All’s Well that ends Well

Ari Paevere

It was a case of FIFTH time lucky for Old Camberwell who overcame their arch-nemesis PEGS on Saturday afternoon. 

In 2022, the Wellers were made to be the bridesmaids to PEGS dominance, going down in the Grand Final and then for a fourth consecutive time earlier this season. After 30 minutes of play, trailing by 36 points, they were staring down the barrel of a fifth straight defeat. 

Even at three quarter time, despite keeping PEGS goalless for two quarters, the Wellers still trailed by 26 points. Enter Riley Verbi. He had already kicked the goal of the day in the second term. Then exploded with four goals in the final quarter to finish the day with five, and Old Camberwell with seven. 

11 points ahead of PEGS and now two games clear of the 2022 Division 1 Premiers. Thomas Oliver was one of the best, along with James Allen.

PEGS, for the second week in a row, have been held to under 40 points. The dominance they displayed through the early rounds of the season has seen them fall short to Old Ivanhoe and now Old Camberwell. This weekend they’ll welcome the Rovers to their home track hellbent on turning the past fortnight around. 

Old Camberwell heads out to Carey Sports Complex to do battle with the Panthers, who’ll be fresh off the bye this weekend. 

Old Ivanhoe goes into the bye this weekend on a five game winning streak. A 43-point win over Ormond the latest result. 

The margin could have been significantly greater had it not been for inaccuracy in the final term. 2.11.23 to 0.1.1 left the Hoers on 8.22.70 for the afternoon. 

Finn Knight, in his first senior game for the year kicked two goals. Luke Scuderi also kicked multiple goals to continue his run of goals in every game this year. From eight games he’s kicked 24 goals. Will Nagel and Nick Reeves-Smyth also had a hand in the victory.

Earlier this year, these two sides played off in a thrilling draw. This time around, despite starting the better, the Monders weren’t able to gather back the ascendancy after quarter time. They’ve now dropped six games in a row. 

In Round 3 they fell short to Mazenod by under a goal, they’ll be desperate to turn the tables on that result this weekend and stay in touch with Hampton Rovers in eighth spot. 

Hampton Rovers aren’t completely safe from the relegation zone just yet, but went a long way to securing a spot in Premier C for 2024 after beating Parkdale by nine points. 

Three weeks in a row now, Liam O’Driscoll has put the Rovers on his shoulders and implored his teammates to follow his lead. Another two goals in a best on ground performance underlined his importance to the Rovers.

Will Crawford, from the Under 19’s made his senior debut last year. This year he has returned to the 19’s and kicked 19 goals from six games. In the senior side on the weekend he kicked another two. A future prospect for Anthony Quon. 

Ryan MacDermid is having a stellar individual season for Parkdale, another bag of four on the weekend. He has kicked 30 for the year. Cooper Williamson in just his eighth senior game was part of Owen Lalors best players. 

The win for the Rovers puts them half a game behind the Vultures on the ladder. Can they make it three from their past four when they face PEGS on Saturday?

The Vultures have now lost three in a row, they head to Marcellin College desperate for the four points, and to stay in touch with the top four. 

Marcellin could only watch on as Mazenod put them to the sword across the first half to set up the Nodders 57 point victory. 

For the second week in a row, 96 points in the contest was the magic number for the Nodders. And Harry Boyce was the focal point in the forward line. A bag of five, to follow on from three and two in the previous fortnight. 

Tom McKenna and Liam Welsford also put in standout performances as Marcellin tried valiantly to put up resistance against the Nodders. 

The home side are having a tough time of things in 2023. Scoring is proving to be an issue while being leaky at the other end of the ground is also having an impact. 

There is still time to salvage something from the season with eight games to go. They can start to turn the tide this weekend facing Parkdale at the College. 

Mazenod can keep the pressure on PEGS in third spot if they’re to triumph over Ormond this weekend.