Hoers with room to breathe, Fields win three on the trot

Old Ivanhoe has some breathing space inside the top two after seven weeks of Premier B football, outlasting Old Geelong in a high-quality contest at Como Park last Saturday afternoon.

The Hoers, now 6-1 with their only loss coming against Old Camberwell in Round 5, were aided by a sprinkle of fairy dust from their young guns, 19-year-old Rohan McKenzie and 18-year-old Tyson Nagel, in the final minutes to come away with the four points.

First McKenzie, faced with a challenging set shot from the paint of 50 into the wind, feigned a typical approach on goal before he played on, wove his way around the man on the mark, and nailed an audacious running checkside in the dying sunlight.

Minutes later, Archie Franklin found Nagel with a bouncing kick to centre half forward, isolated in a one-on-one. Favoured initially by a high, floating bounce, Nagel pushed off his opponent, gathered the ball, swerved away onto his right, and drilled a goal from just inside 50 to seal the deal for the Hoers.

The 12.14 (86) to 11.11 (77) victory has Old Ivanhoe a game clear of Old Trinity in second, and perhaps most crucially two games clear of the swelling chasing pack, five sides on 4-3 battling for just two places inside the top four.

“Both teams played a full, four-quarter game – the contest didn’t stop until the final siren, which was great,” said Old Ivanhoe coach Jarrod Gieschen on Sunday.

“We had a really bad run for about four or five years at Como Park. Last year we broke the hoodoo, so to go there and reinforce that … they’re so hard to beat there and they play the ground so well”.

Turning around a run of poor finishes to games is one of the key takeaways for Gieschen – the Hoers’ final quarter is on average their lowest-scoring term this season. That’s particularly notable as earlier in the year, the Hoers rocketed past the Panthers with an 8.3 (51) to 1.4 (10) last quarter.

“It’s been a bit of a mixed bag this year,” Gieschen said.

“We obviously came from behind pretty hard against Old Carey in Round 2, we had the game against Willy when we were out by 50 points and they came back at us.

“The last couple of weeks, we’ve put a little bit of focus into our last quarters, given we had a bit of a flat spot a few weeks back. At three quarter time, we knew they’d have one more effort in them. They certainly came at us in the first 10-15 mins of the last quarter (and) pleasingly, our boys found a way again to come up with the goods.”

The battle between Herculean ruckmen Jack Sheridan (15 disposals, 11 clearances and 23 hitouts) and Alex Mirkov (19 disposals, 7 clearances and 50 hitouts) was described by Old Geelong coach Nick Dixon as “good as anything you’ll see at local level”.

Dixon, while disappointed with the loss, was quick to praise the quality of the game.

“(It) seemed like it was a goal the difference either way the whole day,” he said.

“Obviously a disappointing result for us as we had chances to go ahead late in the game. However I was really pleased with our overall performance, particularly with the amount of injuries at the moment.”

In just his second year of senior football, the OGs’ Jimmy Adams continued to impress, racking up 26 disposals and a goal, while midfield stablemate Harry Kol (25 disposals) split the points with his opponent, reigning G T Moore Medallist Billy Murphy (20 disposals, 11 clearances and a goal) at stoppages.

Going into Round Eight last year, Williamstown CYMS was in ninth place, and with just the one win mulling over how to escape the relegation zone, with a two-game gap to Beaumaris in eighth.

This time around, Con Terzoglou’s squad is 4-3 and fresh off a 42-point victory over Old Carey at home, screaming home with 11 second-half goals to five to win 12.19 (91) to 6.13 (49).

“We felt pretty happy that we restricted the damage in the first,” said CYs coach Con Terzoglou.

“Both teams struggled at times by foot because of the wind – it was quite blustery. Hitting anything at more than 20 metres was a challenge for both sides.”

Only two goals were kicked in the first half, the CYs leading 15-12, and kicking into a wind that advantaged the Williamstown Botanic Gardens end of the ground in the third quarter. 

Employing a “rugby-league style” approach, with numbers stacked around the footy and handballs aplenty, the CYs piled on eight goals in the third to the Panthers’ two, stunning onlookers at the Fearon Reserve – including the coach.

“To kick eight goals into the breeze was beyond my wildest imagination. We were happy to take a nil-nil,” said Terzoglou.

Hamish Tambourine was named the CYs’ best, the versatile 23-year-old racking up 21 disposals and a goal, while key forward Zac Provest booted five goals.

“He (Tambourine) is someone that’s been consistent in playing at senior level, but probably hasn’t found his feet in a position,” Terzoglou explained.

“We took an opportunity to refresh the midfield, put him in, and give him free rein across four quarters. We thought he was fantastic.”

The challenge for Terzoglou’s group now is stringing two wins together – something the group hasn’t been able to do yet this year.

Panthers coach Luke Giles is one of a few coaches hanging out for the bye and some reinforcements on-field – which should be coming for Old Carey very soon.

“We just got sliced up in the third quarter through clearance and their spread,” said Giles on Monday.

“Although we were severely depleted, I was really impressed with Williamstown – I think they are a massive danger side if they have their full list available.”

“I was happy with the way we finished off the game and didn’t wave the white flag. We kicked four goals into the wind late, so our ability to finish games has become a real strength.”

Sam Nehme (25 disposals and 10 rebound 50s) and Luke Zimmerman (24 disposals and 8 rebound 50s) were handy down back for the Panthers, while Connor Ogilvie was good on a wing.

Paul Satterley’s Caulfield Grammarians have made the most of a three-week home stand, going three-for-three and crashing into the chase for the finals-playing positions.

Having edged Old Melburnians in Round Five and held off Williamstown CYMS in Round Six, the Fields motored away from Old Camberwell late at Glen Huntly Reserve, 11.17 (83) to 8.9 (57) victors.

Coach Satterley was particularly pleased by what he felt was the first four-quarter performance this year by his squad, which was able to manufacture scoring opportunities with the wind, and then hold off the opposition without it.

“All the wins have been a real grind,” Satterley said on Monday morning. 

“I thought it was a really mature win. We typically like to get on the move and play a real quick brand of footy – but it was nothing like that on Saturday,” he said of the high-stoppage, contested game against the Wellers.

“It was one of those days where you couldn’t take too many risks.”

Connor Cooke’s goal at the end of the third term that put the Fields clear by eight points with the assist of the wind to come ultimately proved to be the backbreaker. The lead quickly grew to 20 points early in the last, and Caulfield was able to stave off any Weller resurgence from there.

“The bottom line at Caulfield is if you don’t utilise the breeze when you have it they will make you pay when they have it,” said Old Camberwell coach Neil Connell. 

“We had the breeze in the first and failed to use it.”

Connell praised the Fields’ ability to play to the conditions at Glen Huntly Park – particularly Caulfield’s ability to control the game when kicking into the wind.

“‘Satts’ is doing a great job with this group, and they have great balance all over the ground. One of the more impressive teams we have played so far this year,” Connell said.

Julian Dobosz (20 disposals, 10 clearances, 33 hitouts and a goal) continued his hot streak Archie Loughnan and Cooke ended with three goals apiece for the Fields, while Sam Veitch (27 disposals, nine clearances and a goal) was Lachie Harker (33 disposals) were impressive for the Wellers.

The Fields’ visit to Old Trinity next week offers a test of strength – and Satterley is eagerly awaiting the challenge provided by Donald McDonald’s team.

“We go there in good nick and (with) absolutely nothing to lose. We’ll throw everything at them, win, lose or draw.”

Old Trinity comes into that clash off a wire-to-wire win over Fitzroy at Brunswick Street Oval, 68-point winners in response to a loss to Old Geelong two weekends ago. 

Assistant coaches Jack James and Scott Duthie took the reins in the 18.11 (119) to 7.9 (51) victory, with senior coach Donald McDonald tracking the scores at home, recuperating after a knee replacement.

“Against Old Geelong, there were some real standout areas we needed to look at if we wanted to be super competitive,” Donald McDonald.

“From our end, it’s pretty simple. A lot of it starts around contest … (and) the continued development of our players, and getting players in roles they’re really comfortable with”.

Christos Manoussakis (34 disposals, nine clearances and nine inside 50s) was dominant, aided by Hugo McGlashan (34 disposals,  12 marks and 10 clearances) in the midfield, while Ed Chard and Tom Ferrier shared the ruck duties well after starting ruck Spencer Barendregt went down early.

Hugh Beasley’s seven majors saw him take a healthy lead atop the goalkicking table, up to 28 on the season ahead of Old Camberwell pair Liam Thomas (22) and Harry Laukens (22).

It’ll be a reunion of sorts for McDonald next week against the Field, having coached Paul Satterley in his time at Werribee

“He’s a real competitive fella, and an unbelievably experienced VAFA coach. I know he’ll be preparing his boys to the minute,” McDonald said.

Nathan Ligris (36 disposals), Laird Ramshaw (28 disposals and 13 tackles) and Charlie Roberts (22 disposals and ten clearances) led the way for the Roys, who are ninth, two games back from the OMs.

The Old Melburnians have got their season going after a tricky opening five weeks, securing back-to-back wins with a 42-point defeat of the Hampton Rovers.

Hampton’s three-goals-to-none second term gave the Old Melburnians a worry at half time, but Nathan Brown’s team was able to wrest control early in the second half and hold the Rovers at bat, winning 11.18 (84) to 6.6 (42).

“Credit to Hampton, they were really spirited all day, right to the end. It was a hard-fought match,” said Brown, who moves up to 3-4 after a 1-4 start to his second stint at the OMs.

Lachie Haysman was busy with 27 disposals and two goals while Ned Nichols (23 disposals and 13 clearances) and Jack Spargo (16 disposals and 31 hitouts) combined nicely through the middle.

The focus for Brown is conversion in front of goal – the OMs have kicked 30.41 over the last three weeks.

“We’ve still got to get a bit more reward for our effort – we’ve not been getting the reward from all our inside 50s. That’s more connection to goal, not connection midfield-to-forward,” he said.

Chris Perkins has been superb in a tough season so far for Hampton and continued to stuff the stat sheet, racking up a game-high 37 disposals along with 17 contested possessions, 11 clearances, 10 rebound 50s and a goal.

The Rovers visit Old Ivanhoe at Chelsworth Park next week and the OMs host Williamstown CYMS, while Old Camberwell face Old Geelong and Fitzroy play Old Carey.

Old Trinity and the Caulfield Grammarians round out the first phase of the Premier B season, with the competition to take a week’s break over the King’s Birthday long weekend.