Division 3: Smells of football

Gavin Southern

@gavsouthern

After some fast and frenetic games, the smell of liniment and deep heat were in the air, some cramping and early injuries, footy is definitely BACK!! The sun was out and it was a glorious day for football. Enjoy it while it lasts . . . With the departure of St. Francis Xavier to “the clubbies” during the week, Division 3 saw just the 5 games played. Aquinas get another week of preparation before beginning their campaign this week against UHS-VUI. All the home teams were victorious in round 1 but, we will most certainly see that trend change this week.

Emmaus St Leo’s defeated Albert Park. To put it simply, Emmaus St Leo’s have told the competition that they are the team to beat in season 2015. Despite Albert Park recruiting heavily in the off-season, the Animals came out hard in both the 2nd (11 goals to 2) and 4th quarters (10 goals to 3) to have it all sewn up. Led by eight goals from a dominant Ryan Harding, three from Daniel Hill and another nine players got amongst the tally of 23. Albert Park tried hard all day and managed to stem the tide in the third quarter but, it was too little too late as the Animals ran away 105 point victors. Kirk Murray, Adrian Snowden, Ryan Want and company will need more support this week on the small ground at Rathmines Rd.

UHS-VU defeated Power House. UHS-VU also chose to make a statement last week against Power House at Brens Oval. For Power House, they will have to go back to the drawing board as their game plan did not come together. Power House had no answers for Ross Dickson (4 goals) and the eight other goal scorers. Joel Moden, Nick Devereux and Robert Churkovich, dictated the proceedings and are a force to be reckoned with. Ben Circosta and Adam Collett were best for Power House as the Vultures ran away to a 70 point win. Power House have some soul-searching to do but, it’s certainly not panic stations. Far from it.

Eley Park defeated La Trobe Uni.La Trobe Uni made the trek on to the M3 to match up against Eley Park at Whitehorse reserve. Eley Park started out by being just that little bit harder at the contest and setting up a good, 3 goal qtr time lead. Christopher Marsiglio provided the spark in the mid-field, constantly creating opportunities. The Sharks took advantage of early forward entries with Noel Bahnsen and Old Camberwell recruit, Declan Mitchell, by getting on the scoreboard with multiple first half goals. The Sharks had two injured at half time and it got worse. They had no rotations by the last as their bench was on ice. To La Trobe’s credit, they hit back and reduced the deficit to 2 pts before David Viola moved forward and kicked two last quarter goals to quash the comeback, ensuring the win by just 7 points

West Brunswick defeated Hawthorn. The Division 4 Grand Final replay was billed as match of the round. Ransford Rd Oval is much bigger than what Hawthorn are used to and after a Magpie onslaught in the second quarter, like the Grand Final, the Hawks were playing catch-up for the rest of the day. Hawthorn payed more attention to Premiership hero, Dylan Muscat, holding him to just the solitary goal but, Scott Hulm and recruit Bill Irving picked up the slack with 3 goals apiece for the Magpies. Hawthorn, led by Dean Monohan and Phil Avery, were valiant in defeat.

Swinburne Uni defeated Glen Eira. Glen Eira broke out early by snatching the first two goals of the game. Swinburne Uni responded strongly, finishing the quarter off with a 6 goal to 1 run. Glen Eira, through Nathan Dennis and Harvey Scholes kept trying to come back late in the 2nd and 3rd quarters but, the Razorbacks always had the answer and kept a 3 goal buffer for most of the day. Jye Bunge finished with four goals, Ben O’Sullivan and Tom Kennedy snagging three each. Glen Eira will be disappointed with the loss as you could imagine, but there’s plenty to be positive about, including 21 year old Daniel Entwistle (4 goals).

PREVIEW

Aquinas begin their 2015 season by heading off to Brens Oval to face UHS-VU. UHS-VU will need to slow the game down and pick a solid back 6 to ensure they continue their strong start. Aquinas are a high-scoring team and should have too many options to go through. I’m sure Emmaus St Leo’s will be watching the outcome of this game closely.

Both Power House and La Trobe Uni have recruited good numbers in the off-season. La Trobe Uni have improved from last season but, I believe they will fall just short. Power House need to forget about last week and soldier on. I’m expecting Power House to bounce back with a 6-8 goal win.

Albert Park travel to Packer Reserve to face Glen Eira, which I believe is the match of the round. It’s a coin toss – it landed on tails = Glen Eira.

Hawthorn have a big task this week as they host Emmaus St Leo’s. Hawthorn will need to make this as scrappy as possible and on their very small ground, it can be easy to do. Emmaus St Leo’s are the team to beat and will have no problems in counter-acting this.

Coach Michael Polley and Eley Park have West Brunswick as visitors and this will also be an important game for both clubs. Eley Park won’t be able to compete if their players break down like last week. They will need all 22 players up and ready to go against a very tall and agile Magpie line-up. This is another 50/50 guess and I’m leaning towards West Brunswick. Sorry Trav.

Swinburne Uni get a week off with the bye and they will need it too, as they’ll have two weeks to prepare for Emmaus St Leo’s.

Eley Park v West Brunswick

Hawthorn v Emmaus St Leos

Glen Eira v Albert Park

La Trobe Uni v Power House

UHS-VU v Aquinas