Aquinas upset Canterbury, as Whitefriars continue dominance: Division 2 Men’s Round 5 in Review

Aquinas recorded an early season upset as they defeated unbeaten Canterbury, while Whitefriars put in a dominant performance over South Melbourne in a highly competitive round of Division 2 Men’s footy.

Aquinas 15.10.100 def Canterbury 14.14.98

Aquinas knocked off undefeated Canterbury to record their first win of the season in a nail-biting finish. Aquinas trailed by 30 points early in the fourth, after Canterbury kicked the first two goals of the final term against the wind. Aquinas then kicked the last five of the game to complete the 30-point comeback.

“When they kicked the first two, I had flashbacks to Power House, but the message at three-quarter time was to stay calm and control your moment. I felt like we probably did it a little better. It was good to see the boys not drop their heads and fight to the end,” Aquinas coach Josh Quinlan said.

After scoring seven goals with the wind in the first term, Canterbury were only able to manage four with the breeze in the third, giving Aquinas a look in at three-quarter time.  

“In the third quarter, we started an extra back just to try and limit their scoring. (We) tried to hit the short option and work it out of defence rather than bombing it out. Was happy conceding a couple, but we didn’t want another first quarter pile on,” Quinlan said.

Jaycob Baxter was key for Aquinas, kicking seven goals. “Just good to see the big fella in a bit of form with some confidence and enjoying his footy. Played in the twos last week and kicked six. He is a smart footballer and knows where the goals are, with vice grips for hands,” Quinlan said.  

Canterbury coach Steve Brown felt his side left some goals out there. “It was a tricky day with the wind; however, it was possible to kick goals into the wind, and we had plenty of opportunities in the second quarter, which I didn’t think we made the most of,” Brown said.

Michael Topp continued his strong form, while Fraser Richards and James Boarotto also impressed for the Cobras.  

Elsternwick 11.9.75 def Power House 8.18.66

Elsternwick captain Julian Yeatman led from the front, kicking six goals in Elsternwick’s nine-point victory over Power House. Elsternwick led for most of the day, with Power House getting within a goal late in the fourth. However, Elsternwick were able to steady, and Thomas Malan’s goal sealed the four points for the Wicks.

“The biggest positive for us was to be challenged and respond. Twice we had handy leads and saw them wiped away and both times we bounced back instead of rolling over,” Elsternwick coach Oliver Gildea said.

The second quarter was key for Elsternwick, kicking four goals to none. “It was pretty even except for the second quarter, where we were really poor. They were better than us on the outside,” Power House coach Nick Cox said.

Whilst having a poor second quarter, Elsternwick braced for another fast finish from Power House.

“We were aware at half time that despite our lead, they would be a fast-finishing team. Their results so far reflected that, so we weren’t surprised to see them work back into the contest in the second half,” Gildea said.

Power House kicked 18 behinds in the loss, which proved costly late. “We dominated play in the last quarter but didn’t take our chances and they hung in there and kicked a couple late,” Cox said.

Elsternwick’s defensive strategy played a key role in Power House’s inaccuracy. “We definitely had a focus on pushing them wide and I think while they had a lot of shots, we had the better looks on goal,” Gildea said.  

MHSOB 14.10.94 def West Brunswick 12.16.88

MHSOB withstood a late comeback from West Brunswick to get their second win of the season. Luca Di Lallo continued his strong form, kicking four goals for the Unicorns.

Trailing by 32 points at three-quarter time, West Brunswick threw everything at the Unicorns in the final term.

“West Brunswick in the fourth rolled the dice and got momentum. We probably went 10% backwards in terms of being conservative, rather than playing the same style we had in the first three quarters,” MHSOB coach Sean Lester said.

The performance has given the Unicorns plenty to build on, according to Lester. “It was confirmation for our group that we are good enough. West Brunswick are much better than their ladder position. Also, (I’m) rapt that our jigsaw pieces are starting to fall together in regard to personnel and the way we play,” he said.

West Brunswick finished with 16 behinds for the game, which proved costly. “Credit to MHSOB, I thought they were very efficient with their opportunities across the first three quarters. We felt we had enough of the play at different stages, particularly around the contest and territory, but we didn’t capitalise on our chances and that proved costly in a close game,” West Brunswick coach Rick Pograri said.

Thomas Golz, Allister Clarke and Mitchell Wilson all made a difference for the Unicorns, with Golz moving on-ball in the last fortnight, while Clarke was back to his best and fairest winning form against West Brunswick.

Therry Penola 14.16.100 def North Brunswick 8.11.59

Therry Penola recorded their second win in a row behind four-goal performances from Patrick Carracher and Jack Viola. North Brunswick got out to an early lead at quarter time with the wind in the first term.

“I thought our first quarter was really strong in terms of contest and territory. We were able to control that part of the game early, which let us set up well behind the ball and play the game in the areas we wanted,” North Brunswick coach Domenic Fontana said.

Therry Penola coach John Tate made some changes at quarter time, which helped shift the game in the Lions’ favour. “I made a couple of changes with matchups and encouraged the group to cut angles with the ball. Even with North Brunswick leading at the half, we had started getting on top around the ground with Jack Ivers and Ben Tarran using the ball well in defence,” he said.

Tate’s instruction to his side at half time was to play a more running style of game, which North Brunswick struggled to deal with. “From our perspective, the third quarter was where the game really got away from us. We had a significant lapse in work rate and concentration, and that allowed their forward run to open the game up,” Fontana said.

Fontana saw positives in the performance, which his side will try and build on against Aquinas. “I thought we clearly won the territory battle in three of the four quarters, which is an encouraging sign. We also finished level on turnovers and inside 50s, so there were parts of the game that suggested we were competitive for long periods,” he said.

Whitefriars 14.9.93 def South Melbourne 9.5.59

Whitefriars continued their unbeaten start to the season as Max Warrick provided a brilliant captain’s performance in their victory over South Melbourne.

Whitefriars were dominant throughout, leading from start to finish. Whitefriars took the momentum early and controlled the game from there.

“Funnily (enough), we played better when the wind was against us, which was really pleasing to be able to control the contest during those periods. But again, our ability and want to run in numbers and break the line was really pleasing,” Whitefriars coach Andrew Daou said.  

South Melbourne started the second half on top, kicking the first two, before Whitefriars were able to regain the momentum by kicking two in a row. Daou was pleased with his side’s ability to regain control of the game. “Our ability to not panic and stay calm to assess what is in front of us is a massive credit to everyone, but especially our leaders, Warrick, Baker and Blanck,” Daou said.

Despite sitting undefeated and on top of the ladder, the young side still has work to do. “We still have lapses of focus, which can be really detrimental and something we continue to focus on, but can be expected from such a young side,” Daou said.  After losing two in a row, South Melbourne will look to get back to winning ways against MHSOB at home.