Unicorns upset Blues in Division 2

Nick Armistead

Ivanhoe registered their seventh win for the season when they crushed Elsternwick by 97 points at Ivanhoe Park on Saturday afternoon. Led by Timothy Williamson and Thomas O’Donnell, Ivanhoe led at every break throughout the afternoon and capped it off with a seven goal to nil final term. Entering the Bye Round with four successive victories, Ivanhoe will look to steal top position from St John’s OC in the second half of the season. Contrarily, the week off comes at the perfect time for Elsternwick as they look to regroup with only one win from their past six matches.

MHSOB will enter the Queens Birthday full of confidence after they came from behind to defeat the Northern Blues by 20 points at Melbourne High School. Trailing the Blues by 17 points at the main break, the Unicorns showcased their maturity and kicked 11 goals to five in the second half. Nick Hawking continued his excellent kicking form, backing up his 10 from last week with another three taking him to 17 for the season. The Blues will rue missed opportunities with 21 behinds playing a major role in their loss.

St Johns OC continued their unbeaten start to the season with a 65-point win over the Monash Gryphons at East Caulfield Reserve. The ninth-placed Gryphons came out firing, kicking four goals to one in the first term and leading by 18 points in a spirited display of football. However, their positive start was short-lived as St John’s erased the deficit and subsequently blew the Gryphons out of the ground behind Rohan Scott’s six goals. The league’s leading goal-kicker, Aaron Thornton, added four of his own and increased his overall tally to 41 goals from the first eight games.

South Melbourne Districts will be happy to see the back of Garvey Oval after their 132-point loss to the Old Paradians. David Boundy was the star of the show for the Paradians with nine goals, while James Kandilakis booted six of his own in the blow-out. The loss leaves South Melbourne dwindling at the bottom of the ladder with zero wins from their first eight games. Meanwhile, the result was a necessary percentage booster for Paradians as they sit in fourth spot on the same amount of wins as Eltham Collegians and the Northern Blues.

Eltham Collegians did their finals aspirations no harm with an 87-point victory over Richmond Central at Kevin Bartlett Reserve. The Turtles had 45 scoring shots to 23, as Eltham refused to give the Snakes a look in. Zach Tranter did as he pleased on his way to a huge haul of 10 goals in a best-on-ground performance, while Chris Mizzi and Tim Woods added five of their own. Despite the loss, Jake Munro continued his stellar form for the Snakes as he kicked five of the team’s 11 majors.