Xavs, SKOB and St Bedes stamp authority in Round 4 of Holmesglen U19 Premier Men’s

Old Xaverians continued their impressive start to the season with a commanding 105-71 win over Caulfield Grammarians in what was a free-flowing contest. Despite the final margin, Xavier coach Matt Handley said the game was far tighter than the scoreboard suggested.

“It was a tight contest for much of the game,” Handley said. “They kicked straight, but we ended up on top in the middle and capitalised later in the game with our entries.”

Caulfield coach Cooper Rule admitted his side wasn’t at its best and struggled to contain Xavier’s ball movement throughout the afternoon.

“We made the most of our inside 50s but unfortunately didn’t move the ball like we wanted to,” Rule said. “We allowed Xavier to have too much uncontested possession by handball which got us in the end.”

The win keeps Old Xavs firmly among the early premiership contenders, with their midfield depth and ability to punish turnovers again proving decisive.

St Kevin’s produced arguably the most dominant performance of the round, dismantling Parkdale by 71 points in a ruthless 113-42 victory. After an even opening quarter, the home side flexed its muscle across every line and never looked back. St Kevin’s coach Paul Greenham praised the complete nature of the performance and the response from his side after some lapses in recent weeks.

“Complete performance across all lines,” Greenham said. “Our backs were ruthless, our mids got first use of the footy and our forwards were unselfish.

“We had a small lapse in concentration late in the second quarter however with a huge emphasis on not repeating the previous week’s fade out we reset and went back to work harder in the second half.”

Greenham was also quick to acknowledge the quality of the opposition, crediting Parkdale’s system and preparation.

“Parkdale are a very good side. We went to school on their game style and were able to minimise their run and carry and breaking of the lines. Andy has them well coached and to be honest they play a great style and adhere to his game plan. At the end of the day, I just reckon we were a little bit more experienced across the board.”

Despite the heavy defeat, Parkdale coach Nick Anderson remained positive about the learning opportunity for his young group.

“They were well drilled and had an answer for everything we threw at them,” Anderson said. “We had a good patch after halftime but just couldn’t put it on the scoreboard and ultimately didn’t have the firepower to match. Great learning experience for the boys.”

Old Brighton also continued to build momentum with an emphatic 86-18 win over Beaumaris in what coach Travis O’Donohue described as his side’s most complete showing of the season.

“Our best four-quarter performance for the year,” O’Donohue said. “Our defence were incredibly disciplined all night and made life really hard for the opposition forwards.”

Old Brighton’s defensive structure set the tone from the outset, repeatedly forcing turnovers and converting strongly the other way as they controlled the contest from start to finish.

One of the most anticipated clashes of the round saw St Bedes/Mentone claim a tough 70-54 win over De La Salle in difficult conditions. The game was physical throughout, with both sides bringing intense pressure around the contest in a finals-like encounter.

De La Salle coach Andy Otten praised the standard of the game despite the loss.

“It was a high-quality game,” Otten said. “Tough conditions but both teams played a physical brand.

“It was close all game but we just ran out of legs at the end. Credit to St Bedes, they were tough and defended the ground well all game.”

Otten also pointed to the resilience shown by his side despite the result.

“(I’m) proud of the way our boys persisted all game and some good signs for us going forward.”

St Bedes/Mentone once again showed why they remain one of the benchmark teams in the competition, grinding out a hard-earned victory in a match where territory and defensive pressure proved critical.

Meanwhile, Uni Blues secured an important breakthrough win, overcoming Old Scotch 71-44 after a dominant second half performance. After trailing by 14 points at the main break, Uni Blues adjusted superbly to the wet conditions and gradually took control around the stoppages.

Coach Steve Boakes was pleased to see his side rewarded after several narrow losses in recent weeks.

“It was pleasing to finally get some reward after being close without quite getting the results in recent weeks,” Boakes said.

“We expected a strong challenge from Old Scotch, particularly with the inclusion of three players with senior experience this season, and that certainly proved to be the case.”

Boakes highlighted his side’s ability to adapt after halftime as a key factor in the comeback victory.

“We were able to tighten up on some of their key players and gradually gained the upper hand. I thought we adapted to the wet conditions better as the game wore on, which helped us build momentum in the second half.”

With several players unavailable due to university rowing commitments, Boakes also praised the depth of his squad and singled out ruckman Xavier Blood for an outstanding performance.

“Xavier Blood’s performance was enormous,” he said. “After losing our back-up ruckman to rowing commitments, Xavier played 100 per cent game time in the ruck and was highly influential in the win.”