Monash Blues make it two in a row to give their season a boost

Round 8 of the Division 1 Men’s competition was fairly uneventful with most of the favourites getting up and ascending their claim on the top half of the ladder. After losing their first six games, the Monash Blues won their second on the trot to give their season a much-needed boost.

The Monash Blues recorded their second win of the season in a 2-point nailbiter against UHS-VU. With both teams having struggled to get wins on the board thus far, it was clear that this game was anyone’s for the taking.

It was the Vultures who got off to a positive start with the only two goals in the first quarter falling their way. If not for some inaccuracy in front of goal, they could’ve been much further ahead as they took a 13-point lead into quarter-time.

The ledger turned in the second quarter as Monash found their way back into the contest and saw more success for effort as they tied the scores up to 30 a-piece at half-time.

This game continued to evolve into “must-watch” footy in the third quarter as both sides held each other accountable and could not be separated on the scoreboard which read 50 a-piece at three-quarter time.

An incredible fourth quarter saw no goals kicked as both sides could only manage behinds. In the end, it was the Blues who won the battle of the minor scores as their six behinds won out to UHS-VU’s four behinds, to record their second win on the trot and provide some much-needed momentum to their season.

Ormond continued to push their stake as the team to beat in a 34-point victory over Kew, who have dropped away in recent weeks following a dominant start to the season.

Both sides experienced success in the first quarter with Kew taking a narrow 2-point lead into quarter-time. The Bears continued to find the footy inside 50 in the second quarter to stretch their lead to 8-points at the main break.

The Monders fired up in the premiership quarter, bringing more intensity and pressure to the contest to shift the game back in their favour and turn their deficit into a 4-point advantage at three-quarter time.

At three-quarter-time, the feeling was that this game was very much open and whichever side wanted it more would go on to win the game. Ormond started on top with the first four goals of the quarter, and despite Kew’s best efforts to bring themselves back in it, they left their run too late as Ormond comfortably got over the line and claimed the four points.

Special mention must go to Ormond vice-captain Jackson Hille who had a brilliant day up forward with eight goals to his name.

The Preston Bullants retained their top four spot in a 24-point win over Brunswick in what was a high-scoring clash at Ruthven Reserve.

The first half was fairly even as the momentum of the game fluctuated between both teams which saw Preston lead by 9-points as the main break. It was Brunswick who owned the third quarter with five goals to three but could’ve been much further ahead as they kicked seven behinds in the term.

Brunswick were hot out of the gates in the final term with an 8-point buffer in tow. They extended their advantage with a quick goal to open the quarter, but the Bullants quickly fired back and controlled the majority of the final quarter. In an impressive 9-goal display in the final 30 minutes of play. Brunswick charged home to win by four goals. The NOBs will be ruing their scoreline of 16 goals and 17 behinds which arguably cost them this game.

In a high-scoring affair that saw Preston finish 137 and Brunswick 113, Tom Hill of Preston and Oscar Watt of Brunswick starred for their sides with six and four goals respectively.

A statistic that will worry other teams is Preston’s “Points For” average this season. The Bullants are averaging 103 points in 2025, an incredible number that shows how much power up forward they have. The lowest score they have kicked all season is 86 points.

Despite the loss for Brunswick, they cannot be too disappointed given Preston are one of the better performing sides this season, not to mention the NOBs managing to crack triple-figures for the second time this season after coming up from Division 2 is a positive to take from this clash.

Oakleigh recorded their fifth win of the season in a dominant display against Therry Penola, finishing the day 54-point winners.

The Krushers started this game with precision with the first three goals falling their way. Good patches for both sides saw Oakleigh lead by 6-points at quarter-time and built on these efforts in the second quarter to lead by 23-points at half-time.

If Therry Penola were going to get back in this game, they had to respond swiftly and not let Oakleigh claim the opening stages of the second half. And whilst the Lions successfully scored the opening goal of the third term, they couldn’t stop this strong Oakleigh outfit who virtually silenced the Lions in the remainder of this quarter, to be trailing by a massive 60-points at three-quarter time.

Although the Lions’ won the fourth quarter and showed much improvement from their third quarter, the task at hand was simply too large as Oakleigh comfortably claimed victory. Jay Rossington impressed up forward for the Krushers with six goals to his name.

Old Peninsula have put themselves two games clear in second place with a commanding 87-point victory over Elsternwick.

The Pirates had a strong first quarter in which they booted six majors, but Elsternwick weren’t far behind and only trailed by 17-points at quarter-time. Unfortunately for the Wickers, the Pirates virtually silenced them in the second quarter as the margin blew out to 63-points.

This trend continued throughout the rest of the match as the Pirates continued to build their lead at each break and were ultimately just too good.

The competition takes a break over the King’s Birthday weekend before play resumes with Round 9 on Saturday June 14. UHS-VU (7th) hosts the Preston Bullants (4th), Elsternwick (10th) will be looking for their first win when they meet Therry Penola (9th), Kew (3rd) face the tough road trip of Old Peninsula (2nd), the Monash Blues (8th) host Oakleigh (5th), and the undefeated Ormond (1st) travel to play Brunswick (6th).