First Draw of the Season Headlines Division 1 Men’s Round 5 Action
Round 5 of Division 1 Men’s had a bit of everything – the season’s first draw, a couple of shootouts, and another strong win from unbeaten Preston Bullants. Monash Blues
Xavs claim mantle as #1 Contender as the T’s keep winning – William Buck Premier Men’s Round 5 Review
Photo: Ari Hatzis & Bridget Wilson
Round 5 of William Buck Premier Men’s saw Old Xavs stamp their credentials as the Number 1 contender to the Tonners’ crown – for now – while the newly arrived Old Trinity won their fourth on the bounce.
Here’s our look back at Round 5:
Old Brighton returned to the winners’ list after prevailing in their Grand Final Rematch against Old Scotch at Camberwell Sportsground.
The Cardinals started brightly with the breeze, kicking the only two goals of a tight and tough opening term, where pressure was elite from both sides, making clean disposals somewhat of a rarity, particularly by foot, as both teams repeatedly turned it over in the middle of the ground.
The Tonners clicked into gear early with the wind at their backs in the second term, with Felix Flockart booting 3 goals in the opening 8 minutes, then another 2 in two-and-a-half minutes early in time-on to give him 5 majors for the quarter from his 6 disposals and 5 marks.
Every contender this season is seemingly going to need at least once difference-making forward that can rip a tight game open, and Felix provided a timely reminder that, in the absence of Will Lewis (now at the Western Bulldogs), he can fill that role more than adequately for the reigning champs.
Michael Karayannis added another late as Old Brighton kicked 6.3 to 1.0 to hit half-time with a handy 22-point lead – Finn Campigli, Quintin Montanaro and Harry Hill all finding plenty of the Sherrin.
The Cardinals needed a response with the wind, and they duly delivered when Quinn Spencer goaled 5 minutes in. Ryan Agg responded for Brighton soon after, but from there, it was all Old Scotch as they kicked 5 goals to 1 in the third term – Spencer’s second goal at the 24-minute mark putting the Cards back in front.
They headed to the final change with a one-kick lead, but knowing the Tonners would have the breeze in the final term.
Old Brighton rose to the challenge and found another gear as this group so often does. They booted 5 goals in 9 minutes to crack the game open, and while Will Clark responded with his third goal to make it a 3-goal margin at the 16-minute mark, the damage was effectively done.
Old Brighton claimed an 18-point victory – their fourth straight win over the Cardinals since falling to them in the 2024 Grand Final.
There was very little in the game statistically – the major discrepancies being a +12 Clearance count for Old Brighton and, maybe more tellingly, a 59-38 Tackle count that illustrated their ability to maintain the pressure across the full four quarters.
Felix Flockart was awarded SKINS Player of the Game for his 22 disposals, 11 marks and 5 goals, while Finn Campigli led the stats sheet with 30 disposals for the Tonners.
Henry Brown worked hard all day for the Cardinals, finishing with 26 disposals (15 contested) and 6 clearances, while Charlie Cormack (23 touches), Will Clark (23 and 3 goals) and Will Townsend (28 disposals) were also prominent.
Old Brighton retain top spot on percentage, and next up will face another potential contender as they host Old Trinity at Fortress Brighton, while the undermanned 1-4 Cardinals face a crunch game as they head to TH King Oval to face an in-form St Kevin’s.
Old Brighton 12.8 (80)
Old Scotch 9.8 (62)
GOALS: OB: Flockart 5; Agg, Goodger, Hill, Hope, Karayannis, Pryor, Travers 1.
OS: Clark & Spencer 3; Baring, Harvey & Japp 1.
BEST:
OB: Campbell Tweedie, Felix Flockart, Harry Hill, Angus Corke, Joshua Carr, Jordan Segar
OS: Henry Brown, Charlie Cormack, Will Townsend, Brodie Easton, Nelson Troon, Dane Harvey
Marcel Bruin (Old Brighton): “It was a high pressure game, which you would expect from our two teams, and that kept the game tight for most of the day. The major difference was the use of the breeze for both Scotch and ourselves. We had use of the breeze through the second and final quarters and managed to use it effectively and put score on the board.
“I was really pleased the group was able to swing the momentum at the start of the last quarter. We managed to get some better entries and kick a few quick goals to take the lead back.
“Campbell Tweedie has been terrific through the first five games, taking a number of intercept marks inside D50 when Scotch were pushing. Felix Flockart turned forward and gave us a really strong target, kicking multiple goals and giving us the advantage, and Harry Hill was terrific and clean working contest to contest, giving us plenty of drive.”
Mark Gnatt (Old Scotch): “We had another five changes this week, including two more debutants – Dane Harvey and Howie Japp.
“We certainly had some areas to address off the back of last week, and it was great to see improvement and growth in the group. Although we didn’t get the four points, we fought hard all day and started to get some reward for effort.
“Henry Brown was outstanding in the midfield against high-quality opponents, and Charlie Cormack led extremely well and was dominant in the air. We look forward to taking on SKOB next week.”
Old Xaverians ultimately saw off a persistent University Blues in a clash between second and third at Melbourne Uni Oval.
The hosts dominated territory early, kicking the first two and last two goals of the opening term to lead by 14 points at the first change.
Xavs responded with the first two goals of the second stanza to get back within a kick, and then added the last 3 goals of the opening half to lead by a kick at the major break – Campbell Lane on a heater, with 26 disposals to half time!
The visitors then impressively controlled the early stages of the third quarter with relentless pressure and effective structure behind the ball. Goals to Woodhouse and Delany (both from powerful marks) saw their lead nudge out to 20 points.
But credit to the Blues, who managed to firstly stabilise the situation, then start to eat into the deficit with a couple of late goals that reduced the gap back to 12 points at the last huddle, thanks to a James Curran goal from underneath the scoreboard.
When Curran burst clear and streamed into an open goal just 15 seconds into the final term, the margin was back to 6 points and the Blues had seized the momentum.
However, Old Xavs’ maturity and composure told once again, as the game turned into an arm-wrestle for the next 12 minutes.
It was the visitors who ultimately broke the deadlock, when big man Oscar Duncan stayed down and roved the pack to goal from point-blank range, then 3 minutes later, Jack O’Sullivan (who has left Port Melbourne to fully commit to Xavs) stormed through the arc and nailed his shot on the run to make it a 17-point game.
James Stewart kept the Blues alive with his set shot snap from a tight angle to make it a 10-point game entering time-on, but Xavs had the answers, adding 3 late goals to stretch the final margin to a game-high 30 points, despite the teams finishing with the same number of scoring shots.
Once again, Xavs’ strikepower was telling as they hauled in 14 Marks Inside 50 to 5 (Macisaac with 7 and Duncan 3), despite the Blues finishing with 2 more Inside 50s. Credit goes to the Xavs’ defence, who held the Blues’ two-headed monster of Sam Grimley and James Stewart to just 2 goals apiece – a key factor in the final result.
Campbell Lane turned in another blinder and must be prominent in early Woodrow Medal voting. He finished with an incredible 47 disposals (18 contested) and 12 clearances to lead the way all afternoon. Will Goss had another 32 touches and 7 Rebound 50s, while gun recruit Alwyn Davey was creative with his 26 disposals and 3 Goal Assists.
Brad Ebert worked hard all day for the Blues and will be the difference-maker in the back half that Matt Smith was hoping for. He collected 29 touches and 8 Rebound 50s, while Jack Hayter also found plenty of the footy, finishing with 25 touches (16 contested) and 4 tackles.
It’s a significant win for Xavs, who kick a game clear of Blues in the race for the Top 2. They will host St Bernard’s at Toorak Park, while the Blues will head to Princes Park to tackle Old Haileybury, keen to return to the winners’ list after back-to-back defeats.
Old Xaverians 15.10 (100)
University Blues 9.16 (70)
GOALS: OX: Duncan & Macisaac 4; O’Sullivan & Woodhouse 2; Brusnahan, Delany & Knott 1.
UB: Grimley, Stewart, Townson & Curran 2; C.Furphy 1.
BEST:
OX: Jack O’Sullivan, Alwyn Davey, Thomas Hart, Campbell Lane, Alex Trigar, Oscar Duncan
UB: Jeremy Goddard, Martin Gleeson, James Curran, Taylor Duryea, Jack Robinson, Charlie Furphy
Dan Donati (Old Xavs): “Quality game against a quality opposition. This was a tight contest for most of the day, with both sides having good looks at going ahead.
“Obviously, really pleased to get the result, they’ve been playing some great footy, and we set ourselves to step up and deliver in a big game. It was tough all over, and both teams should be commended for the way the game was played out.”
Matt Smith (Uni Blues): “Xavs have a very clear brand of footy and way they want to play, and they were able to execute their plan for longer than we were. They were able to turn the ball over in more dangerous positions, and capitalised on their pressure better than we were, and ran away with the game late.
“We are still generating a lot of Inside 50 opportunities. We just haven’t been able to convert that into scoreboard pressure. We will continue to focus on ball movement and the execution of fundamental skills.
“A shoutout to Jez Goddard, who did a power of grunt work around the ground. He was hard over the footy all day.”
Old Trinity continued their run as the form team of the competition, chalking up their fourth straight win after eventually getting the better of Old Haileybury at Daley Oval.
The VAFA’s two most recent Premier B champions looked an even match-up on paper, and so it proved to be on grass as well, with little separating the teams early – the Bloods taking advantage of the breeze to kick 3 of the first 4 goals and edge in front by a kick at the first change.
The T’s then took control of possession in the second quarter, getting on top of aerial and ground contests, pumping the ball Inside 50 repeatedly and finding forwards to get on the end of it. They booted the only 5 goals of the term, as the Bloods struggled to hold them up, taking just 13 marks themselves for the entire period to trail by 25 at the half.
Old Haileybury responded in the third term, evening things up on the inside and nailing a couple of stoppage goals themselves to work their way back into the contest, adding 3.1 to 1.3 to close within 15 points at the last break.
It was a low-scoring, high-pressure struggle, and goals were at a premium.
The longer the final quarter progressed, the more important the first goal became, and the deadlock was eventually broken by a piece of Oliver Scott clearance magic. He roved the opposition tap, then split two Bloods tacklers to snap a brilliant left-foot goal from 35 metres out, making it a 3-goal game at the 13-minute mark.
When Nick Hodgson streamed Inside 50 and finished a few minutes later, the game was Old Trinity’s – Donald McDonald’s men extending their winning run with a 24-point victory that keeps them level with Old Brighton & Old Xaverians at the top of the table.
Jack Hindson was best afield for the winners, finishing with 21 touches and 13 marks, while Big V reps Hugo McGlashan and Dom Payman were both influential once again – McGlashan with 27 disposals, 7 Inside 50s and a goal; Payman adding another 4 majors to his run of form in front of the sticks.
Brede Seccull had another excellent game for the Bloods, racking up 27 touches (16 contested) and 9 clearances, while Jasper Russell and Flynn Gregor both continued their fine form also, finishing with 34 and 30 disposals respectively.
Old Trinity’s contending credentials will be put to the ultimate test this coming week, as they head to Brighton Beach Oval to face the Tonners in one of the most fascinating games of the year so far, while Old Haileybury also face a huge challenge as they host Uni Blues in a belter at Princes Park.
Old Trinity 11.9 (75)
Old Haileybury 7.9 (51)
GOALS: OT: Payman 4; Hodgson & Scott 2; Ferrier, Manoussakis & McGlashan 1.
OH: Nosiara 2; N.Conway, Goonawardene, Gregor, Harrop & S.Stefanakis 1.
BEST:
OT: Jack Hindson, Hugo McGlashan, Dominic Payman, Roy Hughson, James Ingpen, Tom Wenn
OH: Brede Seccull, Noah Higgins, Charlton Harrop, Hugo Nosiara, Flynn Gregor, Ned Conway
Donald McDonald (Old Trinity): “The wind was strong in the first quarter, and I felt we really limited the damage early. Old Haileybury were in good form, so it was good to see our players able to compete with them consistently over four quarters.
“Our leaders Hugo McGlashan, Christos Manoussakis, and Tom Wenn have really led the way and deserve to be recognised for their contribution since Day 1 of pre-season. They were all great again this week.
“We now look ahead to Old Brighton, who have been the most consistent team over the past few seasons, so it presents a great challenge for our group. Our focus will be to ensure we pick a fit team ready to compete as well as we can.”
Guy Martyn (Old Haileybury): “Our second quarter contest stuff was really, really poor and the main difference in the game. Trinity are a physically strong team, and their contest stuff (aerial and ground) is impressive. But I thought some of our efforts in the second quarter simply weren’t up to senior football standard and was probably the difference in the game.
“We were much better in the second half, in terms of that contest stuff, which was pleasing to see a response. We kept fighting and had all the play in the first 10-12 minutes of the last quarter, but just wasted our opportunities to put some scoreboard pressure on. Ultimately, we left ourselves with too much to do in the second half.
“We’ll work on our contest and our connection going Inside 50 this week.
“Brede Seccull can hold his head up high with the way he competed and his contest game. Noah Higgins (19 disposals and 10 groundball gets) and Conway (27 disposals) on the wings displayed really high work rate again as well.”
University Blacks strung back-to-back wins together after grinding their way to a hard-fought victory over St Bernard’s at the Snake Pit.
The home team won the toss, kicked with a stiff breeze, and booted 4 goals to 1 to lead by 19 points at quarter time.
Blacks then had their chance with the wind, and hammered through 6 goals of their own, including 3 in a 3-and-a-half minute burst midway through the term. An additional two in time-on saw them head to the main break with a 12-point lead, but knowing that the Snowdogs would have the breeze at their back in the all-important third term.
And it did prove to be all-important, because while the Snowdogs kicked 3 of the first 4 goals to get within a point late in the term, Uni Blacks’ end-to-end transition that ended in a Zaine Cordy goal at the 26-minute mark pushed their lead back out to 8 points at the last change – plus they still had the breeze to come home with.
The Dogs weren’t done yet, though, and the big ‘Ladies’ Day’ home crowd erupted as 17-year-old debutant Jonathon Guarnaccia rolled through a clever goal in front of the grandstand just 2 minutes in to make it a 2-point game once again.
The next 15 minutes were tight and tense, with the Blacks only able to add 3 behinds before Zaine Cordy stepped up to swing the game in the Blacks’ favour.
Matthew Grocott did a superb job to keep the ball alive along the boundary in the left forward pocket, and his squaring kick found the former AFL Bulldog at the top of the goalsquare to give the Blacks an 11-point lead 17 minutes in.
Then 6 minutes later, it was Cordy delivering the knockout blow when he sneaked out behind the Dogs’ defence and goaled from 15 metres out. James Clark added one more to make the final margin a deceptively large 25 points in a game that had been much closer than that all day.
Paddy Smith continued his brilliant start to the season. The 26 year-old from Cobden collected another 30 disposals (19 contested) and 9 clearances to further stake his claim as one of the Recruits of the Year.
Zaine Cordy is starting to become the force we all know he can be at this level, and his 22 disposals, 8 marks, 5 tackles, 4 clearances and 4 goals will put a smile on the face of Big V Coach Daniel Harford.
Harry Schumann collected 33 touches, while Angus Ryan had 32 and Dylan Gwynne 31 for the Snowdogs.
Uni Blacks win back-to-back games to move to within a game of the Top 4 and will face a stern test of their form when they visit SKOB, who have won their last 3. The 1-4 Snowdogs are left to rue another game that slipped through their fingers late, as they prepare to try and snap their 8-game losing streak on the road when they visit Old Xavs at Toorak Park.
University Blacks 12.13 (85)
St Bernard’s 9.6 (60)
GOALS: UB: Cordy 4; Curnow 2; Broderick, Clark, Connell-Tobin, S.Conway, Drummond & Smith 1.
STB: Huggard 3; Bharathi, Di Lizio, Gilham, Guarnaccia, Shannon & Watson 1.
BEST:
UB: Patrick Smith, Charlie Connell-Tobin, Campbell Moorfield, Harrison Kelly, Harry Broderick, Zaine Cordy
STB: Nicholas Conlan, Ben Overman, Harrison Schumann, Dylan Gwynne, Jonathon Guarnaccia, Angus Ryan
Dale Bower (Uni Blacks): “It’s never easy beating St.Bernard’s at the Snake Pit. I can’t remember ever having an easy game out there!
“There was a 3-4 goal breeze to one end. I thought we navigated going into it reasonably well in the first quarter, but far better in the third term, which put us in a pretty decent position at 3-quarter time, enabling us to finish it off well in the last quarter.
“But the game never quite felt like it was in control until the last 4-5 minutes. We will look to continue working to improve.”
Steve Alessio (St Bernard’s): “At times we looked like our style of play was working well, our movement and ability to win the ball were good. However, you know with Uni Blacks, you always have a team that will stay in the contest, and on the day we couldn’t be consistent enough for long enough with our good play.
“Pleasingly, our younger brigade has been getting some good game time, and hopefully that holds us in good stead for the back half of the season. Also great to see Matt Foley debut for us, he has had a frustrating time with injury over the last few years, but was moving well, and we’re happy to play our part to help him play his best footy.
“We need to get cracking over the next month or face being locked down into the bottom half of the ladder. The only positive is that the openness of the season provides an opportunity for all clubs to move up the ladder quickly if they can get a solid run going.”
The final game of the weekend saw a much more competitive performance from Caulfield Grammarians, who were ultimately overrun in the last term by an in-form St Kevin’s, who are growing in confidence on the back of three straight wins.
The windy conditions made finishing a tricky proposition, and the teams combined for 3.10 in the opening term – the Fields heading to the first break with a 6-point lead, despite having considerably less of the football.
SKOB put their foot down in the second term, booting 6.4 to 0.1 as their Intercept game pinned the Fields in their own defensive half.
Caulfield’s cause wasn’t helped by losing two players before half-time, which would significantly hamper their rotations later in the game.
They headed to half-time 33 points down. Would coach Paul Satterley’s recent pleas for his team to return to its DNA of grit and resilience be heeded? The answer was yes, as the Fields harnessed the breeze yet failed to take full toll of a dominant third term which yielded 20 Inside 50s to 8, but only 4.8 to 1.2.
The gap was trimmed to just 9 points by the final change, but it felt like a lost opportunity for the home team to get their noses in front and put some pressure on the visitors to run over the top of them with the breeze.
The Fields fought on bravely, but SKOB did finish with the wind in their sails, booting 6.3 to 2.2 in the final term to power away to a 34-point win that felt larger on the scoreboard than it did in general play. Ultimately, St Kevins’ ability to finish their work was the difference between the teams, given there were only 4 scoring shots separating them for the afternoon.
Jack Mahony showed his class with 34 disposals (18 contested), 12 clearances and 5 Inside 50s, while Andrew Mathieson also had a fantastic afternoon to finish with 33 disposals, 10 Rebound 50s and 6 Inside 50s. Angus Hart’s hard-working 20 disposal performance earned the praise of coach Anthony Lynch, while Sam Tucker’s goalkicking form continued as he added another 3 to his season tally.
Jack Ellwood led from the front for Caulfield with 29 disposals (16 contested) and 10 clearances, while Oscar Roberts (28 disposals and 12 Rebound 50s) and Noah Sutherland (27 and 8 Rebounds) both did a power of work in the back half.
SKOB will go hunting a fourth straight win when they return home to host great rival Old Scotch in a huge game at TH King, while the 1-4 Fields will be just as keen to avoid a fourth straight loss when they visit the Blacks at Melbourne Uni.
St Kevin’s 13.14 (92)
Caulfield Grammarians 8.16 (64)
GOALS: STK: Tucker 3; Duke, Bromhead & Kerr 2; Bryan, Gill, Mazzeo & Saunders 1.
CG: Wallace 3; Vesely 2; McKenzie, Gibb & Hankin 1.
BEST:
STK: Angus Hart, Sam Tucker, George Delimitrou, Billy Bryan, Andrew Mathieson, Doug Kerr
CG: Will Vesely, Jack Ellwood, Oscar Roberts, Jack Webster, Hamish McInerney, Noah Will
Anthony Lynch (St Kevin’s): “I was pleased to get away with the win and bank another four points for the third week in a row. However, I couldn’t say I was very happy with the way we played.
“I thought Caulfield’s intensity and work rate were much better than our group across the four quarters, which is really disappointing to have to admit. We relied on some passages of play and some individual efforts to get the result on the weekend, which is not the sort of footy we want to be playing.
“Caulfield were two players down by half-time, so I have to give massive credit to their players who continue to fight on and challenge us enormously in the second half.
“We were able to play some good footy in the final period and get some ascendancy, but we’ve got a lot of lessons to learn if we’re gonna be a serious contender this year. It was nice to learn those lessons while still getting the four points, but we’ll have to really get to work this week on the track and improve to get back to the form of the previous two weeks, which I was obviously very happy with.”
Paul Satterley (Caulfield): “The wind at our ground can make for some pretty ugly footy at times. Both sides generated 19 shots on goal with the breeze, yet it was Plugger’s lads who made the most of their opportunities. We didn’t.
“Pleasingly, we kept fighting to the final siren despite losing two lads before half time. I loved the response after a couple weeks below par.
“Importantly for us in what is a very tough competition, we will see a number of lads start to return to the side in the next few games, so I’m excited to see us building on this effort.
“Our skipper Jack Ellwood was excellent on-ball, Will Vesely played his best game of the season, and Oscar Roberts is having a terrific year to date.”
WILLIAM BUCK PREMIER MEN’S – ROUND 6
SATURDAY MAY 23 – 2pm:
Old Xaverians vs St Bernard’s VAFA.com.au & SEN app – 1.45pm
St Kevin’s vs Old Scotch VAFA.com.au – 1.55pm
University Blacks vs Caulfield Grammarians Kommunity TV – 1.55pm
Old Brighton vs Old Trinity
Old Haileybury vs University Blues
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