AJAX claim their first win as Trinity hold on in a nail-biter

Josh Heriot

Round 7 saw AJAX produce a stunning victory to bring up their first win of the season with every team but Monash Blues with a win on the board. However, the last few rounds have seen the Premier B ladder stay relatively stable with little change.

St Bernards have made it seven wins in a row as they kept Old Geelong to just three goals for the afternoon to win by 65-points. Old Geelong was restricted to one goal after quarter time with the Snowdogs defence on full display to stifle the Geelong attack. Luke Di Lozio and Zac Overman were busy in the forward half for St Bernard’s with both kicking three goals with the Snowdogs finishing with eight individual goal scorers. Meanwhile Matthew Sauro produced a best on ground performance for the Snowdogs.

Old Geelong’s Sam Harrison fought gallantly for his side as he was named their best player but the Snowdog’s once against showed a touch more polish and class with their biggest test of the season to come this weekend.

It’s becoming more of a habit of reporting on Fitzroy winning and they did just that over the weekend. It was to be their toughest challenge yet in terms of a match up, but they delivered the goods to beat Beaumaris by 42 points. Ted Clayton was in scintillating form with five majors and named best on ground for the Roys. He has now kicked 13 goals for the season and trails Charlie Faubel (16 goals) as the clubs leading goal kicker. Donovan Toohey was also strong for the Roys.

Fitzroy along with St Bernards, remain undefeated and two games clear of the Sharks placed in third spot on the ladder. For Beaumaris, they were assisted by Benedict Andrews who hit the scoreboard with two majors with Joseph Nowell their best players. Callum Heath also continues his sensational form this season with another game amongst the best for the Sharks.

De La Salle responded well after their Round 6 loss to the Tigers with an 11-point win over Williamstown CYMS. They were able to start in tremendous style with six goals to one in the first quarter to get the early jump and expand a margin to 36 points. However, it was quick response from Williamstown as they then piled on six goals in the second quarter to cut the margin back to 13 points.

De La Salle were able to hold despite a further five goals to Williamstown in the last as they generated a late fightback. Archi Manton was in fine form with six goals and named as Williamstown’s best player with Liam Conway also kicking two majors. Meanwhile, for De La Salle Josh Cumberlidge was named their best as he also kicked two goals along with Luke Lloyd with booted four and Adrian Indovino who kicked three.

The closest game of the round saw Old Trinity prevail by just two points against St Bedes/Mentone out at the Daley Oval. It was an incredibly tight contest for much of the afternoon with scores level at the main break before Trinity were able to pull clear by 20 points at the final change. The Tigers kicked four last quarter goals to give Trinity a big scare, but it wasn’t quite enough to square things into their favour.

Braydon O’Toole led the charge up forward with Michael Lewis as they both kicked three goals with Nick Grech their best. For Trinity, Dominic Payman was their best with three majors along with Alex Emery with two. Oliver Scott was also strong as he continues his solid form this season.

The highlight of the weekend was seeing AJAX claim their first victory of the season against Monash Blues. It was a terrific game of football with a high scoring affair coming down to just 6 points. The Blues led at both half time and three-quarter time, but AJAX were always within touching distance with four final quarter goals. AJAX finished with 11 individual goal scorers with Richie Simon leading the way down forward with three. Kane Nissenbaum had a best on ground performance along with two majors for AJAX, while Hutch Davis also proved to be influential for the side.

For Monash, Mitch King was huge down forward with four goals along with Riley Smart and Nicholas Darling who both kicked three. Will Snookes was the Blues best who battled hard throughout the afternoon in what ended to be a terrific contest.

Round 8 will be a telling round for Premier B with both undefeated sides in Fitzroy and St Bernard’s facing off against each other. The Roys will have to travel to the Snakepit in what will be the most anticipated game of the season so far. Another clash worth keeping an eye on will be De La Salle and Old Geelong as they do battle out at Waverley Oval. Despite their loss on the weekend Old Geelong had been finding some consistency in their game and the round 8 clash will test both sides. Monash Blues will face St Bedes/Mentone as they look to claim their first win of the year. The final two games will see Williamstown up against Trinity and with Williamstown showing so much competitive spirit this season it could be a close contest. Beaumaris will face AJAX in the final match of the round with the Sharks looking to bounce back after their recent loss to Fitzroy.