Round 7 Premier B Men’s Review

De La Salle returned to the winner’s list in Premier B over the weekend, climbing back into the top four with a nine-point win over Old Melburnians.

A five-goal-to-three second term opened up an 18-point advantage at half-time for De La, and they withstood a late OMs fightback to win 12.6.78 to 10.9.69.

Adrian Indovino led the way with five goals for De La, while Sam Laube impressed at the other end of the ground for the OMs finishing with four majors.

The result sees De La enter the bye sitting in third place on the ladder, while OMs fall to fourth despite starting the day in second place.  Both teams hold a 4-3 record and are separated by just 3.18 per cent.

De La coach Nick Hyland said he was happy to see his players emerge victorious in a hard-fought encounter.

“It was very pleasing to be on the right end of the result against a high-quality opponent,” Hyland said.

“Bringing pressure to the contest was a big focus for us going into the game, and it was great to see it brought across the four quarters.

“We moved the ball really well and attacked dangerous areas of the ground.”

For Old Melburnians, the defeat ends a four-game winning run that put them in the race for the top four after a slow start to the season.

After the bye, the OMs will return to face Old Carey, while De La will travel to face Williamstown CYMS.

AJAX continued its impressive start to life in Premier B Men’s, securing a 19-point win on the road against Old Geelong at Como Park.

The Jackers set the match up early, kicking five of the first six goals of the game, before the OGs fought back to trim the margin to just five points at three-quarter-time.

But the Jackers steadied in Nick Lewis’ 200th game for the club, kicking four goals to two in the final term to win 13.15.93 to 11.8.74.

Jordan Cohen was instrumental for the Jackers with another four-goal haul, while Matt Harvey dominated the midfield battle for the OGs, finishing with 36 disposals and ten clearances.

The win moves AJAX up to second place on the ladder, ahead of De La Salle and Old Melburnians on percentage, while Old Geelong sit in ninth place, but remain just one win out of the relegation zone.

Jackers’ coach Lachie Buszard reserved special praise for Lewis and for the team on a big day for the club.

“I can’t say enough about Nick’s influence on our group,” Buszard said. “He is a wonderful player and keeps getting it done on matchday. I’m rapt the boys got the result for him.

“We started well; however, they hit back in the third term. But credit to our guys, we steadied and managed to get an important four points and close the game out to celebrate a club great’s milestone.”

Old Geelong coach Nick Dixon lamented a lacklustre start from his players, which ultimately proved to be the difference.

“Where we lost it was in the first quarter,” Dixon said. “We weren’t as physical as we needed to be or playing the style that we’ve been training for the last month. We went away from it.”

“We lifted our physicality after that, and at three-quarter time we were really confident, but to their credit they lifted and moved the ball a bit slicker than us.”

Beaumaris snapped a four-game losing streak to keep within touch of the top four, defeating Old Ivanhoe by 25 points at Trevor Barker Beach Oval.

The Sharks opened up a 20-point lead at the first break, and kept the Hoers at arm’s length for the rest of the afternoon, winning 12.18.90 to 9.11.65.

In tricky conditions, Aiden McCarthy kicked 3.0 for the Sharks, while Nicholas Reeves-Smyth was tremendous in defence for the Hoers, finishing with 23 disposals and ten rebounds from defensive-50.

Beaumaris now move up to fifth on the ladder with a 3-4 record, while Old Ivanhoe remain in last place with a 2-5 record, but still sit just one win away from climbing out of the relegation zone.

Sharks coach Josh Bourke credited the players for standing tall in an important game.

“Every game feels like a final, the way this league is going so far,” Bourke said.

“Our ability around the contest was very good. We felt we managed things ok and played the game in our half. We’d like to convert better, but we’ve been talking about how to work on that.

“There’s a sense of relief. We haven’t been winning games lately, but we still feel we’ve been doing reasonably well.”

Hoers coach Xavier Naish said the disappointing opening term forced his team onto the back foot early.

“They got the jump on us in the first quarter,” Naish said. “It forced us to make early changes, which threw us off a bit.

“It was a decent arm wrestle for the rest of the game. I was proud of how the boys fought back and responded – we’re learning a lot about our young group.”

Old Camberwell climbed out of the relegation zone at Gordon Barnard Reserve, accounting for Williamstown CYMS by 30 points on Saturday.

Despite conceding the first two goals of the game, the Wellers quickly settled to lead at quarter time, and extended their advantage at every break to win 12.15.87 to 8.9.57.

The individual matchup of the day was fought between Wellers’ James Allen and CYs William Bockman – Allen finished the game with 41 disposals and 12 clearances, while Bockman recorded 43 disposals, 14 clearances and a goal.

The Wellers third win of the season sees them leapfrog the CYs into seventh spot on the ladder, with the two sides separated by just 0.04 per cent.

Wellers’ coach Neil Connell praised the even contribution across the board from his chargers.

“We had 22 contributors. It was a really good team effort.” Connell said.

“Defensively, we were really sound. Our work rate around the ground was probably the strongest we’ve had all year.

“Credit to the players for bringing it. It’s something we really value.”

CYs coach Con Terzoglou said that the first bye has arrived at a good moment for his team.

“It felt like a carbon copy for the last two weeks,” Terzoglou said.

“We seem to be struggling with a lack of execution. We give the opposition too much easy football, and we’re left to chase our tails.

“There were times when we got on top but couldn’t translate that into any scores.

“Our first 10 minutes were very good, but then we fell away.”

Collegians went into the bye with their perfect record still intact, holding off Old Carey to secure a 22-point win away from home.

The Lions threatened to break the game open with a five-goal-to-none second quarter to lead by as much as 24 points early in the second half, before the Panthers drew to within 10 points early in the final term.

But Collegians responded again, steadying late to eventually win 14.9.93 to 10.11.71.

The Lions increase their lead to three games on top of the ladder, while Old Carey have fallen to sixth place, despite being in second place just a fortnight ago.

Panthers coach Luke Giles said his team were second-best despite not playing too badly on the day.

“We didn’t get smashed in any areas, but we were down in all the key areas and that showed up on the stats as well.

“Fair play to them (Collegians). They were too good, and that’s why they’re the best side in the competition.

“3-4 is probably a fair result heading into the bye, and we’re looking forward to getting a few troops back.”

Following this weekend’s bye, Old Carey will travel to face Old Melburnians, while Collegians will host Old Camberwell at Harry Trott Oval.