A windy weekend sees brave Bombers provide an almighty scare, while the Gryphons keep rising

When talismanic forward Jack Fenner slotted his second major, 90 seconds into the last quarter, PEGS held a 25-point advantage over the undefeated, ladder-leading Parkdale Vultures. ‘A lack of match fitness’ would then undo the Bombers, with their clinical opposition registering five of the contest’s final six goals, to run out 9.10 (64) to 9.9 (63) victors.

PEGS welcomed back five players from long layoffs, who will be better for the run, but lacked the conditioning to maintain the rage in a gruelling final term. A focus on limiting handball receives in contest situations held the Bombers in good stead for much of the match and contributed to the lead they built.

“For most of the day, that worked well, producing a pretty tight, contested affair,” said Bombers coach Rob Kerr. “Ade Akintola was very good in the ruck, and that also stifled Parkdale’s chances of clean takeaways,” he added.

Running a rampant Parkdale side so close provided Kerr with an opportunity to reflect on the growth of his side during his first year in charge. “(There’s been) big improvement in our form thus far, particularly defensively, but we do still need to work on how we bring the ball inside 50,” he surmised.

With 28 minutes gone in the last, Parkdale’s Max Phillips came up clutch, with his tenth major of the season levelling the scores. Spectators looked on helplessly, as time on waned, with any score likely to ice the contest. 

A roving behind off the boot of livewire Kai Day would prove the difference, with his side jubilant at the final siren. The Vultures led for a minute all day — ultimately, the only minute that mattered.

The Vultures’ victory, by the barest of margins, was fueled by a trademark ‘grit’ according to coach Owen Lalor, who conceded his charges ‘got out of jail’ against a side who were ‘super with their effort and contest’.

Parkdale’s record remains perfect following this great escape, with a smarting St Bedes/Mentone Tigers side presented with the next opportunity to hand the Vultures their first loss.

The Tigers were wasteful at home against a resurgent Beaumaris outfit, who righted the wrong of their own home loss in this local rivalry, in Round 1. “We’ll lick our wounds and learn the lessons from this one,” said Tigers coach Brad Berry.

“One of our themes for this week was to play for all 120 minutes, and we didn’t execute on that,” he conceded, lamenting an 8.4 to 0.3 third term. The Tigers fought gamely to reduce the margin in the last, but professional, game-slowing tactics from Sharks coach Josh Bourke saw the match end 13.10 (88) to 9.15 (69) in Beaumaris’ favour.

Premier ruckman Callum Heath drew his coach’s admiration for his efforts, rucking the entire second half of the contest without a change. Big V squad member Riley Mihailovic was influential in his characteristic midfield/forward role, and a defence led admirably by fellow Big V squad member and Sharks skipper, Callum Linehan, and Liam Hayes, also drew Bourke’s praise.

Tom Spencer was excellent, booting four goals on a wind-affected afternoon, but it was the second goal to midfield maestro Josh Trew that will live long in the memory. His roving snap, running perpendicular to goal and rapidly approaching the boundary line, sailed over the goal umpire’s head, and was astonishing enough to be named the VAFA’s GYG Highlight of the Week.

The miraculous finish provided stark contrast to the Tigers’ inefficiency in front of the sticks, and Brad Berry conceded Trew’s highlight was the moment he knew his side were having ‘one of those days’.

Similarly wasteful were Mazenod, who kicked their most behinds for a match this season, in their 15.15 (105) to 13.4 (82) win, away against Prahran. Nodders coach Peter Banfield felt his side’s dominant second half ‘should have seen them win by a lot more’, but poor execution on regulation shots prevented the margin’s possible inflation. 

“We kicked goals into the breeze in the last, but missed plenty of chances with it, in the third,” he finished.

The Two Blues were strong with the wind at their backs, scoring nine of their thirteen majors in the two quarters where the breeze favoured them. Last season’s Division 1 premiers are still searching for a breakthrough victory in Premier C, with injury cruelling Craige Milward’s ability to implement a system he believes in.

Glen Eira/Old McKinnon are a team who not too long ago were also languishing in a winless start to their Premier C campaign. The Gryphons started the season 0-5, but have gone 3-1 since, with their only loss since May 10th coming against the powerhouse that is AJAX.

The Gryphons overturned a 13 point deficit at the last change to run out 11.6 (72) to 9.7 (61) victors over Parkside, in Alphington. Coach Guy Martyn lauded his side’s ability to enact his desired tactical changes, after his side were too aggressive in folding back defensively, allowing Parkside to take shallow marks inside 50.

“We adjusted our method after seeing Parkside punish us for that. With ball in hand, we were able to change shape, and, with the wind at our backs, we struck a balance between being direct, but not just bombing the thing to defensive spares or a down-the-line Parkside ruckman,” he said.

Joel Stevens, the Parkside ruckman in question, was praised by Devils coach Rick Frost for his contributions after the match, as were backmen Harry Dehne and Riley Williams, who ‘didn’t miss a beat’ in just his second game for the season.

In Joel Chilcott’s absence, Jesse Maxfield has been leading the Gryphons, with Martyn enamoured with the midfielder’s team-first approach. “He’s sacrificing his own offensive game to worry about structures and team defence,” he said. Youngsters ‘Nick-Mav’ (Nicholas Mavropoulos) and Tom Noonan continue to play starring roles in the Gryphons’ recent turnaround, and will need to continue doing so, should the Gryphons reach Martyn’s lofty aspirations to be ‘the best of the rest’ (referring to the division’s runaway top four).

The Gryphons next test comes in the form of a home game against Mazenod. In the corresponding fixture in Round 1, Mazenod were victorious, despite Martyn’s men registering nine more scoring shots and some 20 more inside 50’s – Martyn’s had this one circled for a while.

Elsewhere, AJAX took care of business against Marcellin, recording a 11.12 (78) to 3.7 (25) victory. The win means the Jackas cumulative margin over the Eagles in their two encounters this season is 127 points, following a similarly one-sided affair to open their account.

AJAX coach Lachlan Buszard put the contest’s dour opening half down to the windy conditions, and Marcellin’s ‘excellent defensive efforts’.

With both teams bereft of senior talent, through injury and travel, Reece Israel and Nick Pike stood up for the Jackas, inspiring their team to score eight of the second half’s nine majors, inflating the final margin. “They were excellent for us, with their ability to keep running late into the game. That was Pike’s best game for us, and he’s only nine games into his senior career. We’ve found another player for the future!” Buszard said.

“AJAX got outside in the third, and we couldn’t sustain our intensity,” said Marcellin coach Bernie Dineen. “They’re well-drilled and well-coached. I was pleased with the way our mids went to work; our backs were strong as well,” he added.

One such back was the returning Oliver Butterworth, who was strong for the Eagles. Dineen praised how instinctively his ‘very coachable’ defender ‘comes forward in defence’ but lamented an inability to reward running efforts further up the field as a reason for their lack of scoring potency.

On Saturday there are intriguing fixtures aplenty, with the top four sides all facing off. St Bedes/Mentone Tigers (4^th) welcome Parkdale Vultures (1^st) to Brindisi St, and Beaumaris (3^rd) will play host to AJAX (2^nd). This could see a shake-up of the top four standings. Last year’s Division 1 Grand Finalists in Prahran and Parkside will renew hostilities in Alphington, PEGS welcome Marcellin to Windy Hill, and in Carnegie, Glen Eira/Old McKinnon will host Mazenod.