Waras Carstensen wows with 11, Strickland strikes with 10

Anna Pavlou

After a well-deserved week off, every team put in all on the line to welcome the second half of the 2019 season. It was a week of big bags of goals, which may flip the goal tally on its’ head.

Whitefriars are straying further from the pack with their eighth straight win, while the Nobbers are keeping themselves in close measure of top spot.

MHSOB have come home strong against a steadily improving Power House, while Glen Eira fought off a refreshed Hawthorn side. Let’s see how Round 9 went down…

Brunswick vs Yarra Old Grammarians

In a battle that could be seen in the finals, the game that started with Brunswick domination soon turned into a closer affair as the Yarra Old Grammarians boys came back firing. However, it was the Nobbers who came home with a narrow 14-point win.

It looked early to be a runaway game for Brunswick, as they held The Bushrangers goalless in the first and second quarters, only managing to kick 10 straight points. This tight defence helped the Nobbers to kick six first half goals on the counter attack, making the Yarra boys pay for their misses. However, a half time break saw the Bushrangers come out all guns blazing, booting four majors to the Nobbers’ three, the Bushrangers clawing their way into the contest. Yarra had a strong final term, holding the Nobbers to only one major, while booting three of their own, but the early misses proved costly come the final siren.

It was only the poor kicking from the Yarra boys that held them back from taking the chocolates, as they booted a mass 15 points from 22 shots at goal.

For the winners, Geremie Ganino had three majors to his name and was rightfully awarded BOG votes, while Ben Wilson also had a goal.

Glen Eira vs Hawthorn

Led by an 11-goal performance from Gryphon Julius Waras Carstensen, the meeting of the old Division 3 foes was a great battle to add to the tally books, with Glen Eira boys overcoming a hard-fighting Hawthorn side by a big 100 points.

Hawthorn worked hard in the first quarter, trailing by only seven points at the first break and set themselves up for a tighter contest. However, Glen Eira put their kicking boots on in the second quarter and ran away, kicking eight goals and slowing the Hawks down to manage only three majors themselves.

The Hawks struggled to remain competitive after half time and seemed to run out of steam, as they kicked only four more goals, led by Justin Raiti’s three.

However, it was another big Gryphons performance, as they booted 14 more goals after half time to seal a big victory that helps them percentage wise.

The Hawks were more effective in front of goal, however, it’s the multiple goal scores that rack up the points, that win you Division 2 footy.

To add to an impressive 11 goals, Andrew Barrett also had nine of his own for the Gryphons, while Ryan Cohen was given votes.

For the Hawks, Joseph Murfet was awarded BOG, while Tommie Matthews kicked two majors.

Ivanhoe vs Whitefriars

The Whitefriars boys add yet another four points to their ladder-leading total, with another convincing win this week. Against a fighting Ivanhoe, the Friars prevailed by 59 points.

Leading by only 12 points at the main break, the Friars pushed away in the second, kicking five goals to the Hoers two, to extend the halftime lead to 32 points.

It was a gear change for the Friars after half time, as they piled on seven goals and held the Hoers to only four. The Friars defence held up once again as they leaked only eight Hoers majors and kept themselves intact for another week.

The Friars domination was not shown on the scoreboard, as they missed 18 shots on goal and only managed to boot 15 goals elsewhere.

James Connellan booted four goals for Whitefriars, while they had a neat spread of eight other goal kickers throughout the day. Jordan Wright was awarded Bog votes for the Friars. For the Hoers, Max Post was their multiple goal-scorer with two to his name, while Viv Blackmore-Moore was giving the coaches votes.

MHSOB vs Power House

While both sides play decent football on a smaller ground, there is no place like home and MHSOB proved it against an improving Power House side, coming home 58 point winners.

The Unicorns were forced to play a tighter contest early, before running away with the four points.

Power House tested the Unicorns early, as goal scoring spread across both ends in the first term. The House managed four majors, while MHSOB booted five.

But the Unicorns temporarily steadied their ship in the second quarter, kicking four goals and holding the House to only three.

Power House pushed hard early in the third term, with Ben Circosta kicking two quick clearance goals to give the House a small lead. But, the Unicorns took their game up to a new level and booted 12 majors and running away with the game. The major difference for the Unicorns was the surprise package of Tim Strickland, who single-handedly won his side the game with 10 majors.

Power House worked hard around the ball, but the Unicorns dominated out of defence and scored most of their goals on the counter attack.

For the winners, Louis Phillips was also dominant through the middle and on the wing.

For Power House, Dec Nannery booted five goals and young recruit Trav Scotland was voted in the best with his one goal.