Third time’s a charm for South Melbourne, Old Yarra

The first week of Division 2 Men’s finals saw two thrilling encounters, with South Melbourne Districts and Old Yarra Cobras each winning their respective matches by less than a goal.

South Melbourne Districts punched their ticket to a second consecutive preliminary final with a hard-fought three-point win over West Brunswick at a soggy Martin Reserve. The wet conditions dictated the teams played a slower, more contested game where territory was key. Neither team was able to establish a strong lead, with the Bloods taking a game-high nine-point lead into the main break after kicking the last two goals of the half. West Brunswick pushed hard with three goals to one in the third quarter and held a three-point lead heading into the final change.

South Melbourne kicked the first of the last quarter to take back the lead, although the Magpies responded shortly after to put their noses back in front in the tenth minute. A free kick in the South Melbourne forward 50 with five minutes to play gave the Bloods the opportunity to steal the game late – an opportunity they took with both hands, before holding on in the final minutes.

Bloods coach Nick Abbott felt his young side stood up well to the pressure of finals football. “When pressure comes – and it’s not necessarily pressure from the opposition, it’s pressure that we put on ourselves and feel like we’re rushed – often you’ll handpass backwards. But you can’t do that in wet conditions, because it only takes one missed handpass and suddenly, the ball is going back in their direction towards goal. For us it was about keeping the ball moving forward, gaining territory, and getting it out the back,” he said.

Abbott was also pleased by his team’s ability to execute pre-made plans to shut down some of West Brunswick’s important players. “We spent a lot of time working on Ben Ablett, [Bill] Irving, and [Irving] Fithall. I thought Vinny (Vincenzo Armenia) did a great job on Ben and really nullified any influence that he could have on the game… And Fithall was locked down by Johnny Wilson – I don’t think he got a goal all day. We had some good selfless acts from players who were playing different roles for the team.”

West Brunswick coach Regan Tait was disappointed to see his side go down after winning both clashes with South Melbourne during the home and away season but conceded that finals were a different beast. “They played a fantastic game of football,” he said. “They really came out firing, playing smart football and condensing our forward line when we were in it.” Tait was happy with the defensive pressure applied by the Magpies, as well as the efforts of inside mid Cameron Ralph and centre-half back Joel Krauss. “Ralph was absolutely on fire, and I’m pretty sure Krauss got 45 contested marks, he’s just a freak. Those two really held things down and kept us in the fight,” he said.

Bill Irving (three) and Brock Ward (two) were the only multiple goal scorers for the Magpies, with Jethro Calma-Holt, David Ferrier, and Izac Rossi also hitting the scoreboard. Thomas Foley, who kicked four last week against St John’s, led the way for South Melbourne with three, supported by Michael Carter (two) along with Pearce Dolan, Conor Jacoby, and Austin Murphy (one each). Abbott said that Irish recruit Dolan, who was playing in just his second senior game and his first since Round 13, had plenty of opportunities in the first half and could have finished with more than one goal to his name.

The qualifying final between Old Yarra Cobras and St Mary’s Salesian got off to a fast start, with Benjamin Makowski opening the scoring for Old Yarra after collecting a loose ball that took a tricky bounce around his opponent. But it didn’t take long for St Mary’s to get going, with Jack Contencin, Zac Gucciardo, and Jacob McElroy (twice) taking advantage of the Saints’ forward half pressure to give their side a 19-point lead at quarter time. Old Yarra coach Nathan Monaco had plenty to say to his charges at the first break, keeping them in the huddle for an extended period after St Mary’s had broken.

The Cobras responded well to Monaco’s message, moving away from their slow and methodical ball movement down the far wing on two occasions in the second quarter to press more quickly through the corridor – resulting in goals to Jackson Lesko and Jude Bateman. Four goals to one for the quarter meant the Cobras went into the sheds trailing by the smallest of margins. The two teams went goal-for-goal in the third quarter, with St Mary’s Hudson Ryan pushing the margin back out to seven points in the 23^rd minute. After Old Yarra struggled to take a mark in their forward 50 all quarter, David Tokatliyan finally got on the end of one late after catching the Saints on a quick break. But Tokatliyan pushed his shot wide, and the Cobras went into the last change trailing by six points.

The ball lived in St Mary’s forward 50 for most of the last quarter, but Clay Tait’s men were unable to take advantage of the territory and registered just one point for the whole quarter. The Old Yarra defenders seemed perfectly content switching the ball from side to side and waiting for a hole to appear in the Saint’s forward press to take the ball down field. Benjamin Makowski drew the Cobras level in the 13^th minute after working clear from a forward 50 stoppages, before behinds to Lesko and Anthony Raso were enough to get Old Yarra over the line.

“I felt like we got into our groove in patches, but in my mind, it was genuinely a four-quarter performance,” Monaco said in the rooms after the game. “St Mary’s were great defensively, and they had us shifting the ball a lot. There was one passage that I think went for about 20 kicks, and we eventually opened it up. I was really happy with our composure.” Like his West Brunswick namesake, Saints’ coach Clay Tait was disappointed to lose a final to a side they had beaten twice during the home and away season but took plenty of positives from the loss. “I was really happy with our speed on the ball in the first quarter [and] the way we were able to spread their defence out,” he said. “It’s a good learning experience for those younger guys that have only played 50-odd games and were playing in their first final.”

The Old Yarra Cobras’ win over St Mary’s Salesian sees them progress directly to the Grand Final and secure promotion to Division 1 in 2026. Their opponent will be the winner of next week’s preliminary final between St Mary’s and South Melbourne. The Bloods come into the clash having won their last seven games – the best winning streak of any team in Division 2 this season – but the Saints have won the past four matches between the two sides.

St Mary’s took the points in Round 3 with a four-goal win at Ian Johnson Oval and again in Round 12 with a 40-point win at Ferndale Park. The Round 12 defeat saw the Saints take advantage of the blustery conditions to kick seven goals to one in the last and run away with the game after scores were level at three-quarter time. The Bloods will need to find a way to limit the influence of St Mary’s Jacob McElroy, who bagged four goals in each of the two games the teams have played this season.