South Melbourne boost survival hopes – Division 2 Men’s Round 16 Review

South Melbourne 16.18 (114) def North Brunswick 10.4 (64)

South Melbourne Districts secured a crucial win in the race for survival, defeating North Brunswick by 50 points.

The teams went into the game level on points, with South Melbourne sitting ahead on percentage. The Swans knew it was a game they needed to win, and they showed that intent in the first quarter as they kicked four goals to none, opening a 27-point quarter-time lead.

“We were very direct and we had some really good targets that we knew that we needed to kick to,” South Melbourne coach Shaun Gould said.

North Brunswick struggled to halt South Melbourne’s momentum in the second quarter as the Swans continued to score, going into half-time with a 46-point lead.

“We were using the ball really well through the middle… Using the ball across the ground was a massive advantage for us, to be able to open up the corridor, which is dictated by the backline who did a tremendous job,” Gould said.

The Bulls were able to generate more scoreboard pressure in the third quarter, kicking six goals but were unable to stop South Melbourne’s offence as the Swans kicked seven of their own, producing a 53-point lead at three-quarter time.

“North Brunswick rolled the dice,” Gould said. “They put a couple of forwards behind the ball, and they were running through which was advantageous to them. They also took their chances and converted which was something they hadn’t done much in the game as we started to lose a bit of our shape.”

The Swans were able to run out the final quarter without the Bulls putting any pressure on their lead as they grabbed a crucial win.

Nic Broomfield, Pearce Dolan, Athan Stamatelatos and Conor O’Neill were among the best for South Melbourne while returning captain Tom Foley booted five goals.   

Elsternwick 13.23 (101) def Therry Penola 9.4 (58)

Daniel Marchese kicked seven as Elsternwick kept their finals hopes alive in a 43-point win over Therry Penola.

The Wickers got off to a fast start with the breeze, kicking the first five goals of the game to gain a 34-point quarter-time lead.

“It was going to be a challenging day, and it didn’t start well with poor disposal in the back half against a strong breeze and Elsternwick took advantage of every opportunity,” Therry Penola coach John Tate said.

“While it was a good lead, I felt it was about par given how hard the wind was blowing,” Elsternwick coach Oliver Gildea said. 

With the breeze in the second quarter, the visitors responded, kicking six goals; however, Elsternwick were able to pinch a late goal to give themselves a 16-point lead at the main break. “We slowly recovered and after the first break, we played really well, getting good connection,” Tate said.

“They kicked a few quick ones, and we were in trouble for a moment there, our ability to score into the breeze late in the quarter gave us a nice little half-time buffer,” Gildea said.

The hosts had the breeze in the third as they kicked four goals to two; however, their lead could have been larger as the side kicked 11 behinds in the third term.

“No excuse for our poor kicking, we missed some absolute sodas and kept Therry in the game,” Gildea said.

The visitors kicked the first two of the final quarter, but the goals were not enough to get within striking distance as Daniel Marchese’s seventh of the game sealed the 43-point victory for the hosts.

“Dan Marchese was clearly the best player on the ground,” Gildea said. “He kicked seven in his first game since round 3. He has been sorely missed.”  

Canterbury 9.15 (69) def by Power House 15.21 (111)

Power House strengthened their finals hopes with a 42-point victory over Canterbury away from home.

Both teams had their chances in front of goal in the opening term, but the Cobras failed to make theirs count as they managed six behinds without registering a goal. Power House made them pay, kicking four goals to open a 24-point quarter-time lead.

“Similar to last week our contest was good and we were able to get the ball into our outside runners, and we had plenty of opportunities,” Power House coach Nick Cox said.

Canterbury found their goal-kicking boots in the second quarter as the hosts kicked five goals while Power House kicked four. The visitors went into half-time with a 21-point lead.

Both teams were inaccurate in front of goal in the third as Canterbury kicked 1.5, while Power House were slightly more clinical, kicking 3.6. Canterbury’s inaccuracy proved costly as Power House went into three-quarter time with a 34-point lead.

“In the third we got on top all over the ground and our forward pressure was good… Both teams missed some easy shots but maybe that was due to the pressure being applied from both teams,” Cox said.

Power House extended their lead in the fourth quarter as they kicked another four goals to run out 42-point winners. Mark O’Keeffe, Joseph Halloran and Kieran Wotherspoon were among the best for the visitors.

Aquinas 10.16 (76) def by MHSOB 20.11 (131)

MHSOB continued their dominant form as they won their seventh game in a row by defeating Aquinas by 55 points.

Like last week, the Unicorns had a strong start as they kicked five goals to one, holding a 22-point quarter-time lead.

“We fell into their brand of footy and were unable to dictate the way we wanted to play,” Aquinas coach Josh Quinlan said.

“We did on occasion but weren’t able to impact the scoreboard… Our mids started really well which gave us a jump,” MHSOB coach Sean Lester said.

“I thought our last 10 minutes of the first quarter was poor, but we were at least able to pressure Aquinas so any of their entries and shots at goal were challenged, helping the scoreboard.”

Bad kicking is bad football, and that was the case for the Bloods in the second quarter as they had seven scoring shots to MHSOB’s five; however, Aquinas failed to convert any of theirs into goals while MHSOB converted four.

This gave the Unicorns a 40-point lead at half-time.

“To be honest they made us work hard for our scores and when we had easier ones, we would miss simple shots or bite off more than we could chew… They got a lot of Joe the goose goals throughout the game which were a big difference,” Quinlan said.

Aquinas were able to find the big sticks in the third, kicking six goals, however, they were unable to restrict MHSOB who added seven goals of their own as they increased their lead to 49 points.

“It was a bit of frantic ping-pong from both sides,” Lester said. “Turnovers then transition through the wings or centre and then a poor kick inside 50. I think late we just broke them with our constant entries and extended the lead.”

The Unicorns did enough in the final quarter to extend their lead to 55 points as Aquinas ran out of legs late. 

MHSOB now sit top of the ladder with two games remaining.

“Our momentum is great,” Lester said. “What’s most pleasing is we have won in different ways. Sometimes clinical with offence, other times scrapping a win in ugly conditions or even when we’ve lacked a little energy just doing what’s needed to sing the song. Our maturity and belief are fantastic.”

Whitefriars 13.6 (84) def West Brunswick 7.9 (51)

Whitefriars won their third game in a row as they defeated West Brunswick by 33 points. The first five goals all went to the hosts as they led by 29 points at the first change.

“Our contest and spread was fantastic but our forwards worked really hard to take their chances,” Whitefriars coach Andrew Daou said.

The visitors responded in the second term, holding Whitefriars to just one goal for the quarter while scoring two of their own to cut the lead to 22 points at half-time.

“West Brunswick really increased their defensive focus which caused the ball to really be stuck between the arches and create a really contest-heavy quarter,” Daou said.

The Magpies’ play continued to improve in the third as they cut the lead to 16 points, kicking four goals to the Friars’ three.

Whitefriars were able to grab the momentum in the last as they kicked four of the last five goals of the game, running out 33-point victors.

“Our fitness really shone through, and we were able to capitalise on our speed and ball movement,” Daou said.

Jordan Knox, Travis Baker, Jacob Blanck and Vito Midolo were among the best for Whitefriars while Joel Krauss, Dom McInness and Herbert Fithall were named in the best for West Brunswick.