Big bags of beautiful goals and the sleeping giant awakens

Mitch Dyer

Round 9 action was some not to be missed in Division 1, with the top 4 starting to pull away from the competition, whilst a wild card emerged, and they might just be ramping up as they need too.

Old Peninsula and St Mary’s Salesian, with the latter currently sit at the bottom of the table being winless in 2022. It was a hot start and strong kicking that put the right foot forward for the Pirates, however it could have been a great margin if accuracy went their way. Leading the way was 400 gamer Sean Payze who ended the game with two majors to his name in a 36 point win, acting as a good little buffer for the now 3-6 for the season and proving to be a team that can win with some confidence.

PEGS faced the dangerous Therry Penola in wet and windy Saturday afternoon conditions.  The boys of Essendon have been the in form side for 2022, and booting 8.1 in the first quarter  certainly proved their class as they flexed their muscles and ran away 57 point winners over a tough and fighting Lions outfit, who managed to keep the PEGS side to just 30 points in the second half of football. For PEGS their major hitters in the MacDonald brothers and Fenner in goals got the job done and kept the league on notice that they are the ones to watch.

The game of the round was a tight battle between Kew FC and Glen Eira, a game in which really did shape the way the Gryphons first half of their division 1 campaign could be assessed.  With Kew lingering around the top of the table having only suffered the solitary loss it meant that Glen Eira would need to bring their A-Game to be within a sniff of the potential flag favourites out at Kew’s home ground. The lead never stretched further than four points at a major change, given Glen Eira did not miss a goal until the 3rd quarter it would need to be a mighty effort to keep the streak going. Coming in to the last was Kew 1 point ahead of the hard finishing Gryphons, they fell 2 agonising points short of one of the potential wins of the season. As for Kew, a hard fought and gritty win against the flow in ways should give them an enormous amount of confidence headed into the bye. 

The surprise match-up of the round between Oakleigh and Prahran Assumption. The Krushers have been unbelievable this season compared to their last, and with Prahran showing some cracks but also some raw talent it was always going to be a hard game to read. From my perspective the power of Cloke in the Oakleigh outfit would prove too strong for Prahran, however the roles were reversed and the men from Assumption came out firing. They exerted their authority  in front of goal with 17.16, moving them to 5-3-1 for the season and placing them just 1 spot behind this class Oakleigh outfit.

The final game of the round saw the return of the reigning minor premiers for 2021 in Old Camberwell, as they looked to get back on the winners list against an inconsistent Whitefriars. The game started the way of the Wellers with a 26 point advantage into the first break. They are a dangerous scoring side. As the game progressed, the scoreboard kept ticking in their favour, with Lachie Powell booting 6 majors after his 5 last week – it shows that this mid-season recruit is vital to the success of this team, now leaving them 4-4-1 on the season and on the cusp of launching a late season assault at the top 4.