Three look to bypass relegation

Nick Armistead – @NickArmistead

With the top four set following Old Trinity’s 24-point victory over Old Xaverians on Saturday, the focus on relegation amplifies as the football operations department have delivered a blockbuster Round 18 of William Buck Premier.

De La Salle, who currently occupy ninth spot on the ladder, face the 10^th-placed St Bedes/Mentone Tigers at Brindisi St Oval, while University Blues host Old Scotch at the Main. If De La can defeat the Tigers, it will come down to the loser of Blues and Scotch. If De La can’t defeat the Tigers, they will need to rely on the Blues downing the Cardinals given there is just 1.54% separating the two sides. Bravo prophetic football operations department, bravo.

De La find themselves in the precarious position of current relegation following their nine-point loss to Collegians. They trailed by 20 points at half time and gradually made inroads, but the firepower of the ladder leaders proved too strong in the end with George Burbury, Viv Michie and Courtney Hylton all standing up and helping the Lions to their first win at the Dairy Bell in recent memory. Following Will Johnson’s late withdrawal prior to the match, Ben Mason was called up to the seniors moments after captaining the reserves to a 41-point victory. While he could only muster one goal in the two’s, Mason proved an invaluable asset up forward for the Lions, booting three goals on debut. Jason Tutt and Tom Humphrey were standouts for De La, and it was a brave performance to be within three points with six minutes remaining. Since the half way point of the season, De La has won three games by an average of 58.3ppg, while losing five by just 11.2ppg. Despite their strong recent form, De La travel to Brindisi after not having won there this decade.

St Bedes/Mentone Tigers will look to finish their season with a W after the weekend’s 14-point loss to Old Scotch officially stamped their papers for a return to Premier B in 2019. The Tigers trailed by just nine points at the last break but were unable to stem the Cardinals’ flow with both sides kicking two goals in the final term. To think the Tigers were every chance to avoid relegation after commencing the season at 1-9 is a credit to their resolve as a group, but as is often the case, the difficulty of coming from behind in William Buck Premier proved too steep a hill to climb. They had standout individual performers this season including Michael Barnes and Josh Cowan; both of whom kicked two goals each on the weekend. The Cardinals returned to form as they snapped a two-game losing streak and gave themselves every chance to avoid relegation. It’s a simple equation for Scotch; defeat the Blues this weekend and sit back, relax and reload ahead of 2019. The last time they met the Blues was Round 6 where they went down by 15 points at home.

It’s a somewhat unbelievable situation we’re looking at involving Uni Blues with arguably one of the most talented lists in the competition staring down the barrel of potential relegation. Five times they’ve lost by five points or less, once they’ve drawn and never have they strung together two wins in a row. The weekend’s loss to Old Melburnians was comprehensive, going down by 40 points after trailing by five at the half. They’ve won three of their eight games at home this season, all coming in their past four outings. Both Scotch and De La need to win for the Blues to fall, and it’s positive to see Ross Young, Tom Quinn, Jeremy Taylor and Connor Lappin in fine form and leading the charge. Old Melburnians will breathe a sigh of relief following the win and ensuring they avoid relegation in 2018. When it was all on the line, the big names stood up; including, Tom Paule, Matt Thomas, Nick Daish and Cam Banfield. OM’s have been through as many players as any team this season and can enter this weekend’s match-up against SKOB free of worry.

SKOB look ominous. It was just a few weeks ago they’d suffered two significant losses to Uni Blues and De La, but the return of key personnel at an important time of the year means they will certainly be a force in September after proving too strong for Old Brighton in Round 17. Billy Kanakis, Sam Critchley, Mitch Brown, Vincent Adduci and Tom Jok returned to the line-up, with four of those being Big V representatives. Facing OMs this weekend, SKOB’s firepower is building and, with arguably less pressure than 2017, find themselves in a strong position ahead of finals. It is the second time this year the Tonners have felt the wrath of SKOB after first going down by 83 points in Round 6. While they claimed their best win of the season against the Lions last weekend, their past two losses to SKOB and Trinity have been by an average of 64 points. Young guns, Anthony Zimmerman and Will Lewis, were outstanding for the Tonners as they look to iron out any inconsistencies when they take on Xavs at Toorak Park this weekend.

As mentioned earlier, Trinity will return to the post-regular season after solidifying finals with a 24-point win over Xavs. Gabe Hamilton was a certain BOG through the T’s midfield, while Alex Polidoros top-scored with three goals. Former Brisbane Lions draftee & Richmond VFL-listed utility Hugh Beasley came in for his first game for the T’s, while the man who any side would want in finals, Brendan Iezzi, returned to the seniors. It all seems to be coming together for the T’s who also welcomed back Luther Juric to the senior side, while former Big V player Ned Hunt has pieced together five games after missing 2017 through injury. Xavs will finish their 2018 campaign with a hoe game against the Tonners. Highlighting the match is the 250^th game milestone of champion forward and Big V star, Matt Handley, who has continued to wreak havoc up forward with 44 goals this season, where he sits second to Kanakis (47). Handley’s record would be the envy of any community footballer and his on-field prowess is only surpassed by his affable off-field personality and genuine love for the Association. While key position forwards are regularly scouted by opposition competitions with deep pockets, Handley has remained loyal to both the Xavs and Big V. A report on Chopper’s career will be released on the VAFA website so ensure you check out his incredible feats in more detail.