Ormond claim victory in a tight tussle with Old Peninsula

A possible September preview was upon us when Ormond defeated Old Peninsula by 4 points in a thriller at Harry MacDonald Oval.

There was a lot riding on this game with Ormond looking to continue their undefeated run whilst a win for Old Peninsula would lock away a top two spot for another week. The first quarter certainly delivered with both sides bringing their best, resulting in the Pirates taking a narrow 1-point lead into the first change.

Ormond came out firing at the start of the second term with two early goals their way, but it wasn’t long before the Pirates found the big sticks as the home side kicked the next two goals to be leading by 4-points at half-time.

The narrative was much the same in the third quarter as the Monders banked the early goals before the Pirates responded later in the term, however a late goal to Ormond gave the travelling side a 7-point lead at three-quarter time.

An exciting final term worked both defensive lines hard as not many goals were kicked, but ultimately aided by a few behinds falling their way, Ormond scraped over the line to win by 4-points in one of the best Division 1 games this season.

Bailey Payze and Trae Thermos impressed with three goals each for Old Peninsula and Ormond, respectively.

UHS-VU defeated Brunswick by 35 points to provide themselves with a helpful additional game buffer out of the relegation zone.

Brunswick dominated the first quarter to lead by 17-points at the first break, however the tables quickly turned in the second quarter as an inspired fight back from UHS-VU saw them reduce that deficit to just 2-points.

The Vultures continued their surge in the third quarter as they moved the footy well and controlled the game on their terms, limiting Brunswick to just 1-point whilst they kicked a further three majors to lead by 19-points at three-quarter time.

Whilst Brunswick saw success in the opening stages of the fourth quarter with an early goal to Max Varley, it was ultimately not enough as the Vultures comfortably claimed victory.

In his first senior game, Max Varley impressed with three goals for Brunswick, whilst Brandon Jackson of UHS-VU deserves a mention for contributing five of their ten majors.

Kew defeated Oakleigh by 55-points at Victoria Park.

The Bears got the better of the conditions in the first term to lead by 27-points at quarter-time, however, should’ve been much further ahead if not for some inaccuracy in front of goal. Kew continued to dominate into the second quarter with the five goal to one scoreline repeating itself, providing the Bears with a mammoth 53-point lead at half-time.

To Oakleigh’s credit, they came out of the break switched on and continued to impact the contest. The Krushers managed four majors to take their score up to 40 by three-quarter time, however with Kew now 66-points ahead, it was going to be an uphill battle to cause an upset in the final quarter.

Oakleigh won the final quarter, kicking four goals to two, however the damage had been done as Kew comfortably claimed the four points and earned themselves a spot in the top two, on percentage, thanks to Old Peninsula’s loss to Ormond.

On a high-scoring day where twenty-eight goals were kicked, Lachie James starred for Kew with five falling his way, whilst Thomas Gillard, Thomas Nolan and Jamie Roach were amongst the best players for Oakleigh.

Therry Penola managed to leap off the bottom of the table with a 16-point win over the Monash Blues.

An interesting first term saw Monash bank a 1-point lead thanks to kicking two straight goals, as opposed to Therry Penola’s one goal and five behinds.

The Lions fixed up their accuracy in the second term as the Blues’ kicked one goal and six behinds to give Therry Penola a 1-point advantage at half-time.

Therry Penola proved just how critical third quarters are as they defended well and pushed ahead to lead by 16-points at three-quarter time and carried that margin through to the final siren.

Monash captain Mitchell King, along with Harrison Wrigglesworth, were critical for their side with two goals each, whilst Jesse Caligiuri and Damien Watson similarly kicked two majors each for the winning Lions’.

This result has massive consequences for both sides as Therry Penola have taken one step further to avoiding relegation whilst Monash have fallen one step closer to the bottom two.

The final game of Round 12 saw the Preston Bullants defeat Elsternwick by just 12-points, after a valiant fourth quarter from the Wickers saw them get agonisingly close, but it ultimately wasn’t enough.

Not much separated the two sides early on as they both found opportunities to move the footy inside 50 and have shots on goal. Elsternwick led by 3-points at quarter-time and increased this lead in the second quarter to be up by 9-points at the main break.

Much like the Monash Blues and Therry Penola game, it was the Bullants who used the third quarter to their advantage, virtually silencing Elsternwick in front of goal and dramatically changing the course of this match to pile on five goals and lead by 27-points going into the final term.

The nature of the game flipped again in the fourth quarter as Preston only managed one behind, whilst despite the best efforts of Elsternwick, two goals was not enough, and they ultimately fell 12-points short after leading for a large part of the afternoon.

Daniel Marchese and Tom Hill booted four goals each for Elsternwick and Preston, respectively.

After a weekend off, Division 1 action resumes on July 19th with all of the top five each playing a team in the bottom five. Barring any upsets, this provides these stronger sides with a chance to further stake their claim on the top four as not only wins but percentage becomes critical.

UHS-VU (7th) host Ormond (1st) at Brens Oval, Therry Penola (9th) come up against the Preston Bullants (4th) at JP Fawkner Reserve, Brunswick (6th) make the trip down to Mount Eliza to face Old Peninsula (3rd), Oakleigh (5th) and Elsternwick (10th) meet at Scammell Reserve, and the Monash Blues (8th) face off against Kew (2nd) at Frearson Oval.