Under 19 Round Review
By Britt Goldsmith
Listen back to this week’s The 5th Quarter podcast, featuring SFNL field umpire and former AFL goal umpire Luke Walker as the special guest, in the player above.
ROUND 4 REVIEW
St Kilda City 13.12-90 def Bentleigh 8.6-54
An admirable last-minute climb proved too little too late for the Demons in Round 4, going down by six goals in a tough loss to St Kilda City.
A score of 13.12 worked for City last round and it did again in this match, with Aaron Tenenbaum contributing to nearly half of their scoring effort with a six-goal haul of his own.
Kade Sujaini was best for the winners, who kept Bentleigh to just one point at the first break and led by 55 points heading into the final term.
Down by 55 points at three quarter time, a reinvigorated Bentleigh unit returned to the field in an unexpected shift of momentum, booting 4.4 and keeping a stunned City to just 0.9.
However, City’s early workload rewarded them here, securing them a 36-point victory. An earlier awakening of an initially snoozy Bentleigh could have written a very different story.
Riley Hughes led the charge for City alongside Sujaini, and Ryan Carlson starred for the hopeful visitors.
Keysborough 16.15-111 def Hampton 8.6-54
Keysborough sung their song for the first time this season, with a sweet 57-point victory over Hampton.
The game was anyone's to take at the main break, with only six points dividing the sides. However, Keysborough returned from half time recharged and leaving Hampton far in the distance.
Keysborough was dominant with a damaging scoring effort from half time onwards, largely influenced by Adam Machnikowski's merciless eight goals.
Despite an inspiring effort from their best and five-time goal kicker Kyall Reynolds, the game simply slipped out of control for Hampton after the main break, with Keysborough rubbing salt in their wounds with a 11 to three goal smashing in the second half.
Dingley 18.6-114 def Endeavour Hills 5.6-36
The ladder-topping Dingoes remain untouched heading into Round 5, after a 78-point triumph over Endeavour Hills.
The Falcons were no match for the visitors, who jumped to a 6.0 start and led by four goals at the first break.
Jake Gray led a relentless Dingo pack from there, who continued to pile on another 12 goals to the home side’s three – with powerful forward Jack Farrington contributing to over half of Dingley’s damage with eight goals to his name.
Farrington currently tops the leading goal scorer’s list, seven goals clear of second place.
Oakleigh District 9.15-69 def East Brighton 9.7-61
East Brighton came close to knocking off last year’s premiers, falling short by eight points at home.
With their best Fraser Young again in top form, East Brighton led for the first half of the match, but lost grip when Oakleigh managed to claw back into the game in the third term.
Down by 13 points heading into the final term, East Brighton were able to generate a response and outscore their opponents by five points in the dying minutes of the match, but it just wasn’t enough with Oakleigh managing to hang on by a thread and taking the cake.
Six individual goal kickers secured the win for Oakleigh, including two from Gianluca Cappiello in a best on ground performance.
Parkmore / Springvale Districts 13.4-82 def Cheltenham / St Pauls 6.7-43
Parkmore / Springvale are yet to drop a game approaching Round 5, running over Cheltenham / St Pauls by 39 points.
Kicking six goals, Jacob Bakes was another Under 19s player with a huge scoring effort this week in his best on ground performance, alongside starring teammate Robert Lega Frost.
Cheltenham / St Pauls were on the back-foot from the beginning in this match, as Parkmore / Springvale were able to consistently build on their game every quarter – including a highlight second half where they kept the home side to just 13 points, in stark comparison to their 63.
A highlight game from Cheltenham / St Pauls’ Jarryd Cox did not go unnoticed, as his side remains on the lookout for their first win of the season.
