Whitefriars come from behind to defeat West Brunswick in Div 2 Men’s

Round 3 saw strong fourth-quarter performances from MHSOB and Whitefriars, while Luca Di Lallo and Charlie Deacon starred with seven and six goals respectively in a cracking round of Division 2 footy.

Whitefriars came from two goals down at three-quarter time to defeat West Brunswick by 12 points in the game of the round. Whitefriars kicked the final four goals of the game to secure victory in a tight contest. Friars coach Andrew Daou was wrapped with his side’s resilient last-quarter effort.

“The resilience was massive, this group doesn’t back down from a challenge, they stayed calm and executed everything we planned, albeit it took the better half of the quarter to get it on our terms, the boys were stubborn and made sure we swung it back into our favour,” he said.

Friars’ contest work was key in keeping them in the game throughout the day, as well as their back six.

“Our contest work was the best it’s been, especially against a side that is very strong in this space, then our rebound from our back six was taken to a new level again, they were an absolute rock on Saturday,” Daou said.

Friars started last season off strongly before falling away. Daou’s side will be looking to improve on this, with a bit of injury fortune.

“It’s something that we are obviously aware of and hopefully this year we won’t be hit with the injuries of the last couple of years, but we can’t control that. What we can and are controlling is our attitude. No matter how the season pans out, we will always be the hunter,” he said.

In a strong performance despite the result, West Brunswick saw good performances from Joel Krauss, captain Conor Fowler, as well as Dom McInness and Jacob Hyslop. West Brunswick will look to respond against Power House next week.

MHSOB kicked eight goals in the fourth to record their first win of the season over Aquinas. Luca Di Lallo bagged seven goals as he continued his impressive start to the season.

“Luca is a wonderful young man. He works hard but also has some great attributes. I think what I liked most is it clicked with him and long-time forward Hellier, with their combined bag of tricks I think they can both benefit,” MHSOB coach Sean Lester said.

It was a past players’ day for the Unicorns on Saturday and, with the support of the past players, they produced an impressive final term.

“It helped that we had a past players’ day and were kicking to the clubhouse end in the last, in front of a very vocal and supportive crowd,” Lester said.

Lester said providing his forwards with better service, and a simpler brand of footy, was key to their fourth-quarter success.

“We know we have some quality forwards who are better converting within 30 metres than the opportunities we’d given them in previous weeks. It was probably very 1980s footy; get it long and quick to our key forwards and if they don’t clunk it our smalls will tidy up,” he said.

Unfortunately for Aquinas, who led the tight contest at three-quarter time, injuries hit them hard in the second half.

“Pretty much played the last quarter with 17 blokes on the field. Injuries late in the third to about eight minutes into the fourth left us with no bench and people playing with minor injuries on field and unable to make an impact,” Aquinas coach Josh Quinlan said.

Quinlan felt that his side controlled the game for most of the day but struggled to pull away from MHSOB.

“They just hung around. It felt like we dictated how the game was played for the first three and a bit quarters but we just couldn’t build a big enough buffer within the game to give us a comfortable lead,” he said.

South Melbourne bested North Brunswick in windy conditions at ATC Cook Reserve. With the conditions clearly favouring one side of the ground, South Melbourne were able to take advantage to kick a five-goal second term, propelling them to victory.

The Bloods’ ability to withstand the conditions in the first set them up for a big second term, with their defence once again setting the tone.

“We handled the pressure well in the first quarter against a strong breeze and were able to capitalise in the second with some better football. If we didn’t have the defence step up again, which they’re doing week after week, it may have been a different story,” Bloods coach Shaun Gould said.

Gould has been pleased with the performance of many new faces in the Bloods’ line-up.

“We’ve played a large number of new players across the opening rounds who have all represented us well, and to see how they work with others and see their strengths early is a massive positive that pays off in the back half of the season,” he said.

North Brunswick have been plagued by injuries so far this season, however coach Domenic Fontana saw positives in the performance.

“I thought we showed longer patches of method and ball movement than we have in previous weeks, which was encouraging, given how depleted we were through injury,” he said.

Due to the injuries, Fontana moved the magnets, placing some players in unfamiliar roles.

“There were also a few players asked to take on different roles, particularly through the midfield, and I thought they handled that very well,” he said.

Power House continued their strong start to the season, with a four-goal performance from co-captain Luke Stubbs in their victory over Therry Penola. Power House were on top all day, leading at every change.

One of Power House’s strengths so far this season has been their clearance work and that was the case again in Round 3.

“Centre clearance was the reason for our good start. We’ve done a lot of work at training on this, so it was good to see it in a game,” Power House coach Nick Cox said.

Cox again praised his defence and was pleased with his side’s intent as they were undermanned.

“Again, our backs were our strength, our mids were undermanned with two late withdrawals but battled well,” Cox said.

Therry Penola coach John Tate changed their strategy, however their poor ball use cost them on the day.

“We went into the game with a slightly different strategy forward of centre and with plenty of the ball, it was frustrating to hand possession back too often and we paid for it on the scoreboard,” he said.

While not getting the result he would have hoped for, Tate saw many positives in individual performances.

“Not all doom and gloom, with Ben Tarren a standout down back, again Flynn Harvey on ball created chances and Jack Campagna getting plenty of it,” he said.

Charlie Deacon’s six goals proved decisive as Canterbury continued their unbeaten start to the season against Elsternwick. After a tight first quarter, Charlie Deacon kicked three of his six in the second quarter, giving Canterbury some breathing room at half-time.

Canterbury maintained their momentum for the rest of the contest, kicking four goals to two in the third and two goals to one in the fourth. Sebastian Gotch continued his strong form, with Robert Ritson and Reuben Crawford-Rust also impressing.

Elsternwick coach Oliver Gildea felt Canterbury’s transition was key in their victory.

“I felt that the game was pretty even at stoppage, but Canterbury moved the ball better and won the transition game,” he said.

Gildea was pleased with his side’s finish to the game.

“Positive for us was the intent stayed high and we played the game out despite the scoreboard,” he said.

Elsternwick’s Spencer Martinez put in a strong performance and was a real positive for the Wicks, while two debutants also held their own.

“Our best was Spencer Martinez, who used the ball really well on a day where we didn’t have a lot of that. Also got the chance to blood two debutants who equipped themselves well,” Gildea said.

Elsternwick will look to return to winning ways against Aquinas next Saturday, while Canterbury will look to remain unbeaten against South Melbourne next Saturday.