Division 1 Men’s Round 9 Review

Brunswick (5.5 – 35) def by Prahran (12.13 – 85)

Prahran’s defensive efforts led to a comprehensive win over the home team, Brunswick. Brunswick were kept to two goals throughout the majority of the game, scoring 2.3 (15) by three quarter time, compared to their opponents 8.10 – 58. Brunswick was able to get a bit more success on the scoreboard in the final term, kicking another three goals to end the game with a margin of 50 points.

Prahran assistant coach Patrick Marks was supportive of his side’s four-quarter performance. He did, however, mention that his side “struggled to convert in front of goal in the first half but started to in the second half.” As shown clearly by his side scoring five goals, nine behinds in the first half, and seven goals, four behinds in the second. Marks gave praise on both ends of the ground. “Peter Ahern was great forward for us, along with young Tom Cotter again. Patrick Ribbands was very solid intercepting the ball.”

Brunswick will travel to face Parkside next week, who are coming off another significant win and are currently placed second on the ladder. Prahran will be hosting Kew, who continue an impressive streak of wins, but have struggled against the big top three sides.

Monash Blues (3.3 – 21) def by Kew (17.23 – 125)

Since their round six defeat, Kew have been on an impressive run of 100-point-plus wins. This trend continued with a 104-point victory over the Monash Blues. Kew hit the scoreboard early, going six goals to Monash’s one in the first quarter. The game continued at this pace with Kew racking up 17 goals across 10 individual goal scorers, while Monash was only able to get three goals on the board by the final siren. Ned Waters led the scoring with four goals of his own, alongside multiple goal scorers, Lachie Bown, Alex Chiocci, and Conor Little.

While Kew have been on an impressive run, they have struggled against the best of the division. Round 10 will be a test for them when they come up against third-placed Prahran, a matchup in which they lost by 27 points earlier in the year. Monash will be up against St Mary’s Salesian, who are coming off the closest loss of the round. The last time they faced was back in Round 1, where St Mary’s got the win by 43 points, in what was the Blues’ highest scoring game so far this year.

St Mary’s Salesian (11.16 – 82) def by Oakleigh (12.15 – 87)

In the closest matchup of the round, Oakleigh was just able to hold onto a close victory over St Mary’s Salesian by five points. St Mary’s took a four-point lead into the first break, inaccurate kicking reducing what could have been a bigger margin with four additional scoring shots. Oakleigh took back the momentum in the second, going six goals to two and creating a 19-point lead at halftime. By the third, however, St Mary’s defensive efforts had restricted Oakleigh to one goal for the term, while St Mary’s had five of their own, taking back the lead. In the fourth, shots were flying on both ends, but inaccurate kicking led to 10 behinds across both teams in the term. Eventually, the two goals to Oakleigh were enough to result in a tough, contested win on the weekend.

Oakleigh coach Chris Worner gave big praise to his players and those instrumental to the win, including Jack Iverson who kicked three goals from the midfield, and Rogan Kitts who continued his strong form.

However, the big standout was Jake Greenway who came up from the reserves and was “instrumental down back” before going forward for the last term to kick the winning goal.

St Mary’s coach Heath Chipperfield was disappointed with his side’s loss but impressed by the contest of both sides.

“We gave ourselves an opportunity to win the game but couldn’t quite get there in the end,” he said. “Credit to Oakleigh and their ability to guts it out in tough conditions in the second half.”

Chipperfield handed out praise to young players Liam Greening and Charlie Matthews, who kicked three goals in his first senior match, alongside a regular standout, ruck Will Coten, who Chipperfield said was “sensational” in the ruck.

Oakleigh will get a second chance to stop Preston’s flawless run for the season and redeem themselves after their 22-point loss to the top side earlier in the season. St Mary’s Salesian will travel to face the struggling Monash Blues.

Old Yarra Cobras (4.3 – 27) def by Preston (16.23 – 119)

The Old Yarra Cobras struggled against a well-drilled opposition in Preston. Yet to be defeated, Preston won out the match by 92 points, continuing their hot streak into the second half of the season. Inaccurate kicking reduced the end margin as Preston went four goals to eight behinds in the first term, and eventually 16 goals, 23 behinds by full term. However, with 39 scoring shots all up, the onslaught was still far too much for the Cobras, who only managed to get four goals on the board.

 “They’re a very skilled and well-coached team, we played as well as we could for the majority,” Old Yarra coach Nathan Monaco said. “Cruz Robinson has been our best player over the last month, I’ve swung him down back, and it’s been a huge move for his development.”

Despite the consistent losses, Monaco felt progress had been made in his side. “I feel we are playing better football, but just aren’t able to go with teams for long enough, hopefully some reward for effort coming soon for the players.”

Next round, Old Yarra will face off against another struggling side in UHS-VU at home. Preston will see if they can keep their winning streak going in the second half of the season against sides that have now seen and studied them play, starting with an away game against Oakleigh.

UHS-VU (5.6 – 36) def by Parkside (17.19 – 121)

Parkside immediately put some distance on their opponents, University High School – Victoria University, in the first quarter, breaking away to a 16-point lead in the first term before pushing it to 35 by the halftime break.

Scoring only increased for Parkside from that point, stacking up seven goals to two in the third quarter, eventually winning by 85 points. Parkside was another team impacted by inaccurate goal kicking, and with 36 scoring shots to 11, the margin was still significant.

With five multiple goal scorers, Parkside had an impressive mix up forward led by Joel Stevens’ four goals. However, Stevens didn’t have the highest goal count as all five of UHS-VU’s goals were scored by Brandon Jackson.

Parkside will aim to keep their second spot on the ladder when they host Brunswick in Round 10. UHS-VU will come up against the developing Old Yarra Cobras side, who are still looking for their first win of the season.