Carracher bags 8 as nail-biting finishes define R7 in Division 2 Men’s

Close finishes dominated Round 7 while Patrick Carracher starred with eight goals in a losing side.

South Melbourne 12.14.86 def Elsternwick 12.12.84

Despite being held goalless in the third quarter, South Melbourne responded with five goals to one in the last term to break their three-game losing streak.

The Bloods started the game hot, getting out to a 35-point lead early in the second term, before Elsternwick kicked the next 10 majors to give themselves a 21-point buffer at three-quarter time.

“We lifted at the contest after a really slow start but probably burnt too many tickets in doing so,” Elsternwick coach Oliver Gildea said.

“Reality is we have had to come back from substantial deficits in our last few weeks, and whilst we have responded to get the lead back in those games it has a tendency to catch up with you.”

Elsternwick ruckman Dylan Jones was influential in Elsternwick’s goal streak, winning over 50 hit outs in the game.

The Bloods showed a genuine desire in the final term, giving everything they possibly could for the four points.

“When we had the ball, we showed patience to use it right and we also took the game on when we could,” South Melbourne coach Shaun Gould said.

“Everyone was outstanding to dig in with so many out of position. Tom Foley as skipper played one of the best games I’ve seen and definitely was a major factor in the last quarter with an outstanding individual goal. I was thrilled with him for the amount of hard work he puts in and how much he cares for the boys and club.”

South Melbourne’s desire was best displayed by Harry Mcintyre’s outstanding performance in midfield coming off the night shift as a firefighter, then going straight back to work after the game.

The performance gets the Bloods back on the winning list after three consecutive defeats. “We needed this win badly for all facets of the club, community and players,” Gould said.

“We earned the points against all odds and to be rewarded for the amount of hard work we’re doing during the week was great for the boys.”

Canterbury 18.12.120 def Therry Penola 12.11.83

Patrick Carracher continued his goal-kicking form, kicking eight, but it was not enough to get Therry Penola the win over Canterbury.

Despite being down by 31 points at three-quarter time, Therry Penola did not give in and got within two goals midway through the term; however, Canterbury responded strongly.

“At the last change I encouraged the group to run more with the ball and with Patty Carracher kicking goals we got within two goals with 12 minutes to go,” Therry Penola coach John Tate said.

“Unfortunately, a couple of decisions didn’t go our way, and we gave up a couple of goals late. Disappointing result after three quarters of balanced footy.” Canterbury coach Steve Brown was full of praise for the opposition.

“Therry Penola play a really good brand of football,” he said. “They are very good at holding possession for long periods of time and are able to utilise their weapons very well. Carracher is a very good tall forward. I’m surprised Therry are 2-5 — I think they will win a lot of games on the run home.”

Canterbury were challenged in the last and responded accordingly, kicking the last four goals of the game. “I was really happy with the way we played particularly in the last quarter when we were challenged,” Brown said.

“We were able to take control in stoppage as well as getting repeat stoppages in the forward line.” Sebastian Gotch and Michael Topp were once again pivotal for the Cobras as they climbed to the top of the ladder.

Power House 16.14.110 def Whitefriars 15.8.98

Power House got back to winning ways, ending Whitefriars’ unbeaten run by 12 points. Power House got out to a hot start, kicking seven goals in the first term.

“Centre bounce was an area we were good early and our connection between our midfield and forwards was better,” Power House coach Nick Cox said.

Whitefriars got within three points at half time as the side improved its contest work, allowing them to control the ball on the outside in the second term. The momentum in the game was constantly swinging, with both teams putting strings of consecutive goals together throughout the game.

Whitefriars coach Andrew Daou had high praise for his side’s ability to maintain belief during the momentum swings.

“The belief and composure of our group is great, they never panic or lose belief in their ability to get back into the contest,” he said.

Daou said his side left Ross Gregory Oval with confidence about where the team currently sits. “This was probably our worst performance yet and to only fall short gives us a lot of confidence.”

Whilst leaving with confidence, Daou knows there is still plenty for his side to improve on. “Conceding seven goals in a quarter for the second week in a row isn’t ideal and leans towards our concentration needing to be better,” Daou said.

“It’s a very even competition and we need to be on 100 per cent of the time.” Whitefriars cut a 25-point fourth quarter Power House lead to a goal in the dying stages; however, a Power House sealer broke Friars’ seven-game unbeaten run.

Aquinas 11.15.81 def West Brunswick 11.7.73

Aquinas bounced back following a disappointing performance last week to defeat West Brunswick in a nail-biting affair. Neither side led by double digits at any of the main breaks, with Aquinas only leading by two points at three-quarter time.

The game was up for grabs, with the sides going goal-for-goal in the last. It was a Toby Crouch major that sealed the victory for Aquinas.

“I think we just stayed composed,” Aquinas coach Josh Quinlan said. “West Brunswick are a great side and a side I don’t think you can just put away, they are always thereabouts. I just said to the group that we had to take the emotion out of the game and to stay calm and control your moment.”

Aquinas felt like they left one out there last week and their performance against West Brunswick showed their desire to bounce back.

“I was very pleased with our response,” Quinlan said. “We were very poor last weekend, and the group were all on the same page with that. Had a bit of a hard look at ourselves during the week, went to work and came in with the mentality of earning it back, which I think we did.”  

Aquinas saw improvement all across the board from last week in their win. “Our pressure was up all day and our effort and want was night and day from last week,” Quinlan said. “Certainly had our opportunities going forward with over 50 inside-50s. Credit to West Brunswick’s defence. They stood up all day causing us not to have many easy shots on goal.”

West Brunswick coach Rick Pograri thought Aquinas played the key moments better than the Magpies did. “From our perspective, our execution wasn’t at the level it needed to be at key moments, and that’s something we’ll continue to work on,” Pograri said. “We need to keep striving for greater consistency in our execution throughout games.”

The Magpies will look to bounce back against North Brunswick away from home.

MHSOB 14.12.96 def North Brunswick 5.10.40

A six-goal-to-none third quarter catapulted MHSOB to victory over North Brunswick.

The Unicorns were celebrating milestones for two club champions, with Sam Hayes playing his 250^th game and Will Hellier playing his 100^th.

Both milestone men were some of the best afield for the Unicorns. The Unicorns were defensively strong throughout the game, limiting North Brunswick to 40 points.

“We had a backline focus of defending first,” MHSOB coach Sean Lester said. “Our backs were great. Rather than spoils dribbling to the front of a contest, we were able to clear the footy and then rebound, rather than hedging our bets between defence and attack.”

After a tight first quarter, the Unicorns were able to break the game open, kicking 10 goals to two in the middle terms. “I thought MHSOB really got on top through territory in the second quarter, and then in the third quarter they were able to take control in just about every part of the game,” North Brunswick coach Domenic Fontana said.

“Once they were winning the field position consistently, it became very difficult for us to get the game played in the areas we wanted.” The Unicorns’ ability to create turnovers was key in their third quarter dominance. “The third quarter in particular was where they were able to limit our offensive game most effectively,” Fontana said.

“We just turned the ball over far too often in that period, and when you do that, you make it very hard to generate any sort of scoreboard pressure. We had 31 chains of possession for the quarter and turned it over 24 times, so that tells the story pretty clearly.”