Tonners into Grand Final, while Cards keep back-to-back dream alive

Old Brighton have progressed straight through to a second consecutive William Buck Premier Men’s Grand Final, while the team that defeated them last year are one win away from facing them again.

Here’s Semi-Final weekend of Premier Men’s in review:

1^st SEMI FINAL – OLD SCOTCH 12.10 (82) d. ST KEVIN’S 8.11 (59) by 23 points

These two teams met in a sudden death final for a second straight year and it was the Cardinals ending SKOB’s campaign once again.

St Kevin’s won 3 games more than Old Scotch in the home & away season, but the return of the Cards’ VFL-listed players has elevated them to the premiership contending line-up that dominated last September.

Old Scotch exploded out of the gates, booting 3 goals in the opening 10 minutes before SKOB started to get a foothold in the game. They managed to break even on the inside and racked up possession, particularly by hand, with Jack Mahony and Al Richards both finding plenty of the footy.

13 Inside 50s to 7 was the effect, but unfortunately 1.4 was the result and they still trailed by 10 points at quarter-time.

So when the Cards found the opening 2 goals of the second term (via Angus Jones and Alex Noblet) the margin was back out to 20 points and all that St Kevin’s territorial dominance was erased.

Ollie Gill pulled one back for the Skobbers with a tidy set shot from the pocket entering time-on, but Harry Stubbings responded with a precise set shot of his own two-and-a-half minutes later.

Back-to-back goals to Ben Mansfield and Billy Coates drew St Kevin’s back within 10 points at the half in a tight and gritty contest befitting a cut-throat final between two quality teams.

The third term proved to be the decisive one as the Cardinals showcased their forward potency.

General play remained relatively even, with 15 Inside 50s to 11 favouring Old Scotch, but their ability to convert their entries into score proved the difference, as they added 4.2 to 0.2 via an even and balanced spread of contributors, both around the ground and up forward.

Trailing by 34 points at the final change, St Kevin’s rolled up their sleeves as you’d expect, with Billy Coates and his midfield brigade cracking in to take inside control around stoppages.

However, it was Scotch spearhead James Tarrant who pulled down a huge grab to slot the opening goal of the final term, extending the margin to 39 points.

Full credit to the Skobbers, who refused to lie down and booted the next four goals of the game – Sam Critchley’s mark and goal closing the deficit to just 16 points entering time-on as the St Kevin’s faithful found full voice with hopes of a late comeback starting to build.

However, it was Tarrant who silenced the resistance once again. His strong contested pack mark at the top of the goalsquare sent Scotch fans into raptures, and he duly slotted the goal to extend the margin back out to 24 points.

That would prove to be the final major of the match – Old Scotch keeping their back-to-back premiership dream alive with a hard-earned 23-point win.

Disappointment for Anthony Lynch’s men, who arrived in September having won 7 of their last 8, but exit the premiership race at the Semi Final stage for the first time in their magnificent run of 7 successive finals campaigns.

Billy Coates battled bravely all afternoon, amassing 23 disposals, 11 clearances and 48 hit-outs, while Tom Ferguson, Luke Winter and Liam Gunson were all superb in a tough result.

Angus Jones was voted the SKINS Player of the Day for his 14 disposals and 3 goals, while Harry Stubbings found plenty of the ball for the Cards all afternoon, finishing with 31 touches.

Charlie Cormack played his role with great effect down back as always, with 25 disposals, 8 marks and 5 Rebound 50s, as the rejuvenated Cardinals closed to within 2 victories of their first back-to-back premierships for the first time since 1934 (when they won their fourth on the trot).

Harry Stubbings found plenty of the ball for the Cards all afternoon, finishing with 31 touches, while Charlie Cormack played his role as always, with 25 disposals, 8 marks and 5 Rebound 50s, as the rejuvenated Cardinals closed to within 2 victories of their first back-to-back premierships for the first time since 1934 (when they won their fourth on the trot).

Mark Gnatt (Old Scotch): “It was a really good game of footy, with both sides having their opportunities and share of the momentum.

“SKOB are the No.1 clearance team in the competition, and they are well drilled in their contest method. We knew we had to match them in this space and our pressure at the contest was very good across the four quarters.

“Our pressure early on was on point and enabled us to generate some quality inside 50s for our forwards to get to work.

“Angus Jones and Jack Polkinghorne started the match strongly with early goals to give us a good buffer. SKOB then had a bit more control later in the quarter, but our defence held up really well.

“Those ebbs and flows continued and then we were able to capitalise in the third with scoreboard pressure.

“There were a number of good performances with Jake Torney’s 12 tackles a highlight. The workrate of James Tarrant was also outstanding – often against multiple opponents – and he took some clutch marks in pivotal moments.

“The team is in good shape, and we approach this weekend with confidence and a strong belief in one another. Bring it on!!”

Anthony Lynch (St Kevin’s): “Saturday was an incredibly disappointing way to finishing our season.

“We thought we were incredibly well prepared to stay alive longer into this finals series. The reality is we put in our worst performance for the year.

“We were totally outworked by Scotch for the full 4 quarters, and our basic fundamentals (which matter even more in finals) were not up to standard.

“All credit must go to Scotch who handled the pressure of the day in a much better manner than we did and that’s something we need to live with now.

“This one is going to sit in our guts for a while, whilst we will remain very united as a group, our challenge now is whether we can allow that disappointment to fuel us as players and coaches to be better in 2026.”

2^nd SEMI FINAL – OLD BRIGHTON 13.15 (93) d. OLD XAVERIANS 9.6 (60) by 33 points

The top two teams clashed at Elsternwick Park to determine which would progress straight through to Grand Final Day and, for a second straight year, it was the Tonners taking the express route.

And whilst it ended up considerably more comfortable than last season’s one-goal nailbiter over St Kevin’s, it certainly didn’t look that way for three-and-a-half quarters.

Xavs got away to a fantastic start, booting the first 3 goals of the contest, with Julian Gangi running onto a brilliant knock-on from Charlie MacIsaac illustrating that the Red & Black were very much on the same page early.

The Tonners finally found their feet via a superb long-range Jamie Hope set shot from the boundary that settled the minor premiers, who were being picked off by the Xavs’ intercept game, both in the air and on the deck.

Old Brighton then effectively erased Xavs’ lightning start with two goals in three minutes deep into time-on. Luke Travers benefited from some excellent forward pressure to run into an open goal, before Harry Hill reduced their quarter-time deficit to a single point after sneaking forward unattended.

The second term was every bit as even, with the Tonners’ gaining a slight edge on the inside and ratcheting up their own intercept game. But it was Xavs who won a tight arm-wrestle of a quarter two goals to one, as the two highest-ranked defences in the competition demonstrated why.

Marcus Stavrou was a welcome return from his ankle injury, getting up to speed in the second term as these two stacked midfields tested each other out, both inside and outside the contest.

Once again, it was Xavs with their nose in front when the bell rang, but the half-time margin of 5 points was a fair reflection of a Grand Final ticket hanging squarely in the balance.

Scoring opened up a little in the third term, but neither team could kick clear. Xavs struck first via a crumber’s goal to Denis Symeopoulos 90 seconds in to get back out to a 10-point lead, but Felix Flockart responded with a commanding pack mark in the goalsquare to draw the Tonners back within a kick 4 minutes later.

Ed Delaney’s mark and goal for Xavs at the 13-minute mark was cancelled out by Jamie Hope’s clever crumb 3 minutes later as the two teams went punch-for-punch.

The Tonners snatched the lead via Hope’s third goal at the 27-minute mark but, sure enough, Xavs responded 2 minutes later after Julian Gangi finished off a brilliant coast-to-coast goal from a kick-in, and just one point separated the teams at the final change.

Goals remained hard to come by for much of the last term – Tom Burnell was held at the top of the goalsquare to give the Tonners a 7-point lead one minute in, but it would take another 8 minutes for the second goal of the quarter.

Unfortunately for Xavs, it went Brighton’s way when Luca Macnab capitalised on a 50-metre penalty to slot a long-range bomb and hand the Tonners a 2-goal break.

But Xavs stayed in the fight, with Julian Gangi’s third goal on the burst reducing the deficit to 8 points and the game was well and truly alive with just 15 minutes gone.

However, it was virtually all Tonners from there. The minor premiers booted a further 4.3 to 0.2 to inflate the final margin to a somewhat misleading 33 points.

Nothing much had separated the teams in terms of ball-winning in the final quarter: the Tonners +7 Disposals, and dead level for both Contested Possessions and Clearances. But efficiency proved to be the difference.

Old Brighton had just 5 more Inside 50s for the quarter (17-12) but managed to convert those into 12 shots to 5 and 6.6 to 1.4.

Felix Flockart had become the most influential player on the ground in the third term and his dominance continued into the last. He was voted the SKINS Player of the Day for his outstanding 20 disposals (all contested), 8 marks, 37 hit-outs, 9 clearances, 6 Rebound 50s, 7 Inside 50s and 2 goals. The big man was everywhere and his 11 Score Involvements highlighted his profound influence.

Louis Butler continued his fine season with another 22 disposals and 9 Rebound 50s, while Jamie Hope (4 goals) and Tom Burnell (3 goals) led the way at the attacking end as the Tonners earned the right to play in their fourth top-flight Grand Final (and their third in four years).

Campbell Lane found plenty of the footy as per usual for Xavs, finishing with 30 disposals, 8 Rebound 50s, 4 Inside 50s and a goal in a typically hard-working performance, while the ever-dangerous Julian Gangi bobbed up for 3 goals as Xavs set sail for a blockbuster Preliminary Final against Old Scotch.

Marcel Bruin (Old Brighton): “Incredibly high-pressure final and everything you’d expect with the opportunity to go straight through to the Grand Final.

“Super proud of the group for playing 120 minutes, some of which wasn’t our best gear, but we knew if we continued to work and grind, opportunities would come.

“Xavier put immense pressure on our disposal throughout the entirety of the game – it was difficult at times to generate offence with their pressure at the ball carrier.

“Our defenders had a lot of work to do, particularly when Xavier were able to get some clean ball out the front of contest. But they were able to intercept some of the Inside 50’s and defend 1 v 1 effectively. A couple of their offensive chains were simply too good, and you can see why Nutsy’s group can score so quickly and so heavily.

“We felt as though there were some good match-ups in our front half, however the ball into them sometimes made it difficult for them to impact. The forward group worked played a big role in starting our defence and were rewarded across the game with their forward pressure.

“I thought the most dominant player on the ground was Felix Flockart. He got his hands to a lot of footy and worked tirelessly to help the group. Tom Burnell looked dangerous every time the ball was Inside 50, either with his hands on it and scoring or generating pressure. Louis Butler did another stellar job down back with a huge role. We couldn’t be more excited for another opportunity on Grand Final Day in two weeks’ time.”

Dan Donati (Old Xaverians): “As far as spectacles goes, this one certainly lived up to it. I was proud of the way we approached the day, and we certainly started the game in great fashion, having more than our fair share of opportunities in the first half, in particular.

“Credit has to go to Old Brighton in the end though. They were fantastic in defence, not allowing many easy scoring opportunities for us, and in the end, they finished the game stronger and took the key moments better than us to gain their place in the Grand Final.

“There were some fantastic match-ups all over the ground, and for the main part, it was a tight and tough game played in great spirit by both teams.

“We have to move on pretty quickly now though, as a very experienced Old Scotch awaits us in the Prelim next week. I’m looking forward to seeing how my boys bounce back and respond as there is no tomorrow for one team.”

And so, it will be Old Xaverians facing Old Scotch for the right to take on Old Brighton on Grand Final Day.

What a game that promises to be, with two high-octane offences and high-class talent all over the park!

WILLIAM PREMIER MEN’S PRELIMINARY FINAL – Saturday 2.10pm (Elsternwick Park)

Old Xaverians vs Old Scotch

LIVE coverage from 1.55pm Saturday on KTV (video stream), with our award-winning SEN Match of the Day radio coverage on VAFA.com.au & the SEN app!