Six teams chase two finals spots as the Premier C ladder tightens

Hugh MacLean

High scores, close contests, upsets; no matter what your poison, there was something for you in round eleven.  Here’s what took place…

When you talk about weird games of football, this is one that falls under this heading. Mazenod had the benefit of a significant wind advantage in the opening quarter, and a return of 2.5 at quarter time was probably considerably less than they were looking for. It is in the second term that Mazenod set up their victory. 

An early Ormond goal was the extent of what they were able to achieve, kicking towards the scoring end, while Mazenod slammed on four of their own to go into the sheds 35 points to the good. Four more goals in the third quarter to a solitary point, plus the first major of the last quarter, led to a scoreline of 80-11 in Mazenod’s favour.  However, suddenly in the second half of the last term Ormond came to life, kicking six goals straight without reply to add respectability to the final score.  

Shaun Lovell kicked five goals and Brad Kovac two for the winners, for whom Tom McKenna was their best. Joe Nowell with three goals and Zach Benson with two led Ormond’s scoring chart, with Dae Szydlik strong on the day. Whether Mazenod opted for self-preservation late, or even whether Ormond could have won with an extra 15 minutes of football, no-one will ever know, but it certainly made for good conversation around the tables in the club rooms.

Old Ivanhoe came flying out of the gates at Chelsworth Park, kicking the first four goals of the match before Parkdale were able to get any sort of foothold. That showed the strength of the breeze as whilst two goals per quarter were kicked into it, goals were kicked more freely at the other end of the park.  

Old Ivanhoe took that four goal lead into the first break, but this was all-but equalised by half time by the plucky Vultures. It is in the third term that the Vultures started to take control, keeping Old Ivanhoe to two goals whilst kicking the last two goals of the quarter to give them momentum plus only a two point deficit at the last break.  

Old Ivanhoe were similarly solid in the final quarter, but with seconds left Kai Colella converted what proved to be the winning goal after a big contested mark, keeping the Vultures squarely in the finals hunt. Three players kicked two goals each for Parkdale, for whom Jarrod Peake was tireless in the ruck. Darcy Teele kicked four goals for Old Ivanhoe, and Michael Mitris was excellent for them.

UHS-VU have started the last couple of games well. Here they kicked two of the first three goals, but Monash ended the first quarter well on top. They kept the Uni in the game, however, by frittering away opportunities, kicking 2.10 to 2.1 in the first term.  

That was as close as UHS-VU got, as this was the type of match that title-chasing Monash were determined not to drop. Five goals to two followed in the second quarter, then seven goals to one in the third as the Monash forwards began to find their radar. A 65-point three-quarter time margin meant that the game was done as a contest, and the Blues were able to coast to a 74-point margin at the finish.  

Nick Darling kicked five goals and Alex Bennett four for Monash, for whom MacGregor Cameron was excellent. James McGee kicked three goals for UHS-VU, with Fraser Allan and Ben Dimattina their best.

Old Mentonians kicked the first goal against Hampton Rovers, but that only served to poke the angry bear as Hampton kicked the next six to take complete control of this match. The one-way traffic continued in the second quarter as the Rovers, resurgent after a couple of mid-season defeats, returned well and truly to their free-flowing best.  

A 53-point half-time lead always looked too much for the Panthers to cope with, but they showed plenty of spirit in taking an equal share of the six goals kicked in the third term.  Sadly for them though, Hampton were intent on building momentum for the following week and finished with eight last quarter goals to run out victors by 83 points.  

Jacob Gray, Max Coughlin and Dylan Melnjak kicked four each for Hampton with Ryan Leslie excellent, while Tom Morecroft and Lawson Daniels kicked two each for Old Mentonians with Tom McCarthy their best.

Marcellin will feel that they still have a chance of playing finals, and that they don’t have to fix too much to go on a winning run. If that run is to roll on then this second win in a row will help it gather speed. They were never troubled after going to quarter-time four goals to the good, and five further goals to two established a 48-point break at the half.  

Preston Bullants had their best period of the match just after half time, kicking five of the first seven goals of the second half, but that was the end of the show as far as their scoring went. Marcellin went on a rampage in the final term, kicking the only six goals as Preston stopped to a walk, handing Marcellin a resounding 77-point win.  

The full-forwards had good days with Lachlan Rush kicking seven for Marcellin and Matthew Perazzola six for Preston.  Marcellin’s Jeremiah Antypas and Matt Capetola, and Preston’s Ethan Lowe and Mark Chamberlain were excellent on the day.

Old Geelong bye