Wicks, JOCs, Swans kick away in Div 4 Men’s

Zac Jennings

Early season claims were made in Round 2 as Elsternwick, St. Johns and South Melbourne Districts all flexed their muscle with emphatic victories, while La Trobe University made it a two from two to remain one of three undefeated sides to start the 2021 season.

In what shaped up to be the match of the round, South Melbourne Districts quickly put their one-point loss in round one behind them to bounce back with a stunning 97-point victory over Eley Park. The Bloods led at every change throughout the game, heading into the main break with a 52-point lead, before dousing any chance of an unlikely Eley Park comeback with an 11 to four goal second half to secure their first win in 2021. Jamie Brooker continued his hot start to the year for South Melbourne, booting five goals in a best on ground performance for the Bloods whilst Harrison Larkey was best afield for the Sharks.

South Melbourne will be looking to secure another win this weekend when the host Masala at Lindsay Hassett Oval, while Eley Park travel to play the red-hot St. Johns in another tough outing.

17 goals between Nick Lowrie and Justin Hunter have propelled Elsternwick to an enormous victory over Box Hill North, with the Wickers demolishing the Demons to the tune of 252 points. Elsternwick had an incredible 64 scoring shots on the afternoon, with a final score of 39.25.259. Nine goals from Lowrie and eight from Hunter led the scoring onslaught for Elsternwick, with Andrew Oldfield booting 6 while Justin Hall and Dylan joins chipped in with four goals apiece.  The win sees the Wickers undefeated and atop the Division 4 ladder with a whopping percentage of 536.

Elsternwick will look to make it three from three when they host Swinburne University, while Box Hill North will be looking forward to heading back to Elgar Park for their clash with LaTrobe University.

LaTrobe University remains undefeated to start season 2021 with a come from behind victory against Masala. In a tightly contested, sea-sawing affair, Masala were looking to bounce back from its round one loss and led at the main break through some accuracy in front of goal. While their accuracy continued in the second half, the sheer amount of scoring shots from LaTrobe was too much to overcome as they eventually ran out 16-point winners. Thomas Whelan was judged best afield in the win, with Josh Horder kicking four goals for LaTrobe. Dale Gibb was the best on ground for Masala, with Cameron Young booting four and Declan Fowler following up his three goals from last week with another three-goal haul.

LaTrobe will look to remain undefeated as they head to Elgar Park in a clash with Box Hill North, with Masala also on the road to face South Melbourne Districts.

A huge-11 goal second half saw St. Johns keep pace with the other undefeated teams in Division 4, with a comprehensive win over Swinburne University. In what was a tightly contested match up till half time, the JOC’S were able to keep the Razorbacks goalless in the second half to run away with an impressive 89-point victory. Swinburne will be ruing their inaccuracies, kicking 3.11 for the game, and 5 straight behinds in the second half. St. Johns forward Aaron Thornton continued his hot start to the season, kicking 7, while Rohan Scott was a standout again for the JOC’s. Ben Cox was best afield for Swinburne, continuing his good start to the season also.  

St. Johns will host Eley Park at Thomas Carroll Reserve this week as they look to start the year 3-0, while Swinburne heads to Holmes/Todd Oval for a clash with ladder leaders Elsternwick.