Aquinas shine while X-Men struggle in Division 4

Jason Bast

Round 2 is in the books and it’s Aquinas, North Brunswick and the Manningham Cobras who remain undefeated in 2017. Aquinas sit at the very top of the ladder, proving themselves as the team to beat early in the season. At the other end of the table, St Francis Xavier are struggling with their return to the senior sections and will be faced with some testing times in the coming weeks.

Masala FC 9.9-62 def by North Brunswick 21.17-143

Following the bye in round one, Masala started their first quarter of the season reasonably well and were still in the contest at quarter. Yet, from the second quarter onwards, it was all North Brunswick who put their foot down and kicked 15 of the next 21 goals. The second half was particularly hard for Masala, only kicking 1 goal for the game while the Bulls booted another 7 to run out the match 81-point victors. Brandon Kelly showed great signs for Masala, but the big display of the game was from North Brunswick’s Jake George who booted a massive bag of 11 goals. Max Coutts was prolific for the Bulls again while Robert Santacroce and Patrick Notaro both finished with 4 goals.

Elsternwick 11.7-73 def by Aquinas 18.20-128

Aquinas set themselves atop the ladder with another percentage boosting victory. The round two match was an impressive display of offensive power from Aquinas, which Elsternwick failed to curb. Accuracy in front of goal prevented the margin from being even greater, with the Bloods kicking 18.20 and finishing with more than double the scoring shots of Elsternwick. Patrick Mahon and Liam Whelan were good up forward for the Bloods finishing with 5 and 3 goals, respectively. Elsternwick will be disappointed with their 0-2 start to the season and will be hoping to knock off Mt Lilydale next week.

Manningham Cobras AFC 14.12-96 def Parkside FC 9.11-65

A close first half looked likely to develop into a competitive finish to the game down at Koonung Reserve between the Cobras and Parkside. However, Manningham proved too strong kicking five goals to none in the third quarter and finishing the game as 31-point Victors. The loss hands Parkside their second from as many games this season and they’ll be looking to improve in the coming weeks. Nick Somerville (6) and Chris Jolly (5) combined for the bulk of the Cobras goals, while Ben Baltruweit was strong in the middle and helped lead his team to their second win of the season.

St Francis Xavier OC 10.19-79 def by Mt Lilydale OC 23.8-146

Concluding the game with 31 scoring shots and finishing over the top of St Francis by 67-points, Mt Lilydale will be thrilled to have put in a performance reminiscent of the game style that saw them make the prelim last season. The X-men were wasteful in front of goal, only kicking 10 majors from 29 attempts. St Francis Xavier see themselves sitting at the bottom of the ladder after round two and will be disheartened by their comeback to the senior sections. With some positive signs, St Francis will no doubt be confident they can improve throughout the season. Stephen Donald and Max Hampton both ended the game with 5 goals for the Rams, while Thomas Bailey collected best on ground honours after a brilliant display.

Preview

Round 3 will see North Brunswick and Aquinas go head to head in what will surely be a high scoring and entertaining game. Mt Lilydale takes on Elsternwick who are looking for their first win of the season. St Francis will look to take advantage of what appears to be their easiest matchup of the season so far, but Masala won’t go down without a fight as they will be looking for the same result. The round finishes off with the Eley Park Sharks coming off the bye in a game that could determine who sits atop the ladder at the conclusion of round 3. It is setup to be an interesting and very competitive round for division 4 with these early games so crucial to everyone’s chances to play finals come the end of the year.