Preston make it a lucky 7 as Peninsula sink Vultures

Jake Morris

Just one month of action remains for the Division 1 competition, and with eight sides still in mathematical contention, things won’t be slowing down as we edge closer and closer to the pointy end of the year. Round 14 saw Kew, Oakleigh and St Mary’s Salesian take care of business, Preston made it seven straight victories, while Peninsula knocked the Vultures off their perch in an impressive four-quarter outing.

Beginning with arguably our match of the round, Peninsula have now become the second side all season to have beaten UHS-VU at Brens Oval as they walked away with an impressive 13-point victory. Sam Glenn was the match winner up-forward for the Pirates with four, while Ronald Raworth bagged three in what was Peninsula’s fourth win from five games and eighth on the year. Nick Devereux and Brandon Jackson were the focal points of the Vultures scoring, as they also kicked four apiece, but it wasn’t enough as UHS-VU’s five-game winning streak comes to an end. The Pirates remain in fifth despite the win, but edge closer to a top-four spot. The Vultures remain on top of the table, half a game clear of Kew.

In a clash that featured two of the in-form teams of the competition, it was Preston that made it seven on the trot as they downed a gallant Therry Penola by 15 points. A final-quarter flurry from the Bullants saw them kick five majors to two, overrunning the Lions and etching win number nine on the year. Jack Sammartino had himself a day-out with another five-goal haul, his third for the season, while running mate Jack Simcoe chipped in with two. Kane O’Halloran kicked three for the Lions who see their three-game winning streak snapped, and their brief stay inside the top-four come to an end, for now. Preston now move six-points clear in third while the Lions fall to sixth, sitting 24% behind the fourth placed Krushers.

Speaking of the Krushers, Oakleigh made sure their fall from the four was short lived as they dominated Old Paradians by 96 points. Pushing further ahead in the season goal-kicking tally, Aaron Cloke was once again a machine in-front of the sticks with an eight-goal barrage, his second highest match total of the year, while Luke Ashen helped himself to four majors in a confidence boosting victory for Oakleigh. Matt Biviano was the lone bright spot up-forward for the Paradians, as he booted three, but his side couldn’t contain the avalanche of goals as they fell to their 10^th straight defeat. The Krushers move back into fourth spot, ahead of the Pirates and Lions by percentage, while the Paradians have all but locked up a bottom-two finish.

If you love fast paced, high scoring footy then Ferndale Park was the place to be on Saturday afternoon as St Mary’s Salesian piled on a season-high 26 majors on route to a 72-point victory over West Brunswick. Nathan Evans (6), Jack Elliston (5) and Ben Andrews (5) were all clinical up-forward for the Saints as they booted their highest goal-scoring total since Round 1 2017. Despite the loss, the Westies registered their second highest scoring total on the year, with 10 different players, including four from Bill Irving, getting on the score sheet to produce a very entertaining game of football. The Saints remain in seventh, a game outside of top four, while the Westies losing streak extends to 12 and they can all but guarantee themselves a Division 2 2020 appearance.

Our final match for Round 14 saw Kew fend off a wayward Prahran Assumption by 18 points to grab  win number 10 on the year. Holding a comfortable lead for most of the afternoon, the Bears were only outscored in the final term as the Two Blues dominated play but couldn’t convert in-front of goal, finishing with a 4.8-32 score line in the last. Anthony Bailey kicked three for the Bears, while James Falcone and John Stocker kicked two apiece for Prahran Assumption. With the Vultures loss, the Bears now sit just two-points adrift of the ladder-leaders, while the Two Blues sit in eighth and will need everything to go right if they wish to feature in September action.