Bullants, Friars, Bloods and X-Men progress to GFs

Alisha Min

Preston Bullants will progress straight to the Division 1 Grand Final in a fortnight’s time following their compelling 34-point win over UHS-VU in the second Semi-Final at Elsternwick Park. The Bullants set the tone early via a 23-point to zip opening quarter, before the Vultures kicked into gear to trail by a manageable 10 points at the half. With Conor Howard and Matthew Holmes (1) leading the charge, and with eight players contributing to the scoresheet, including multiple majors to Jack Sammartino (3) and Thomas Hill (2), Preston tallied an impressive 8.7 to UHS’s 4.7 in the latter half to further their run at Division 1 silverware in the Grand Final. Though Isaac Brambley and Esubalew Ramsay (2) stood tall for the Vultures, they will undoubtedly be disappointed by the loss and look to re-launch in the Preliminary Final next weekend against the winner of tomorrow’s first Semi-Final between Kew and Peninsula 0B.

Not content with just a perfect home & away season only, Whitefriars were masterful once more in their 143-point Semi-Final win over Brunswick NOBS at Box Hill City Oval. Kicking a whopping 30.14 for the match, and with 12 goal-kickers contributing to their eventual 194-point total, the Friars were simply suburb from the opening bounce right through to the final siren. In a pool of worthy recipients, Samuel Kieseker was deemed best in his five-goal performance, while Toby Mcgurgan, Hewitt Murray and James Perrin (6) were also named as the Friars top performers for the afternoon. For the defeated Nobbers, who endured their biggest loss for the season, Nicholas Burgin (1) was the BOG recipient, while Michael O’Donoghue and Liam Whelan were also good. Brunswick’s second chance will come to pass next weekend against the winner of Semi Final 1 between Glen Eira and MHSOB.

Despite results going the other way in their Round 18 clash, Aquinas have managed to usurp Manningham Cobras at the most convenient time yet to the tune of 11 points at Garvey Oval. In this Second Semi-Final, the Bloods hit the ground running in a high-scoring opening term to take a two-goal buffer at the first change of ends, but the Cobras stuck with them in the second to trail by just 11 points at the half. Though this half-time margin was the eventual full-time margin, the Cobras surged in the third, led by BOG Michael Parkes (1) and Kane Maghamez (2), to take a two-point advantage at 3QT. Determined to not fall short again, the Bloods Lachlan Barnes, Tim Christou and Sam Scanlon led the Aquinas charge which would see them come up trumps, and progress straight through to the 2019 Division 3 Grand Final. Manningham will reload next weekend in the Preliminary Final against the victorious team in the Emmaus St Leos v Canterbury battle.

St Francis Xavier have iced their minor premiership title with a shot at Division 4 silverware in two weeks following their 14-point win over Albert Park at Trevor Barker Oval. In the hard-fought win, it was all about the Coe’s, our centurion goal-kicker Harrison (7) and brother Marcus (4), as they combined for a staggering 11 of the X-Men’s 15 goals for the afternoon, while Johnathan King and Nathan Aliotta were fantastic around the ground. For the Falcons, who will be disappointed to have let up a 16-point half time lead to trail by 33 points at 3QT, James Brick (3) and Justin Mahoney (2) were the main culprits up forward, as Thomas Wilson and Adrian Snowden provided able support. The Falcons will have a keen eye on the fallouts of tomorrow’s Elsternwick v La Trobe Semi-Final, as they prepare for the winner in the Division 4 Preliminary Final.