In a weekend of thrashings, Elsternwick the outlier in a tight tussle with ladder leaders

Round 10 of the Division 1 Men’s competition saw four sides go down in eight plus goal defeats, however it was ninth-placed Elsternwick who bucked this trend, giving the undefeated Ormond a serious scare as the Wicks fell short in a gallant defeat.

On paper, Ormond and Elsternwick shaped up to be a largely one-sided clash, but to Elsternwick’s credit, they turned this game into a contest with some resilient fourth quarter efforts, but ultimately fell 21 points short.

The first half was truly a story of two opposing quarters as Ormond started the game on top, although could’ve had a much higher lead if not for some inaccuracy. Elsternwick reversed this in the second quarter with four goals to one, to only be trailing by 2-points at half-time.

Ormond took advantage of the ‘scoring end’ in the third quarter as they blazed ahead in a six goal to two displays, but with a lead of 25-points at three-quarter time the game was still in the balance.

The Monders came out firing at the start of the fourth quarter with the first three goals going their way and with a 43-point lead eight minutes into the term, onlookers were left to think it was just about game over.

But to Elsternwick’s credit, they didn’t drop their heads and delivered an almighty response as the Wicks kicked the next five goals. The Wicks were eager to cause an upset and it was showing. Unfortunately for Elsternwick, it was a case of too little too late as Mason Thatcher kicked the sealer for Ormond in the dying stages of the match.

Thomas Nicholls impressed up forward for Ormond with five goals to his name, whilst Elsternwick will walk away from this game encouraged by the efforts they showed and can be more optimistic that they have what it takes to move out of the relegation zone.

Old Peninsula were back on the winners list and have locked away their top two spot for another week after a 57-point victory over the Monash Blues.

After a slow start with a few behinds both ways, the Pirates found the first goal fifteen minutes into the first quarter and built up a lead of 13-points by quarter-time. The Blues got more of a look in throughout the second quarter and worked their deficit back to just 8-points.

Despite the Blues’ best efforts, the Pirates were ultimately just too good as they put on twelve goals to four in the second half to comfortably win and claim their eighth victory of the season.

Brendan Dunne was amongst the goals with three majors for the victorious Old Peninsula, whilst Jack Hooper, Archer Vague and Flynn Thompson were some of the best players for Monash.

Brunswick are continuing to make a charge towards a possible final’s appearance with a commanding 56-point defeat of Therry Penola.

Brunswick had the dream first half, setting the tone early for how the rest of the day would play out. Brunswick led by 34-points at the main break and built that lead up to an incredible 80-points at three-quarter time as they moved the ball inside 50 with ease and found the goals on multiple occasions.

To Therry Penola’s credit, their fourth quarter was impressive as they gained back territory and kicked six goals to two, but the game was well and truly over by then as Brunswick comfortably claimed the four points.

Paul Scamporlino had a great day up forward with five goals for Brunswick, whilst Patrick Carracher had three majors of his own for the Lions.

Kew have continued their so-far successful 2025 campaign, defeating UHS-VU by 58 points.

Both sides had their moments in the first quarter, but it was the Vultures who took a narrow lead into quarter-time. The Bears found their footing in the second term and clawed back into the contest, sharing the goals around to build up a 19-point lead at half-time.

Kew continued to dominate and increase their pressure throughout the second half to lead by 35-points at three-quarter time, preceding a six-goal final term that well and truly put the game to bed and claimed victory in front of their home crowd.

This result has ladder ramifications for both sides with Kew remaining just one game out of the top two, whilst the Vultures loss will make it harder for them to climb the ladder, now sitting two games behind sixth, but nonetheless have an important two-match buffer with the bottom two.

Oakleigh found themselves back on the winners list with a crushing 52-point victory over the Preston Bullants.

This match was poised to be a close one with just one game separating these two sides before they met, and the first half certainly delivered. There were swings and roundabouts in momentum as both sides had positive patches which saw Oakleigh bank a 6-point lead at half-time.

The second half however was more of a one-sided affair as the Bullants only managed four more goals for the remainder of the afternoon whilst Oakleigh piled on the pain with a further ten

goals as their forward line sent a reminder to the rest of the competition of just how damaging they can be.

Luke Ashen and Elliot Black each kicked four goals for Oakleigh whilst reliable Preston forward Tom Hill had three majors to his name.

Both sides finish Round 10 with six wins to their name, only separated by a lean 0.21% which sees Preston in fourth and Oakleigh in fifth.

Round 11 provides an opportunity for the top four to further their stake on that section of the ladder with very winnable games for these sides.

The two ends of the ladder meet when Ormond (1st) host Therry Penola (10th), UHS-VU (7th) host Old Peninsula (2nd), the Preston Bullants (4th) host the Monash Blues (8th), Elsternwick (9th) host Kew (3rd), and Brunswick (6th) could swap spots with Oakleigh (5th) if they win and grow their percentage.