Monash Blues win their first game as finals race heats up

Josh Heriot

Saturday’s weather was reminiscent of September weather as the charge for finals and specifically that final fourth spot heats up. De La Salle, Old Geelong and St Bedes/Mentone are all contesting a finals opportunity but the main highlight from round 14 came from the bottom of the tables clash.

It was the winless Monash Blues playing AJAX and it proved to be an absolute classic with only one point separating the two sides, in a high scoring affair. It was a close battle right from the very start with the Blues leading at every change before a late surge from Ajax with five final quarter goals to three.

It made things interesting and tested the strength of Monash who were able to just hold on and snatch their first win. A tremendous day for Monash saw the rich form of James Flett continue with three majors while Daniel Easson continued his fantastic year along with Charles Stratford who was voted best for Monash.

Beaumaris were able to put their off-field issues behind them in round 14 to run over the top of the second placed Fitzroy with a 27-point win. It was a must win game for the Sharks who created a one game buffer between them the fourth placed De La Salle as the race for finals begins to get interesting.

With only five points separating the Sharks and the Roys at the final change, the final quarter saw a six-goal blitz from Beaumaris who skipped clear. Joel Cusack kicked a small bag of four goals with big ruckman Callum Heath instrumental for the Sharks recording another best on ground performance. Meanwhile the Roys were kept in the hunt by Ted Clayton who kicked three.

St Bernards are enjoying sitting at the top of the tree with yet another fantastic win, this time kicking 22 goals to beat St Bedes/Mentone by 37 points. Goal kicking regular Caleb Lewis booted nine goals in a fabulous display also earning a best on ground display for the Tigers.

The Snowdogs, however, look hard to beat, particularly heading into the finals and some familiar names were amongst the best on the weekend. Ben Huggard was their best with two goals with both Luke Said and Dominic Sullivan also kicking three each to assist the charge. The real question is, who can stop the Snowdogs? They have developed into a juggernaut with great appeal and finals can’t come quick enough for them!

Old Geelong have added another win to their 2023 record as they progress their finals chances. Geelong is locked in a battle with De La Salle and St Bedes/Mentone with all three teams sitting on eight wins with percentage splitting them apart. This match had the makings to be a great contest and it certainly was with numerous lead changes over the course of the afternoon.

De La Salle sprung out of the blocks with the first four goals with leads at every change. Nathan Scollo kicked three goals with Jake Williams who also provided quality service for them. Old Geelong, however, were able to keep De La Salle goalless and storm over the top of them to win by 18 points. Mickey Nicholls increased his goal tally to 27 after adding four goals on the weekend and Harrison Kol found plenty of the footy and was a large contributor.

The final match of the round saw Old Trinity comfortably account for Williamstown CYMS by 44 points. Trinity trailed at half time by 11 points, but they were able to hold their nerve kicking seven goals in the third quarter. Trinity’s Dominic Payman was sharp in front of the big sticks with five majors with Boston Dowling kicking three goals. Meanwhile Williamstown’s Zachary Provest booted three goals.

Round 15 will see St Bernards take on Fitzroy in a top of the table clash, with another game that will have potential top four repercussions seeing De La Salle and Beaumaris go head-to-head. Monash will welcome St Bedes/Mentone to Frearson Oval while Williamstown will meet with Ajax and Old Geelong to play Old Trinity.