Top vs bottom; it wasn’t easy in Premier C

By Christian Burgess – Premier C Scribe

Peninsula Old Boys kicked their lowest score for the year and gave up a top three position after their loss to Old Ivanhoe Grammarians. Old Ivanhoe were fierce trying to put a stop to The Pirates’ attack. Known for their attacking, high scoring style of play, the Pirates were unable to make a charge as Old Ivanhoe extended their lead at every break. David Bruno was superb… again, in the ruck, feeding his fellow midfielders continuously and played a major role in the victory. Matthew Ferguson put on the show we all come to expect when he arrived in premier C and kicked five goals, in what could be a kick start to his season tally. The Pirates last quarter was their most dangerous, although the game was already in Old Ivanhoe’s hands. The Pirates kicked five goals and 11 behinds in the last term to fall 52 points short of Old Ivanhoe.

Top of the ladder v bottom of the ladder was not the game we expected, with only five points separating the two at half time. The half time deficit was as close as the Krushers would come as the Nodders had a chance to bury the game in the third term, kicking with the wind and catching Oakleigh off guard, they only managed 3 goals to go with their eight behinds. The Krushers unfortunately ran out of legs in the second half and were 33 points behind after the final siren. The Nodders have played every side but two (Marcellin & Williamstown CYMS) and are undefeated after Round 7, exemplifying their dominance on the competition. Aaron Cloke kicked his second biggest tally for the year with four goals. The Nodders power comes from their spread of goal kickers, sharing the load every week, including this game with 10 goal scorers.

Ormond got their first win for the season after a tight encounter with Old Camberwell Grammarians. After being blown out of the water in the first quarter with by the Wellers who kicked to a 35 point lead at quarter time, Ormond had their chance with the wind in the second term. Ormond kept the Wellers to 1 point as they piled on 14 scoring shots and went into the main break with a 2 goal lead. Jeremy Simon was a standout in the second half, playing a pivotal role in Ormond holding onto the lead at three quarter time and was best on ground for the third consecutive week. Only 9 points separated the two at the final siren in favour of Ormond who have a huge battle against marcellin this weekend with only 1.16% separating the two.

Caulfield Grammarians enjoyed a comfortable victory when they were too strong for Williamstown last weekend. Louis O’Keefe was instrumental finishing the day with eight goals, a third of the Fields total goals, in a standout individual performance. 12 goal scorers in total helped the Fields to a 14 goal victory over the Cy’s who were outplayed on the day. Andre Lister was one of the ten players who didn’t register a goal for Caulfield but made his mark on the game, with repeat entries and hitting hot form which we saw at the start of the season. Thomas Gill played his best game for the season for the Cy’s but had little help outside of Ryan Joy who kicked two goals in his first game for the season.

Another high scoring affair saw Kew and Marcellin battle it out at Victoria Park in a contest of who could use the wind better. Kew dominated the first quarter finishing with a 5 goal lead at quarter time. They continued their good form, defending well against the breeze and holding onto a 12 point lead at half time. Kew’s ruck work, gave their midfielders first touch around the ground outmaneuvering Marcellin’s defence. Young gun Jeremiah Antypas was the shining light for Marcellin and offered plenty of run and flare, but it was Kew’s team defence that negated a lot of Marcellin’s attack.  Andrew Brazzale snuck under the radar for another bag of four goals while Max Waters used his penetrating left boot to continually rebound the ball from Kew’s defensive 50. Kew finished 20 points ahead of Marcellin after the final siren and will face Old Camberwell this weekend with a chance to move into the top 5.

Ormond v Marcellin

Williamstown v Mazenod

Kew v Old Camberwell

Oakleigh v Old Ivanhoe

Peninsula v Caulfield