Finals football on the line in round 18 with the four yet to be decided

Josh Heriot

September is on our doorstep and for Premier B the final round of football is shaping up to be an exciting contest with must win games across the board.

Round 17 began with an enormous win to Old Geelong at Como Park against Monash Blues. The winning margin fell out to 120 points with Old Geelong’s Harrison Kol starring in front of goal with seven majors. The home side had a particularly strong second half where fourteen goals were kicked. Jack Sheridan helped the charge and set up much of the play while both Sam Dixon and Sam Barnett both assisted the scoring power with three goals each. Alex Bennett was best for Monash was showed fight along with James Flett who finished with two goals.

St Bernards just continue to perform and again they recorded another big win over Old Trinity. A ten-goal last quarter stung Old Trinity with the Snowdogs finishing with ten individual goal kickers. Among them was star player Charlie Vague kicking three along with Fergus McNicol. Jordan Farrell continued his outstanding season with yet another best on ground performance. For Trinity, Christos Manoussakis was gallant in the contest as he was named their best with Luke Scobie sharp down forward with three goals.

Williamstown CYMS were able to give the second placed Fitzroy a scare with The Roys only scraping clear to win by thirteen points. Williamstown stuck with Fitzroy for much of the afternoon as the travelling side trailed by one point at the final change. The Roys had plenty of scoring power however, with twelve goal kickers hitting the scoreboard. Donovan Toohey led from the front for Fitzroy with a best on ground performance while Williamstown’s trio William Smyth, Oskar Manton and Jack Briskey all kicked three each. Jack Noonan was Williamstown’s best player as he lined up for the fifteenth time this season.

Beaumaris were able to back up this week with another comfortable win, this time over Ajax. The Sharks were helped in their forward department by Ben Hempel and Matt Harms who both concluded the afternoon with a bag of 6 while James Freeman had four goals to his name. Matt Harms was ultimately their best player also with the Sharks trying to push into September with momentum and solidify a spot. Ajax played valiantly during the first half of play with Richie Simon booting three and Toby Sheezel also providing excellent service with a best on ground display.

The final match of the penultimate round proved to be the closest match with De La Salle prevailing by only three points over St Bedes/Mentone. The Tigers rallied a late charge which saw them kick 7 goals in the final term and keeping their opposition goalless. The three-quarter time margin of 44 points was well and truly cut with the home side clinging on to what was a big victory for their finals campaign. The Tigers’ scoring power was on display and caused havoc in the De La Salle defence with Caleb Lewis kicking 6, adding to his growing tally of 41 and Jack Behnk kicking three. For De La Salle, Patrick Bohan led from the front as he was named their best and kicked two goals.

What does round 18 look like? The biggest clash of the weekend will be at the Brunswick Street Oval when Fitzroy play De La Salle. Old Geelong will be playing Ajax for one last chance at cracking into the four while Beaumaris will be trying to solidify a spot as they play Trinity. While the chances are marginal the Tigers will need other results to go their way but will also need to win to continue their season. With finals chances on the line, the weekend is one that promises to be exciting with Saturday night to be a telling moment as the four will be all but locked up.