It's happened again - SKOB Seniors have prevailed in yet another nail biter in this season of tight finishes. This week, SKOB finished two points ahead of Old Brighton, and in the process jumped to second spot on the ladder in Premier. Unlike last week it was a case of hanging on after the tonners kicked a late goal to reduce the margin to a point and further trim the chewed fingernails of fans who have come to expect heart stopping finishes week in week out. The Reserves had to shake off a determined Old Brighton and were forced to work hard until the final term when 4 goals to zip gave them a comfortable margin. The Academy came up against an injury depleted Fitzroy and cruised to a big win. The Stingers called Old Brighton's home ground their own this weekend and "hosted" Willy - sailing to a 40 point win at the Beach. In Women's comps, the Saints teams again went three for three with the green gold and blue all getting wins. Alas it was a tougher day in the Under 19s with the Premier going under by 3 points to Xavs, the Division 2’s and Div 4’s finding their opponents too strong on the day, but overall the club registered 7 wins from 10..
Winter arrives
A best afield performance from Luke Winter on the first day of the chilly season was the catalyst for SKOB seniors who won another heart stopper, surely testing their supporters resolve - not just the length of their shortening fingernails - to claim second spot on the premiership table.
The match was highly anticipated amongst amateur circles as it pitted the unbeaten Old Brighton against a team looking to transform the King back into the fortress it was in 2022. The tonners arrived in hot form and having won the corresponding fixture last year were confident of repeating the dose. With a couple out from their previous week’s thrilling win against Old Scotch, SKOB unveiled their latest talent from the Under 19 pool, George Delimitrou for his debut. Not sure how many Under 19s that makes for the season - will have to ask Peter Mac - but it must be some kind of record at SKOB.
As the pundits had predicted there was never much separating these sides all day, although it was the visitors who had their nose in front for most of it. Kicking the first two goals, the tonners jumped away but SKOB were able to manage two in reply and had a small break at the first change. Brighton then enjoyed their best phase of the match in the second quarter, although SKOB were able to strike late to keep themselves in the contest, but the final goal of the half went to the visitors who gave themselves a buffer of 7 points as the scones and afternoon tea were served. Throughout the season we’ve seen the third quarters become real grinds as teams defend stoutly and scoring becomes a premium. Such was the case on Saturday as teams traded a goal each before 25 minutes of goal-less footy set things up as the teams hit the huddles for the final time with 6 points the margin to the visitors.
Patrick Kerr continued his habit of scoring early in the final stanza, and his goal tied things up before Cal Jones kicked one that was all but through the big sticks when it landed atop the right post to give the hosts the lead by the merest margin. A few minutes later the lead changed as Brighton scored from the square, then Sam Tucker was on the end of a nice chain of play and replied to again tie the scores. Shortly afterwards Tucker again showed why he has become a match winner as he reacted quickly to the umpires call of touched and immediately played on after a grab in the goal square, snapping over his shoulder to give SKOB a seven point lead. Again Brighton came back at SKOB and scored with 5 minutes on the clock - the margin, a single point. Lachie Farrugia took a couple of saving marks at half back to repel the tonners and after an Ollie Gill behind made the margin 2 points, Brighton had one last surge. Looking to go coast to coast they brought the ball to their half forward line when it was forced over the boundary as the siren sounded to see SKOB home.
A great tussle by two teams that might well be there at the pointy end of the season - although there is still a long way to go. Best players for SKOB were Luke Winter, Bill Coates, Lachie Farrugia, Liam Waters, Pat Kerr and Ollie Gill. Next week is a bye for all teams for the long weekend before we return to TH King to face Uni Blacks - a game that marks the halfway point of the season.
SKOB thank retired champs
On Saturday SKOB recognised the efforts of three recently retired SKOB premiership players for their service. At the pre-match lunch, James Stewart (Senior Premiership player 2015), Cal Matheson (Senior Premiership player 2015, 2017, 2018 & 2022 - and 2 x Best & Fairest) and Josh Tynan (Senior Premiership Player 2022) were all given a rousing reception from the lunch time audience.
Reserves Get Four Wins on the Trot
Ressies' scoop Yanni was at the King this week to catch all the action:
"The SKOB’s Reserves arrived at TH King looking to continue their hot start to the season with a home fixture against Old Brighton.
The game started with a hotly contested first quarter, with both teams vying for the early advantage. The SKOB’s boys initially found themselves on the back foot but managed to bring it back with a red-time goal, keeping the score tight.
The second stanza started with the SKOB’s boys generating great transitional ball movement and fast hands, dominating the forward half as they pushed for more forward scoring shots. Unfortunately, their good work in the forward half didn’t translate as much as they’d hoped on the scoreboard, but they were still able to increase their margin to a nine-point lead.
After the halftime break, the SKOB’s boys looked to get some breathing space on the scoreboard but found themselves kept at bay for the majority of the quarter. The defensive line was able to hold their composure as the boys managed to stay in touch, kicking two late goals to keep the scores level.
The final turn was upon us, as the boys really showed the home fans what they’re made of. Putting their foot down on the throttle, the ball gravitated to the boys' forward end as they pocketed snag after snag. Four unanswered goals were scored, removing all doubt from the outcome.
This result makes the SKOB’s Reserves 6-2 heading into the bye, keeping the fans and this reporter on the edge of our seats and excited to see what’s to come in the second half of the season for the boys."
Academy school the Roys / Stingers at home by the sea
Our man on the ground was at the King for the early game and filed this report:
"Normally a coach will deflect and pass off cliches about not being able to take much from a 170 point demolition of an opponent but assistant coach Ewen Harley was upbeat and philosophical after the Academy boys dominated throughout the entire 100 minutes.
‘After ¼ time the scoreboard wasn’t really relevant so we wanted to focus our players on what we do well and making sure we competed to our standards, irrespective of the score.’
And the young Skobs do that in spades – Josh Willmot clunking marks at will, Matt Canning a non-stop threat with precision finishing and, the hugely talented but sometimes over-looked and under-appreciated, Xander Dietre a complete menace to the Fitzroy defence. All finishing with 5+ goals each.
The forwards were given outstanding service from a mid-field anchored around the outstanding work of Big Tower, Ollie Phillips – whose body of work is showing great development which, with his ruck colleague, Jack Romanain stepping up to duty in the Reserves bodes well for the long term fortunes of SKOB ruck stocks. With Jet Brown and Arty Nguyen getting busy at ground level it was a long day of chasing green, gold and blue jumpers for the Lions boys.
Academy Director, Ian Robson, concurred with coach Harley,
‘To win that big is one thing but to see effort, gut running and 1%ers still happening with a minute to go when we were 160 points up speaks volumes to the integrity of character of these lads to compete. The coaching team were really proud of the boys in the way they played and the respect and humility that they won with’.
6 & 3 at the half way of the season The Academy now sit 2nd on the ladder."
The Stingers were "hosting" Willy CY's at Brighton Beach oval - with thanks to Old Brighton. At their home away from home, the Will brigade bounced back from last week's loss to the ladder leaders with a methodical performance that saw them salute by 40 points. The match saw two SKOB greats chalk up game 199 each to be on the doorstep of a major milestone that will be celebrated by all at SKOB. Dancing Ricky Caldow and Matt Maff Shannon made it to 199 in clean health and will look to bring up their 200ths shortly. For the Stingers there were great players in abundance, none more so than Zach Close, Lachie Haig, Otis Trail, Harris Buultjens, Matt Shannon (3 goals in game # 199) and Nicholas Walker
Gold get it done in second half blitz
The Saints Gold game had to come from behind at half time as an accurate Coburg pushed them all the way at old Rigret on Saturday. Despite having twice the scoring shots, the Saints were down by two points at the main break and needed a lift in the second half to get over the line and maintain their unbeaten record. Once again the win was on the back of 3 goals from Holly Kenealy who is proving to be another great target for Coach Tommy's team. A 6 goal to 2 second half was enough to win it for SKOB who now have a week off before the clash of the season when they take on the other unbeaten team in the comp - Old Scotch. Can't wait for that one.
Best for the Saints were Tess Cattle, Lily Davies, Ashleigh Summers, Mischa Beaconsfield, Holly Kenealy and Brooklyn Perry.
The Blues can't be stopped
After dropping their first three games of the season it was looking like a mountain to climb for the Saints Blues, but since then they have been unstoppable, winning 6 games on end and launching themselves into the top four near the half way point of the season.
Jumping out early SKOB were five goals to the good at the main break and went on to double this output in the second half to record a big 65 point win over a fellow top four aspirant.
Still plenty of footy ahead of them, but for now the Blues are showing a steely resolve and a determination to keep the winning run going.
Georgie Nolan, Charlotte Waller, Dominique Garcia, Lucia Bancovich, Alice Straford and Sienna Vallejo were amongst the best.
Green Machine keep living the dream
Numbers have been tight in recent weeks for the Green Machine, but they are sticking together and keep stringing the wins - this time over Old Yarra Cobras. It's been a lot of fun getting around and playing against different opposition each week unlike the last few years in a limited thirds comp, and the dreamers are living and loving it all the way.
Coach Lewis was back at the helm this weekend and after a tight battle early the Saints got their green machine humming in the second half and drew away to a solid win.
Best for SKOB were Antonietta Di Cosmo, Cara Davies, Edenn Baczyk, Lauren Barnes, Emily Wallace and Lucy Leckey
Tough weekend for the Unders
It was a tricky old day for the SKOB 19s with all teams going under on the weekend. The Premier team were up against arch rivals Old Xavs and looked in command for most of the day, only to run out of petrol tickets in the last quarter and just come up short. it was a terrific tussle with plenty on the line, and the loss means that SKOB drop to fourth in a very tight competition. With all teams now having played each other once it will be a battle royale in the second phase of the season to see who will qualify for the finals spots. Best players for SKOB were Oscar white, Xavier Duke, Liam Edwards, Hudson Lefoe, Noah Spiteri and William Young.
The Div 2's and Div 4's both came up against pretty strong competition but gave great efforts and never stopped battling all day. For the Div 2's the best were Ronan Smythe, Lachie Teal, James Hunt, Nelson Conwell and Seb Nogara, whilst for the Div 4's they were best served by Will Hearn, Max Cann, Neth De Silva, Matisse Kerr, Henry Jones and Dante Pettinella
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