Interesting round of Division 4 football

Jason Bast – @Jason_Bast

Something not out of the ordinary was Aquinas notching up a huge win, with a 124-point victory over Masala down at Aquinas College. Manningham also continued their good form heading into the finals, knocking off St Francis Xavier by 62 points. Despite being upset by Parkside, Mt Lilydale are still in a very good position for a top 4 finish after Elsternwick got up by 9 points against the Eley Park Sharks at Whitehorse reserve. It certainly sets up a must-see match for the division 4 fans between the Sharks and the Bulls in round 18.

Aquinas 22.19-151 def Masala FC 4.3-27

Aquinas just keep delivering massive performances on their way to a top placed finish and a deep finals run. This week’s victims were the Tigers as they couldn’t do anything to stop the scoring power of the Bloods. A 43 to 1 point first quarter had Masala on the ropes from the start and the day just kept getting worse. Piling on another 7 goals in the 2nd term, Aquinas went into the rooms at half time with a 78-point lead. the Tigers managed to slow the scoring down a touch in the 3rd quarter holding their first placed competitor to just 3 goals while kicking 2 themselves. However, that would turn out to be the only upside for the day as the Bloods came storming home with a further 5 goals to none in the final term to run out the game 124 point winners. Patrick Mahon booted 7 goals with Sam Williams and Sean Ragozzini both kicking 5 but, it was Ashley Naulty collecting the best on ground honours for the game. On the Tigers’ side, there weren’t too many highlights but Matt Disseldorp managed a very respectable game being voted Masala’s best player.

Parkside FC 14.9-93 def Mt Lilydale OC 8.8-56

It was an extremely disappointing result for the Rams being held to 3 goals for the last 3 quarters of the game to go down to Parkside at Pitcher Park, A win would have guaranteed Mt Lilydale a 4th placed finish. Despite the loss, the Rams have the bye next week while Eley Park come up against the Bulls so they are in a surprisingly good position considering some recent form. The game started well for the Rams as they jumped out to a small 5-point lead kicking 5 goals to 4 in the first quarter. Parkside took control in the 2nd to go into the main break with a 7-point lead. From their they kept the lead kicking another 7 goals while restraining Mt Lilydale to 2 for the half to finish 37 points up and go into their final game of the season with confidence. For Parkside Matt Soligo kicked 3 and lead the way on the scoreboard while Adam Wells was judged best afield. Max Hampton was given the best on votes for the Rams and lead the way up forward finishing with 2 majors.

St Francis Xavier OC 10.2-62 def by Manningham Cobras AFC 18.16-124

It was a relatively close 3 quarters of footy between the X-Men and the Cobras at St Francis Xavier College, St Francis doing very well to take it up to the 3rd placed Manningham for most the game. The X-Men lead the way at quarter time kicking 4.1 (25) to 3.3 (21). They continued to hold the pace in the 2nd going into half time just 13 points down. They dropped off a little in the 3rd but were still within reach only behind by 3 goals after 3 quarters of footy. Unfortunately for St Francis they ran out of legs and couldn’t pull off the 3rd upset of the round. Manningham put on 8 goals to 1 in the final quarter to blow the margin out to 62 points. Jake Cowan kicked 3 goals for St Francis and Thomas Kerr played a great game. For the Cobras Kane Maghamez slotted 7 to jump into 3rd on the goal kicking leader board but, it was Brendan McHugh getting the voted for best on ground.  

Eley Park Sharks 6.12-48 def by Elsternwick 8.9-57

The Sharks will be ruing the result of this game for a while if they can’t get over the line next week against the 2nd placed Bulls powerhouse next weekend. Going down to Elsternwick after leading at every change, the chance to seal up the top 4 just slipping out of grip. Eley Park led by 9 points after the first term and kicked another 3 goals to 1 in the 2nd to be holding a 23-point lead after a half of footy. The Wickers bit back in the 3rd quarter but still trailed by 9 points in a very low scoring affair. The Sharks however went goalless in the final quarter of play as the watched Elsternwick kick 3 goals to flip that 9-point deficit into a 9-point win and, keep the final round of the season very interesting. Chris Brown and Jesiah Mcgarvie were the 2 multiple goal scorers for the Sharks finishing with 2 goals apiece, Norbert Bem with the best on votes for Eley Park. On the other side of the ledger Julian Yeatman and Scott Grace also kicked 2 goals each, Sam Collins finishing best for the day in the votes.

Preview

With the couple of upsets this week it means the top 4 is still slightly on the edge for two teams. The Mt Lilydale Rams have the easy job, sitting at home as they will be collecting the 4 points from the bye. The other team in contention though will be fighting tooth and nail against one of the strongest teams of the year. Eley Park take on North Brunswick in a must win game down at Allard Park. Masala and Parkside will battle it out at W Turner Reserve, neither team eligible for finals but will be trying to end the season on a high note. Elsternwick and St Francis Xavier are in the exact same boat taking each other on at Elsternwick Park. A game that won’t affect the ladder but should be very fun to watch and possibly a grand final preview will be Aquinas and Manningham playing each other at Koonung Reserve to close out the home and away season.