Round 13 of the Holmesglen Under 19 Premier competition produced another weekend of significant results, with the race for finals tightening at one end of the ladder and the battle to avoid relegation remains just as fierce.
De La Salle 23.15 (153) def Caulfield Grammarians 4.1 (25)
De La Salle continued their outstanding run of form with the most emphatic result of the weekend, overpowering Caulfield by 128 points.
While Caulfield coach Cooper Rule acknowledged it has been a difficult six-week stretch for his side, he praised the quality of the opposition and believes De La Salle is building towards something special.
“Otto has De La humming at the right time of the year and I think they are a serious threat to be there on the final day of the season,” Rule said.
For Caulfield, attention now turns to securing their Premier status.
“To my group it’s been a seriously tough period of six or so weeks and all we can do now is focus on avoiding relegation and finish the year off strong.”
The result further cements De La Salle’s credentials as one of the competition’s genuine premiership contenders, with the side continuing to build momentum at exactly the right time of year.
St Bedes/Mentone 17.13 (115) def Beaumaris 5.6 (36)
St Bedes/Mentone also strengthened their finals position with a convincing 79-point win over Beaumaris.
While the scoreboard suggested a one-sided affair, Tigers coach Sam Hecker said his side remained aware of the Sharks’ ability to generate dangerous ball movement.
“It was a solid win. We seemed to control most of the game but Beaumaris do look dangerous when they get control off half-back,” Hecker said.
The midfield laid the platform for the victory, with Angus Shepardson and Ned Killean controlling proceedings around the contest before the forwards capitalised on their opportunities.
“Our on-ballers led by Angus Shepardson and Ned Killean really controlled the game. Our forwards really learnt from last week and got some one-on-one contests.”
Lachy Hecker finished with four goals while Richardson added three in an efficient forward display, while the defensive group also played a crucial role.
“Our defenders were strong, limiting marks inside 50 for them.”
Old Brighton 16.8 (104) def Parkdale 13.9 (87)
Old Brighton remained in the hunt with a hard-fought win over Parkdale in what proved to be one of the more unusual contests of the round.
The Tonners burst out of the blocks with arguably their best football of the season before Parkdale worked their way back into the game after quarter-time.
“Our first quarter was as good as we’ve played all season, our intensity around the contest and our ball movement were exactly where we wanted them to be,” Old Brighton coach Travis O’Donohue said.
However, O’Donohue was far from satisfied with the overall performance despite banking the four points.
“Good teams are judged on what they produce across four quarters, not one.”
He credited Parkdale’s response after the opening term while acknowledging his side contributed to their own challenges.
“Credit to Parkdale, they got on top around the contest after quarter-time, while we contributed to our own problems with some moments of ill-discipline. It was an unusual game and, in many respects, didn’t really feel like a win.”
With a huge clash against De La Salle looming, O’Donohue knows improvement will be required.
“We’ll take the lessons from it because we’ll need to be much better against De La Salle next week.”
Despite the loss, Parkdale found plenty of positives to take into next week’s local derby against St Bedes/Mentone.
“We were playing catch-up after the first quarter,” coach Nick Anderson said.
“It was great to see Jordan Burgess take another big step since he’s come back from injury and we loved the two-way running of Dan Jackson.”
Darcy Harwood enjoyed a breakout performance in front of goal, finishing with six majors to keep Parkdale within striking distance throughout the afternoon.
“Whilst we did lose, we feel like we got some good momentum coming out of the last three quarters to take into the big derby game against St Bedes at home.”
St Kevin’s 12.8 (80) def Old Scotch 8.5 (53)
St Kevin’s enhanced their finals aspirations with an impressive victory over one of the competition’s form sides in Old Scotch.
Coach Paul Greenham was particularly pleased with the consistency his group produced.
“It was a four-quarter performance.”
With the ladder becoming increasingly congested, Greenham recognised the importance of defeating a side entering the match in strong form.
“Clearly the ladder is tight so to come away with the win against one of the most in-form teams in the competition was tremendous for our confidence.”
SKOB built the win around their contest work before key contributors stood up across every line.
“Our contest work was consistently high all day. O’Brien and Harmon were great in defence, Walsh was great across the centre line and our forwards created opportunity for themselves which allowed us to have the upper hand on the scoreboard for much of the day.”
University Blues 16.7 (103) def Old Xaverians 11.1 (83)
University Blues rounded out the weekend with a quality 20-point victory over Old Xaverians in a match that tested the depth and flexibility of Steve Boakes’ side.
“Another good performance from our guys,” Boakes said.
The Blues managed several players backing up from earlier matches while also welcoming others back after the holiday break, creating some unique selection and rotation challenges.
“We had six players play two games so managing game time was a priority for our guys on the rotations.”
Old Xaverians made the brighter start before Uni Blues gradually settled into the contest.
“Old Xavs are a quality side and got off to a good start early in the first and with a number of guys playing their first game after holidays we took a while to click.”
Once they found their rhythm, Uni Blues controlled large portions of the game through relentless defensive pressure and disciplined team defence.
“Our pressure was a key factor along with backs who stood up. Our mids worked hard to make sure every inside 50 entry from Xavs was under pressure.”
Perhaps most pleasing was the Blues’ ability to restrict one of the competition’s most dangerous transition teams.
“We slowed Xavs’ fast ball movement on transition which was largely why we felt like we had control for most of the game.”
With just a handful of rounds remaining, the Holmesglen Under 19 Premier competition continues to deliver every week.
De La Salle appears to be peaking at the perfect time, St Bedes/Mentone, St Kevin’s and Uni Blues all recorded important victories to strengthen their finals positions and Old Brighton survived a stern challenge from Parkdale.
At the other end of the ladder, Caulfield and Beaumaris face crucial weeks ahead as the fight to avoid relegation intensifies, setting the stage for an exciting finish to the home-and-away season.
Round 13 of William Buck Premier Men’s was hurtling towards four upsets, before a couple of Top 4 teams managed to steady late and find a way to win. Has
Canterbury 18.12 (120) def Aquinas 13.9 (87) An eight-goal first-quarter blitz from Canterbury helped secure their 10th win of the season as they defeated Aquinas by 33 points. Canterbury kicked
Round 13 is in the books as the race for ladder positions continues to tighten. Percentage is now all that separates Mazenod and Aquinas, while the gap between fourth and
