A perfect weekend for the Senior Men’s and Women’s teams as they all registered wins in crucial matches across the board. At Camberwell, SKOB were dominant in the Seniors, Reserves and Academy with all teams scoring wins over Old Scotch. The Saints Gold and Blue both saluted at Old Rigret against the Roys and the Green Machine got a green tick as Melb Uni forfeited on Sunday. The 19’s Premier dropped a game but the Div 2’s got home in a thriller whilst the Div 4’s battled valiantly against a very strong Therry.
A second quarter blitz gave SKOB a big half time lead and put the game to bed early in their clash with Old Scotch. The scene was set at Camberwell as 2nd played 4th in the VAFA match of the day. The Seniors knew that a win would all but sure up a spot in the finals, and they set about the task from early on. Coming off a big win the week before, SKOB looked to carry on the form into this week. They certainly enjoyed the bulk of play in the forward half in term one, but couldn’t quite get a score on the board to properly reflect this early dominance. It all changed in the second quarter with SKOB going into overdrive. After exchanging early goals, SKOB piled on the last 6 of the second quarter and the first 3 of the next to completely take the game away from their hosts. Patty Kerr and Sam Tucker were both key targets up forward and finished the game with 3 goals apiece, but it was the ability of SKOB to find a spread of goal kicking options that was the difference, with 10 individuals named as hitting the scoreboard (although I think Harry Wardlaw may have been shortchanged a snag as I’m sure he kicked 2…). The game was pretty much settled by half time as SKOB ran up 19 scoring shots to 6 and held a 48 point advantage. After a much closer second half the lead extended out to 54 at the finish. With their final 3 games all at TH King, SKOB will look to keep the momentum going into the final month of the home and away season. Best players for SKOB were Cam Hodges, Billy Coates, Josh Wallis, Sam Tucker, Tom Jok and Jack Andriske.
In their first challenge of a testing month of football the Ressie’s passed their examination with flying colours, proving too strong for Old Scotch who came into the round in 2nd position. Much like the table in the Seniors, SKOB are hanging on to 4th although they are only percentage clear of 5th and must keep winning to feature in September action. So with a win or bust attitude, SKOB were fierce from the outset, setting up the win with a strong first quarter then powering away after half time to finish with 7 goals to 1 in the second half. Once again Zach Ginies was a monster up forward, booting another 6 goals to take his tally to 42 for the season (and 20 goals in just the last 3 weeks). Pat Croagh, Liam O'Neill, Ethan Beer, Zach Ginies, Ethan Bowden and Charlie Bryan were named the best in a very even team performance - with almost all those named hitting the scoreboard too. Another massive challenge awaits next week against Old Melburnians who are in third position on the ladder, but Coach Clough’s boys are starting to hit form at the right time. Of course our man Yanni was there to capture it all in this week's report
SKOB’s Reserves March Towards Finals
Spirits were high after the significant percentage boost last week. The equation is simple for the Reserves: win these next two games, and they will be in line for the 2023 finals. The SKOB’s boys didn't want to get ahead of themselves, keeping a clear goal in sight as they prepared to take on the sheer magnitude of this game against Scotch. These are the games you want to be playing in!
The SKOB’s came out with a bang! Ethan Beers and Liam O’Neil applied elite forward half pressure, creating easy scoring opportunities. In the ruck, Oliver Phillips and Angus Mcquie asserted themselves with the hit-outs, while in the midfield, Ethan Bowden, Jettson Brown, and Liam Mahoney dominated the clearances. Despite winning the territory battle, the score remained close with a two-goal difference at the major break.
Heading into the second half, the SKOB’s Reserves managed to increase their stranglehold on the game by finding more efficiency in the forward half of the ground. The top goal scorer, Zachary Ginies, showed once again why he’s the leading scorer this season. He had a day out, ending the game with six goals, leaving Scotch without answers with one quarter still to go.
From here, the SKOB’s Twos took complete control, asserting themselves in all key areas of the game. It was a textbook definition of a full four-quarter effort from the entire team. Communication from all players was a standout. Thomas Feehan scored the goal of the day with an outside-of-the-boot snap, and Patty Crowe won the nomination for Best on Ground (BOG). Meanwhile, Angus Hart, Jack Byrne, and Chris Gleeson played integral roles in the back six. They secured the four points with a 53-point win.
This weekend, the boys are playing an entrée’ to the finals. If they win this game, they'll be a shoo-in. If you haven't been attending the games already, make sure to get down to this one on the weekend against Old Melburnians, 11:40am at T.H. King!
With a bye to come in the last round of the season for our Academy team, this was their last chance to play before the finals and they took full advantage with a solid win over Old Scotch at Camberwell. Looking to set up the day for the SKOB teams to follow, the Academy - under the tutelage of Coach Krusher (with Coach Ollie busy gallivanting across the globe) - got off to a flying start and had the game in control by half time. They get to rest their legs next week and may likely play Old Scotch again in the first semi final. Best for Krusher’s mob were Jack Liszukiewicz, Sam Doyle, Liam Gallagher, Tom Sheehan, Max Uzunovski and Harrison Lee (3 goals)
The Saints Gold were again at Old Rigret this time against Fitzroy. Having beaten the Collegian Lions last week, this time around the Saints were up against the Lions of Fitzroy. The Saints were challenged for most of the game by Fitzroy who never let their hosts get too far away on the scoreboard - at least for 3 quarters. In the final term the Saints put the foot down and drew away from their gallant opponents to record a big win in the finish. With a bye next weekend the Saints can put their feet up for a rest before the last couple of weeks precede another big finals campaign. They are humming along nicely but know full well that the challengers are coming. Best for Gold were Eliza Straford, Ash Byers, Zara Guss, Bree Doyle, Isabella Hoal and Isabelle Worth.
Coach Strauss finally had some luck at the selection table as he only needed to make 3 changes to the team for their clash against Fitzroy. Having had to chop and change and often play with half a different team from the previous week, the coach of the Blues would have felt quietly confident coming into this one. The Saints Blues were clearly confident too and put in a great display on their home deck to record a terrific and gutsy win. Having jumped out of the blocks early, the Saints had to withstand a second half fightback from the Lions to claim the points, but claim them they did to send their supporters into raptures. Best for the mighty Blue were Remi Fiorentini (going back to back with BOG performances), Bridie Howard, Steph Rooney, Georgie Nolan, Steph Chong and Steph Taylor. Great effort from the entire team.
Our Saints Green again had a forfeit but this week were on the receiving end of the four points as they received the shutout win from Melbourne Uni. Alas the Green Machine were unable to make up the percentage they needed to get into a finals spot so their season has ended with a bit of a whimper. Unfortunate for the Greens but they will be determined to return in season 2024.
The Under 19 Premier team received a bit of a shock this weekend with a home loss to Caulfield Grammarians at TH King. As has been reported, the Under 19 Premier comp is very tight with only 2 games separating 3rd from 9th on the table. SKOB remain on top for the moment but they have been impacted by player availability of late. Four players came back into the side this week but Caulfield proved too strong from the start. Edging ahead at half time then kicking 5 goals to 1 in the second half the visitors were too good and SKOB will be looking to get back into the groove soon - having dropped two of their past three. Better players for SKOB were Nick Tonge, Matt Adams, Jack Romanin, Harry Kirkwood, Oli Gill and Benjamin Ball. There was better news for the Div 2 team who overcame their own player availability issues to cobble together a full team and beat Mazenod by a solitary point out at Central Reserve. It was a thrilling win for the Div 2’s who brought in 8 changes from the previous week - where they had borrowed players from Div 4 to play two games. No such issue this week with players back in town and SKOB were able to salute in a nail biter. Best for SKOB were Will Pfeiffer, Tom Williams, Conor Lynch, Tom Davidson, Nick Dynan and Jeremy Bourke. Finally, the Div 4’s recovered from a first quarter onslaught to fight out a solid final three quarters against a much bigger Therry team out at John Pascoe Fawkner Reserve. The home team played their deck superbly in the first quarter and it looked to be a total blowout early, but SKOB fought hard and finished with 5 goals to 8 after quarter time. Best for the Cousin Coaching Co-Op were Sebastien Salom, Noah Pearce, Nick Noonan, Sam Mulcahy, Jackson O'Malley and Aiden Posterino.
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