Division 1: St Mary’s stickin’ to 4th like cling wrap

Posted on - Latest News, Featured, Division 1 Men's

By William Balme – @balmey21

The spiteful and fierce rivalry between two clubs playing out of a couple of Melbourne’s most-sought after areas, Kew and St Mary’s Salesian (Glen Iris), once again provided us with a gripping contest. After last year’s magnificent Grand Final ended in an 11-point Kew victory, we were treated to the second edition of their 2015 clashes where spectators witnessed St Mary’s emerge victorious at Victoria Park. This was Kew’s first loss at the ground since Round 14 last season, and a blow to their dream of three successive minor premierships. In winning, St Mary’s has made it all the more difficult for Prahran Assumption to unshackle St Mary’s formerly tenuous grip on 4th spot. In the other telling story of the round, Ormond smashed Old Geelong in every facet of the game at E. E. Gunn to reclaim top spot. It was also the first time Mal Michael has played in the seniors for Ormond, and no bluffing this time. With four rounds to go, there are still possibilities of 4th spot movement but essentially it is now a story of 3 for the top 2 and the surprise packet at 4th attempting to discard their lukewarm performances and play as they did against Kew on the weekend.

Yarra Valley will be playing in Division 2 next season after they succumbed to the dash of Old Mentonians to the tune of 25 points. Luke Hull returned to form with 3 goals, as Old Mentonians held off a desperate effort from the Bushrangers who now play purely for pride in attempting to avoid their first winless season. Tristan Strange strengthened his stake for the Old Mentonians’ Best and Fairest with another outstanding performance across the ground. He was well supported by the before-mentioned Hull and Bruno Rossi, whom created plenty of opportunities for crumbers at Centre Half Forward. Yarra Valley’s sad season continues with another honourable loss. Simon Yeo was excellent in his key back role. Despite playing for the likely wooden spooners, Yeo has had a strong season at Full Back. Simon Donald kicked 4 snags to move to 22 goals for the year.

Ormond claimed their 13th victory for the year to move into outright first place with an impressive 57-point win over 3rd placed Old Geelong. From the first bounce, Ormond dominated the OGs and never let up their lead. The bigger bodies on the tight field were too much, and Ormond is poised to wrap up a top 2 finish with a win this week. Small forwards Landman and Tahana kicked 3 each, but the game was won by a masterful performance from Henry and Jeremy Simon and young gun Nick Edwards out of the middle. Coming off a win that catapulted them into premiership contention, Old Geelong has been firmly put back in their place by the muscle of Ormond. Jordy and Colby O’Brien capped off a day for the relatives with solid outings, however they simply could not muster anywhere near enough effective forward thrusts, personified (score-sonified?) by a dismal 6.17 tally for the day.

Prahran Assumption toweled up Bulleen Templestowe in the second half to consolidate 5th position, as the Bullants now appear destined to join Yarra Valley in Division 2 following their 45-point loss. Harrison Taylor produced a bristling performance (Boy oh Boy!) with 3 goals and a presence hard to handle as they drilled 9 goals to 3 in the second half. Kristian Cherbakof, the man, the myth, the legend, kicked 6 out of Bulleen’s 9. This haul accentuated Bulleen’s lack of firepower outside of Cherbakof, something Prahran exploited throughout the second half. Hogarth kicked 4 for the Double Blues in their 3rd straight win, as Anglin played a bullish and dominant game in the middle. Their win came at a cost though as they lost key defender and captain Jack Matherson to a seemingly serious ankle injury.

St Mary’s Salesian accounted for Kew at Victoria Park as Kew’s worrying mid-season slump continued for the second week in a row. Although Kew only went down by 4 points, St Mary’s Salesian played the game hard, maintained the pressure and kept Kew’s generally comprehensive game at bay. Missing Andrew Brazzale for the second straight week, Kew had willing contributors including Michael Henderson who kept ‘Bucky’ Puruntatameri goalless and Sam ‘Slice’ Bishop kicked 2 in another diverse game, however it was an inspired Saints’ effort. Josh Tanner was outstanding with 4 goals and D’Arcy Grant (or Grant Darcy according to Kew President Joe Chessari) was prolific throughout the contest. The game may have illustrated the general frustration with quarter lengths as the 2nd in particular travelled for almost 40 minutes. This came down to the amount of stoppages that occurred insistently over the four quarters.

In a scrappy, honest battle, Whitefriars continued their resurgence with their 3rd win in a row, this time over NOBS/St Pats to the tune of 42 points.  The game sat in the balance at Orange Time, but Whitefriars blasted along to another strong victory. Their season appeared at crossroads a month ago after yet another big loss, but it is clear that they have addressed a few pink elephants and now remain in the hunt for a most unlikely of finals berth considering their position after that loss. Sean Currie was probably the best player on the field, gathering plenty of ball and planting the Friars’ lads into attack on countless occasions. Damien Loh was the only multiple goal scorer on the ground with 2. For NOBSPC, they were just outclassed by a quicker and slicker opponent. Chris Ford was potent and dangerous and Danny King a presence in the midfield, but they were outpointed too regularly. Their season appears destined for a mid-table finish.

Willie Bee’s CLIVE WATERHOUSE MOTR FOR ROUND 15

‘Don’t be so quick to… walk away (dance with me).’ Justin Timberlake, what an absolute dreamboat. And he’s the guest sponsor for the contest between Old Geelong and Prahran Assumption. The reason? Well, Prahran Assumption doesn’t want to walk away from this season empty-handed and a win against the OGGS will strike fear into the hearts of the Saints’ boys. Nonetheless, at the Como I think they’ll go down by a point!

Old Geelong by 1 point.

Tips:

NOBS/St Pats v St Mary’s Salesian

Old Geelong v Prahran Assumption

Ormond v Bulleen Templestowe

Old Mentonians v Kew Bears

Whitefriars v Yarra Valley