Premier B: Vale footy at the Junction Oval

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By William Balme – @balmey21

How often we come back to that humble cliché of ‘Footy: It’s a funny old game’. On the weekend we saw only one side kick a positive ratio in regard to their goal to point tally. We’ve heard about the dropping in our goal-kicking standard and the evidence to back it up is right in front of us. But with the dropping standards in front of goal, the intensity of these clashes remains as high as ever, as shown in the brutal relegation zone contest between the Parkdale Vultures and Mazenod. The crucial victory could see Parkdale Vultures remain in Premier B for another season, however Mazenod has the chance to notch a win against last placed Caulfield Grammarians in Round 16, which could see the race become excruciatingly tight. In other games, there was a scare for SKOB and an upset at Gary Smorgon Oval when Ajax grabbed the points against Old Brighton, keeping the race for the four alive.

St Kevins controlled proceedings at Boss James Reserve against the Hampton Rovers, however they were hardly at their convincing best, taking out a 20-point victory. The Skobbers had plenty of opportunities to shut the Rovers out of the game, however they couldn’t manage to take such advantage and left Hampton with a golden chance to upset the premiership favourites. They didn’t take their own chances in a game where 13.28 was scored by both sides. On their own St Kevins scored 21 of those behinds, a habit they will want to scrap before they reach the beautiful month of September. For SKOB, James Stewart was at his mercurial best, supported by (Sir) Henry Parkes who booted 3 and Phil ‘Rex’ Edgar who was a constant handful for the Rovers. Dan Corp was their best, followed by a strong performance from Mark Devereaux.

St Bedes/Mentone destroyed any hope of a late run to the 4 from Fitzroy when they gutted the Roys by 84 points. The 2nd placed Tigers were at their absolute best on Saturday at Brindisi St, kicking 12 goals to 2 in the first half to erase any hopes of an upset. St Bedes/Mentone seems to have no desire in witnessing the most romantic of premierships for the Fitzroy Football Club judging on their ruthless performance. Doherty and Velluto combined for 8 goals, with Paul Tyquin named their best. Despite their massive loss to SKOB a few weeks back, the Tigers have the game that will push SKOB in September when the nerves are crackling. They are certainly the other most likely team to join SKOB in Premier A next season. For Fitzroy, they retain little hope of September action, but there were still solid performances from Daniel Bisetto, who kicked 3 and Matthew Brown who was solid in the midfield.

In Round 7, Ajax upset Old Brighton by 9 points to snap a 3 game losing streak, and reignite their hopes of a top 4 finish. This week, Ajax advanced their winning streak to 3 with a fighting win against the Tonners to the tune of 3 points. Ajax held the Tonners to a goalless first half at Gary Smorgon Oval but could only manage 4.4 themselves, leaving the contest wide open. In the third term, Old Brighton kicked 3 goals against the heavy wind, and kept Ajax to the solitary one, leading many of the observers presuming that the Tonners would come over the top and ruin the Jackers’ finals hopes. That wasn’t to be as the Jackers produced a scintillating defensive effort in the last to hang onto a 3 point win. Turning the game into stoppage central (as it seems to be across the league!), Ajax did just enough to prevent a slingshot attack from the Tonners. Ben Jakobi did all he could to drive the Tonners into their forward 50 time and time again, but Evgeni Routman and Stuart Fayman were part of the instrumental group who held out the fast finishing Tonners. These are the games that teams celebrate or rue depending on which side of the finishing line they finished.

Parkdale may have saved their season, holding out Mazenod to win by 8 points. The Vultures appeared to be comfortable at three quarter time as they held a 21 point lead, however just as it had happened across Victoria, the strong winds changed the course of the game and Mazenod came storming back into the contest. It was the Vultures who held their nerve in the face of a brutal onslaught as both sides clattered into the contest. With three minutes left in the contest, it was Charlie Dillon who calmly went back from 25 metres out and kicked the sealer. His performance was one of a number of courageous Vulture efforts. Josh Manning produced an enigmatic performance to kick 5 after spending much of the season in the seconds. For Mazenod, they face an uphill battle to stay in Premier B. Their best was Steven Oldman.

Rounding out the round of fixtures was the academic result between Old Melburnians and Caulfield Grammarians. Caulfield’s season goes from bad to worse, with a flat performance against the OMS who came out of the game with a 59-point win. This game was historic on behalf of this being the Junction Oval’s final game of competitive footy after the Junction Oval became sole property of Cricket Victoria. The spice was out of the contest by half time, as Old Melburnians dominated around the ball against a side who have a lot to assess in the offseason. Freezer and De Steiger were the best couple for Melburnians, as Beck (no Kanye West to stop him here) kicked 4. For Caulfield, Tim Nixon was their best to continue his effusive season.

Willie Bee’s Clive Waterhouse MOTR for Round 14

The battle for Top 2, what a contest it should be. St Bedes/Mentone host Old Melburnians in the game that will go a long way to separating the two inseparables. Their game in Round 5 was an absolute classic as the OMs came out 1-point winners at Junction Oval (R.I.P). This time, I think the result will go the Tigers way with Patrick Tyquin picking up another 3 votes.

St Bedes/Mentone by 8 points.

Tips:

St Bedes/Mentone v Old Melburnians

Old Brighton v Parkdale Vultures

Mazenod v Fitzroy FC

Caulfield Grammarians v Hampton Rovers

St Kevins OB v AJAX