A Rovers return, a Jackas showcase & CYs day out

Alisha Min

With the top-four set as we welcomed the final home & away round for 2019, it was the question of relegation which lingered amongst Premier C followers – would it be Hampton Rovers who move back down to Division 1, following their promotion from said section at the end of 2018, or Old Camberwell?

After a compelling three-point victory in their favour over Old Mentonians, kudos to an upstanding performance by Christian Carnovale (3), as well as teammates and James Prosser and Josh Broadley, Hampton Rovers sealed their fate for another Premier C bout in the new year. With 23 scoring shots to the Panthers 15, the Rovers had ample opportunity to put this game away, a result ultimately made possible via the nine majors evenly contributed by Sam Bradford (3), Carnovale (3) and Campbell Hetherington (3). For the Mentonians, who finished in sixth after eyeing off a possible finals campaign not two weeks ago, Comrey Edgeworth was deemed best.

Despite stringing together their first two consecutive wins for the year in Round 16 and Round 17, Old Camberwell fell just short of saving themselves from the Division 1 drop after succumbing to Mazenod by 23 points at Central Reserve. Trailing for the match majority, despite Scott Kaiser (6) and Simon Bennett’s (2) utmost efforts up forward, the class of the Nodders Liam Welsford (3), Jarryd Raffa (3) and Matthew Tighello proved too much for the fighting Camberwell to contain. The win sees the Nodders conclude their season in fifth place, trailing Old Ivanhoe (4^th) by six premiership points, while the Wellers have landed in ninth.

On a mission to prove they aren’t just making up numbers in the final-four, Old Ivanhoe posted a ten-goal victory over tenth places PEGS in front of the Hoers faithful at Chelsworth Park. Only leading by 11 points at the half, Old Ivanhoe went on to outscore the Division 1 bound Bombers 13.6 to 5.5 in the latter half to put the result beyond doubt. With four goals off his own boot, Michael Mitris subsequently claimed his second BOG accolade for the year, while teammate Jack Welham kicked a game-high six goals. With players like Andrew Frazer and Brett Hannah in their midst, PEGS are sure to rebound in their 2020 campaign in Division 1.

Winning nine of their last 10 matches, you’d be a fool to not take Ajax as a serious contender in this year’s finals series – with their 39-point win over second placed Ormond over the weekend sending a real warning to the rest of the silverware focussed clubs as we approach September. A 60-point to 19-point opening quarter made things nigh-on impossible for the Monders from the get-go, despite managing to outscore the Jackas in the remaining three quarters (7.6 vs 6.10). In the Jackas best for the day were Benjamin Krongold and Elliot Debinski, while Ormond’s Ethan Hanley and Dan Szydlik were admirable in defeat.

The perfect home & away season greeted Williamstown CYMS on Saturday evening after they accounted for Marcellin by 133 points at Marcellin College. Booting 68 points in the first quarter, comparatively to the Eagles 1.4, an incredible 13 individual goal scorers contributed to the CYs impressive 24-goal total for the day – with Jack Noonan topping the lot with four. Following on with his good run of form, Thomas Johnstone was named best for Williamstown, while Jackson Green and Sebastian Beale impressed most for Marcellin (7^th).

PREVIEW

Semi-Final 1: Ajax vs Old Ivanhoe

It will be Ajax’s first finals appearance since 2011 this weekend, and you’d be hard pressed to find a team in the competition with greater resolve than this Jackas line-up. Having won in both clashes during the season, Ajax would appear to have the more compelling argument when discussing their approaching encounter against Old Ivanhoe at Trevor Barker Oval on Sunday afternoon. With a 31-point margin in their favour in Round 2, and an improved 79-point win in Round 15, the Jackas Dov Paltiel and Nick Lewis provided plenty of headaches in the more recent clash, while Trent Weber and Richard Skok were irrefutable in the former. Though the Hoers have demonstrated their superiority over lower ranked sides during the year, beating teams below them on nine out of a possible 12 occasions (factoring in a Round 10 draw against Hampton Rovers), the only fellow finals contender they have managed to best is Ormond in Round 13. Nevertheless, Old Ivanhoe’s ability to convert up forward, an ability which puts them second in the section with an average of 83ppg, and their top-end talent – including Michael Mitris, Oscar Mcintyre, Sam Keough, Jack Welham and Michael Del Monte – is as good as anyone’s in Premier C, and a strong showing from them could very well see them progress to the Preliminary Final.

Semi-Final 2: Williamstown CYMS vs Ormond

Having only locked heads recently in Round 15, and with the result going convincingly in Williamstown CYMS’ favour following their 104-point win, Ormond will need to have pulled-off some significant legwork in the last month if they harbour any hope of reversing that outcome this weekend – a feat certainly not beyond them. Averaging just over 20 goals each week, compared to the rest of the sections average of 69ppg, while their back-six lets-up 52ppg on average, a fair deal more stringent then the sections typical 77ppg against, the CY’s stats sit head-and-shoulders above the rest; a wholly unsurprising comment considering their unblemished run. With enviable talent in the CY’s ranks, including the reigning 2018 & now 2019 Lou Zachariah Medallist, Yuma Hemphill, while four teammates have tallied 20+ goals for the year, led by Lachlan Fairley with 39 majors, envisaging Williamstown’s downfall is difficult. Ethan Hanley, Max Kennedy, Simon Buckley and Dae Szydlik have all had memorable seasons for the Monders so far this year – can they rally the troops and trump the section’s favourites, progress to the Premier C Grand Final and lock in a Premier B promotion for 2020 along the way?