Whitefriars whitewash, Gryphons grab victory

Anna Pavlou

Whitefriars continued on their merry way with another convincing win over Hawthorn, while The Glen Eira Gryphons booted their way to their first win of 2019. Bulleen have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and the ladder seems to be dividing in to two, with the top sides doing early battles to boost percentage and the bottom sides figuring out where to next. Here’s home Round 4 went down.

Ivanhoe vs Brunswick

Brunswick travelled to Ivanhoe on the back of some solid recent form and were keen to stamp their authority on Division 2, while Ivanhoe were coming off the double-bye and were just as keen to reignite their season. It was the Nobbers however who started in fine form with a 54-point win. They began by booting 6 goals to 3 to take a 16-point lead into the first break. Despite some Ivanhoe pressure, the Hoers couldn’t do much damage on the scoreboard and were behind by 24 at the main break. The Nobbers stepped it up in the second half with 9 goals to 4 after half time, and in the last quarter kicked away to a comfortable victory by 54 points. They were led by their three key front men Chris Ford (5 goals), league-leading, goal kicking superstar Francis Evans (4 goals) and Dom Sullivan (4 goals). Mathew Dickson was good around the ground hard at the ball. For the Hoers Nathan Valkanis and Viv Blackmore-Moore were easily best while Lachlan Roberts and Fonda Kyriakos got among the goals also.

MHSOB vs Glen Eira

Glen Eira have pushed their way up onto the winners list for the first time in 2019 with a comfortable 31-point away win over the MHSOB Unicorns, at Melbourne High School Oval. In a first quarter arm wrestle, the Gryphons managed to hold the Unicorns goalless in the first term but only managed an inaccurate 2 goals 5 on their ledger. With another 4 goals in the second term, Glen Eira kicked away to a comfortable 28-point half time lead. That lead proved decisive as the Unicorns lifted and outscored the Gryphons in the third term to edge a little closer but the Gryphons stood firm in the last quarter to ease to a comfortable 31-point victory. MHSOB should be pleased with their second half matching the Gryphons around the ground and up front but the Gryphons teamwork and spread of 9 goal kickers was too broad for the Unicorns defence to cover. Lachlan Pound and Todd Richardson were dominant for the Gryphons all day while ever reliable Julius Waras Carstensen was a key up forward with 2 goals. For the Unicorns, Luke Whittaker and Bryce Hayes were best and Will Hellier kicked 3 goals and Ash Wijayakumara (2 goals) continued his great early season form up forward.

Power House vs Bulleen Templestowe

The match of the day was an absolute classic at the Ross Gregory Oval where Power House went down by only 1 point to Bulleen. The Bullants made the early running, kicking with the strong breeze and kicked 5 goals to hold a 27-point quarter time lead. The House lifted in the second quarter and kicked 5 of their own but the Bullants led by 13 points at the main break. The third quarter was an arm wrestle with Bulleen threatening to blow the game open but 2 late Power House goals kept the margin to 27 points at the final change. The House lifted again in the last quarter booting 6 goals to 1 and led by 11 points with 90 seconds on the clock. Power House had a free kick on the goal line to ice the game but an undisciplined off the ball free kick reversal saw the Bullants run the ball forward for a late goal to Leith Wallis, to reduce the margin to 5 points with 21 seconds left. Bulleen’s Billy Wilson marked the centre clearance at half back with 3 seconds left and Power House were penalised 50 metres for encroaching on the mark which gave Wilson a shot from 40 meters after the siren to win the game. He duly saluted to give the Bullants an unlikely victory. An undisciplined Power House only had themselves to blame for dropping this one but full credit to Bulleen who stuck at it, to come away with the 4 points against the odds. Ben Circosta played another dazzling game in the midfield and up forward for the House and kicked 3 while Kane Goodwin and River Carroll (3 goals) were prominent. For the winners, Billy Wilson kicked 4 in a best on ground performance alongside Jack Cowell (4 goals) and Chance Burridge who was hard at the ball all day.

Whitefriars vs Hawthorn

The Friars are showing no signs of slowing down with their fourth straight win by 127 points over a deflated Hawthorn side. The trip is never easy for opposition out to Whitefriars College, but, braving the harsh weather, the Hawks pushed through and fought it out all day. With a mass 15 goal kickers, including four majors from James Connellan, the Friars were comfortable in their forward line yet again and made it hard for Hawthorn’s defenders to stop the procession. However, the game began a lot closer than the Friars would have liked, with the Hawks holding them to only three-goals. Hawthorn only trailed by 10 points at the first break, but it wasn’t to be for the rest of the day. The Friars rolled into first-gear and piled on 10 unanswered goals in the second term, to boost their lead to 71 points at the main break. Sam Kieseker (3 goals) was prominent up forward, as the midfielders got clearance after clearance and drilled the ball for every angle. The Friars back men also held the Hawks goalless in the second and third terms. Two last quarters goals for the Hawks saw them boost their score, but it was a tough end to a gruelling game of footy. Marlon Simbolon was awarded BOG votes for Whitefriars, for his outstanding performance across the ground, ably supported by Matt Ravenarki, along with their star-studded forward line. For the Hawks, Tim McNamara was their only multiple goal kicker with two, while Tommie Matthews was a decent support.