held the Heighters to just one goal in the first half to set up an unassailable lead by the final change. Jackson Meredith was again one of the driving forces behind Beena’s win.

In the local derby Bentleigh cruised to a comfortable win over St Pauls at McKinnon Reserve. The two sides were evenly matched up until half time, with neither side giving an inch. But with Chris Yenofkian and Liam Hogton-Hewish on fire, the Demons turned it on in the second half booting 12 goals to blow the Dogs away.

Over at Springvale Reserve, Dingley overwhelmed Hampton to record a big win. The Dingoes were dominant from the outset with Shooting Star nominee John Mentiplay in good touch. However, the Hammers seemed to grow in confidence as the game progressed and showed some good signs in the second half.