Bullants unstoppable with big win over Kew in Division 1 Men’s

Prahran (14.3 – 87) def St Mary’s Salesian (9.6 – 60)

St Mary’s put up a good fight against the visitors Prahran in Round 6, starting the game well in a tough, low-scoring contest. However, Prahran were able to take hold of the scoring in the second quarter, kicking five goals to one before the halftime break. St Mary’s responded well after the rest, managing to equalise the scores going into the final quarter. Once again, though, Prahran were able to show their class, kicking away to a 27-point victory with their own seven-goal quarter.

St Mary’s coach Heath Chipperfield called the game “an arm wrestle for the most part” with both sides using their momentum to take the lead at different points throughout the game. Chipperfield felt that his side started well and kept fighting in the second term.

However, the third term was when his side was truly able to use some moves to get ahead of the game. “We made a few structural moves at halftime, got a bit more representation forward of the ball and were able to hit the front,” Chipperfield said.

Despite this momentum, Prahran were good enough to wrestle back control of the game, with Chipperfield saying “they were good enough to capitalise in the periods where they had the momentum.” Chipperfield gave praise once again to Darcy Grant, alongside Ethan Taylor, who has been forced into a new role at full back due to injuries across the squad.

On Prahran’s end, assistant coach Patrick Marks gave St Mary’s credit for starting both halves well, saying his side “didn’t change too much to shift the momentum we just continued to play our brand of footy and had confidence we could break through.” Marks gave his plaudits to Angus Perez in his first match in the one’s, alongside Riley Hogan with four goals, and the solid efforts down back of Liam Hepburn and Ben Oakley.

From one end of the ladder to the other, St Mary’s will be playing against the Old Yarra Cobras in Round 7. The Cobras, having made significant steps forward in their match against the Monash Blues, will host the game. Prahran will face Parkside in a match-up for second place on the ladder.

Monash Blues (12.15 – 87) def Old Yarra Cobras (9.7 – 61)

Old Yarra Cobras had momentum at times on the weekend, coming out firing with 22-points to Monash’s nine in the first quarter. But the Blues were able to respond to every challenge, leading to their first win of the season. The Cobras fell away after the first quarter, allowing the Blues to take a two-goal lead into halftime. Despite this, Old Yarra found a way to respond, breaking down the lead to three points at three-quarter time. Although, once again Monash responded, kicking five goals in the final term to result in a 26-point victory over the winless Cobras.

Despite the loss, Cobras coach Nathan Monaco was impressed by his side. He said it was a “great effort from the boys. We just ran out of legs, literally in the last quarter.” This isn’t unexpected from the side, as they reached the unfortunate landmark of their 40^th player in the senior side, stretching the team’s fitness and skill levels. Despite this, Monaco continues to be optimistic about the side’s development. In reference to this, Monaco said, “I’m happy to see the youth come in and stay competitive in the game.” Specific plaudits were given by Monaco to Lewis Mitchell and Eoin Hanrahan.

After making some progress this round, the Cobras will next host St Mary’s Salesian. Sitting middle of the table, St Mary’s are coming off a hotly contested game with one of the best in the division, and the Cobras will need to find a way to play out the whole game to match them. The Blues are up against top of the table Preston in what will undoubtedly be a tough game away from home.

Preston Bullants (25.9 – 159) def Kew (9.11 –  65)

In another game with a significant winning margin, Preston overran Kew with a 94-point victory. Preston extended the gap between themselves and second place, remaining lossless and expanding their already significant percentage of 189 per cent. Kew were able to put a score on the board, kicking nine goals, eleven behinds, but they couldn’t match the firepower of Preston, scoring 25 goals, nine behinds at the final siren, with the side hitting 100-points before three quarter time.

Preston will hope to continue to put a gap between themselves and the rest of the competition when they host eighth-place Monash Blues. Compared to Kew, who will hope to make up for their substantial loss when they go up against UHS-VU, both sides are sitting at one win for the season.

Parkside (18.7 – 115) def Oakleigh (10.7 – 67)

Parkside came out on top in a clash for second place on the ladder with Oakleigh. After a competitive first half where Oakleigh took an early lead, Parkside were able to change the momentum in the second half, kicking 13 goals to six in the second half and breaking away to a 48-point win at the final siren.

Oakleigh coach Chris Worner felt, despite the loss, his side was in control of the game at many stages throughout the afternoon. But a nine-goal to one third quarter in favour of Parkside showed just how quickly the best teams can grab a hold of a game.

Worner gave Parkside their credit, saying, “their ability to exit defensive 50 with precision made it very difficult to stop.”

When talking about the slow start to the second half, Worner also said “this was a wakeup call to let our boys know that if your pressure is off for 10 minutes, opposition sides can really expose you and that makes their momentum hard to stop.”

Worner shouted out a number of standouts from his side, including Tom Gillard, who continues to impress, alongside key goal scorers Rogan Kitts and Will Holton.

Oakleigh will travel to face Brunswick Round 7, who are fresh off a 106-point victory against UHS-VU. Second-placed Parkside have a top-three matchup, hosting Prahran in third.

Brunswick (25.8 – 158) def UHS-VU (6.16 – 52)

Another 100-point defeat for University High School – Victoria University has come at the hands of Brunswick this time. As Brunswick dominated from the first quarter, kicking nine goals to two before the first break. While UHS-VU were still able to get 22 scoring shots on the board, inaccuracy made for the significant gap in scoreboard impact. With Brunswick’s 25 goals, six behinds being drastically different from UHS-VU’s six goals, sixteen behinds.

Brunswick will likely have a tougher fight next week when they come up against Oakleigh, who continue to develop and fight against the other top four sides. Whereas UHS-VU will be playing away from home when they face Kew, who are similarly coming off their own significant defeat.