St Mary’s take top spot after beating ladder leaders Old Yarra Cobras

Round 15 of the Division 2 Men’s competition saw the top two sides switch places on the ladder, while four sides continue to jostle for the last spot in the finals.

St Mary’s Salesian handed Old Yarra Cobras their second defeat of the season, winning an entertaining top-of-the-table clash by 23 points at Koonung Reserve. The Saints kept the Cobras scoreless for the first 20 minutes of the match, before Jude Bateman, David Tokatliyan, and Max Parkes all goaled in quick succession to give the home side the lead. The two teams traded goals throughout the second quarter before St Mary’s kicked the last four before half time to take a 16-point lead into the sheds. The third quarter was tight and finished with a goal apiece, before the Saints extended their lead in the last with four goals to the Cobras’ three.

Both coaches highlighted the high-quality, contested play seen throughout the match. Saints coach Clay Tait felt his side’s ability to defend, and stoppage play allowed them to get on top of the opposition. Old Yarra coach Nathan Monaco was also complementary, “St Mary’s were fantastic all day and we couldn’t wrestle the momentum back our way after the half-time break,” he said.

A 78-point win over Hawthorn means West Brunswick have almost guaranteed their spot in the finals, with the Magpies now sitting two wins clear of the chasing pack with three games remaining. Hawthorn kept themselves in the contest in the first half, trailing by 15 points at quarter time and 28 points at the main break. But injuries struck in the second half, which allowed West Brunswick to run away with the game on the back of eight goals to one after half time.

Hawks coach Mark Murray said the game was always going to be a tough one – 10 changes from the previous week resulting in a side that had eight 18 year olds and four players playing their first senior game for the club – but was incredibly pleased by the effort shown by his team. “I could not have been prouder of the boys’ efforts. They had a crack the whole day, even when we didn’t have a bench late in the third. As a coach, that’s all you can ask of your players.”

MHSOB recorded a comfortable 71-point win over Whitefriars on the back of five goals to Mathew Pereira and four to Aaron Shipperlee. Both teams were busy early with five goals each in the first quarter, entering the first break as they started with scores level. But the Unicorns stepped up the pressure in the second and third quarters, kicking 10 goals to two to lead by 53 points at the final change. The offensive onslaught could have continued in the last, with MHSOB’s 3.8 return preventing the margin from creeping towards triple figures. The result sees the Unicorns replace the Friars – who have lost four on the trot – in the top four.

South Melbourne Districts also jumped ahead of Whitefriars on the ladder following a 23-point win over Aquinas at an extremely muddy Lindsay Hasset Oval. The home side set up the victory with five goals to one in the opening stanza to take a 25-point lead into quarter time. Aquinas responded as the match went on, getting the margin back to nine points early in the last quarter. But a 50 meter penalty awarded to South Melbourne part way through the fourth halted Aquinas’ momentum, allowing the home side to control the remainder of the game and emerge victorious.

South Melbourne coach Nick Abbott felt his side played the way they wanted to in the first quarter but was disappointed that things dropped off after the first break. “We released the pressure and gifted them momentum, we’re missing that killer mentality,” he said. However, Abbott was pleased by the efforts of Natt Wilson – the 50^th player the club has used in the firsts this season – who kicked a goal on his senior debut. “[Natt] came in and was a real difference for us, which was great to see,” Abbott said. Harry Flack continued his strong season for Aquinas, named among the best players for the tenth time this year.

Mitch Szabo backed up last week’s four-goal haul with eight this week as Canterbury overpowered St John’s to win by 62 points at Thomas Carroll Reserve. The JOC’s got the first goal of the game through Aydan Unger, but Szabo responded for the Cobras just over two minutes later. The visitors controlled things from there, leading by 26 points at quarter time, 33 at the half, and 56 at three quarter time.

Cobras coach Steve Brown was incredibly grateful to the playing group, who he felt were continuing to improve as the season went on. Brown was particularly pleased by the shutdown role Jayden Collins played on JOC’s forward Joshua Morant, who was kept goalless after kicking a season-high eight goals last week against Hawthorn. Canterbury have now won their last six games by an average of 49.6 points. The first six matches against this particular group of opponents yielded a 1-5 record with an average losing margin of 41.8 points, highlighting how far the Cobras have come in 2025.

The Round 16 fixture features several games that will have important implications for several teams’ finals with just one win separating fourth and seventh. Fifth-placed South Melbourne host fourth-placed MHSOB in a game that will have important implications for the finals hopes of both teams, while sixth-placed Whitefriars will be aiming to snap a four-game losing streak and keep touch with the top four when they face Hawthorn on the road, and seventh-placed Canterbury welcome Old Yarra to the Canterbury Sports Ground for the second iteration of this year’s Cobra Bowl. Elsewhere, West Brunswick will do battle with Aquinas and St Mary’s square off against St John’s.