Warriors down Vultures, end Cobras season

James Armit 

Heading into Round 18, fourth spot was there to claim for Westbourne Grammarians; the only issue, however, is they would be required to defeat ladder-leaders, UHS-VU, who had been all-conquering for the 2017 season. With their backs to the wall, Westbourne produced one of their best performances for the year, racing out to a 26-point half time lead. As expected, though, UHS showed their mettle in the third and rallied to reduce the margin back to just three points at the final change. Despite momentum being against them, the Warriors outworked the Vultures in the last, eventually winning by 18 points – in the process denying UHS-VU the minor premiership. Michael Culliver was best on ground for the the Warriors while Benjamin Johnson (4) and Jaxon Cooke (3) did most of the damage in front of goal. For the Vultures, it was the usual suspects in James McGee and Mitchell Sweeney with three goals apiece, as Nicholas Wallace led the charge for the losing side. The win secured Westbourne’s spot in the the four and they’ll face off against in-form Swinburne University for a spot in the preliminary final next week.

Canterbury will count themselves unlucky to have missed out on finals after they did everything they could in Round 18 to secure fourth spot but the upset win to Westbourne denied them their chance to play finals. Had the former ladder-leading Vultures defeated Westbourne Grammarians, as many people predicted they would, the Cobras would have secured themselves a finals berth; As was their luck, however, the Cobras missed out on a finals berth by four points. When I say Canterbury did everything they could to secure their fourth spot, I wasn’t exaggerating, as they came out against a strong opposition in Richmond Central and won by 118 points, dominating the game start to finish. They sprung out of the block to lead by 45 points at quarter time and never looked back from there. The Cobras had 12 individual goal kickers with James Wilson booting five for the day while Thomas Lowden and Jimmy Wilson were impressive all day. Despite the big loss, the Snakes should be happy with their 2017 season which was pretty impressive after a rocky start. Throughout the season, they even managed to take it up to some of the top teams and will look to build on those performances in 2018. Not to mention, Jake Munro who has had a stellar season, claiming the goal kicking award for the club. Harry Crowe finished the year on a high with an impressive performance for his side.

After sitting in second position for 17 rounds, Power House finished their season strong to leapfrog UHS-VU and claim the Division 3 minor premiership. The House were coming up against an in form Swinburne University but they proved too strong for the Razorback running the game out as 37-point victors. Consistency has been the perfect description of Power House’s year as they have outlasted the fast start of UHS to enter the finals as flag favourites. The third quarter was where the game was won and lost as Power House made a statement against their fellow finalists and kicked seven goals to two. Despite the loss, Swinburne remain in third spot and destined for a strong finals campaign after a terrific last half of the season. The game between the two teams was fast-paced, high-scoring and hotly contested providing spectators with a taste of what finals-like footy. With five majors to his name, Benjamin Circosta was dangerous as ever in front of the big sticks for Power House, while the Devine brothers were judged best on ground for their efforts through the midfield. Swinburne threatened to get on top of Power House at stages of the game thanks to the good work of Ben Higgins who kicked five for the afternoon and Kevin McElgunn who found form with a best-for-his-side performance.

South Melbourne Districts were inflicted with another loss and will be relegated to Division 4 without a win to their name in 2017. Having said that, South Melbourne were admirable in their final game for the year, matching it with La Trobe up until three quarter time, trailing by just two goals the final change. Heading into the last, it was South Melbourne’s best chance to break their duck for the year, however, La Trobe proved too strong and out ran the Bloods to record a 30-point victory. Mitchell Gleeson was the most impressive player for the Trobers with four goals in a best on ground performance while Brenton Anderson was also good around the ground. For South Melbourne, it was the usual suspects in Antony Vlitas and Jordan Heis who led the resistance; Hamish Robinson and Jackson Consiglio did the most damage up forward for the Bloods kicking two goals apiece.

After relegation was confirmed for Albert Park a couple of weeks ago and Point Cook opted  to depart the VAFA in 2018, both teams were playing out the remainder of their season as a matter of pride over premiership points. As the ladder stood, Point Cook sat two wins above Albert Park on the ladder, so it was poised to be an evenly contested match. In quite a remarkable first quarter, both sides combined for 21 scoring shots, Albert Park converting with a perfect five goals straight and Point Cook kicking 10.6 to lead by 36 points at the first break. The Falcons, led by James Brick up forward, fought back in the second to trail by just 13 points at half time. The scoreline continued to grow in the last half as Point Cook ended the day with 24 goals to their name and Albert Park with 16. The final score was 158 to 108 in favour of the Bulldogs and they finish their season with a confidence boosting 50-point win. Adrian Snowden was best for Albert Park as James Brick ended the day with six. For Point Cook, Kirk Heberle with six of his own and Mason Kip with a dominant display were two of the best on ground for the day.