Animals cause an upset whilst the Two Blues flex their muscles

Angus Archibald – @GusArchi

Round 15 saw Emmaus St Leos take the chocolates against a wasteful Yarra Old Grammarians in the biggest upset of the round, whilst Old Paradians kept themselves in the race for the four with a convincing win over Hawthorn. MHSOB have continued their winning ways with a 12 goal win over Eltham Collegians, jumping up to third on the ladder and remaining a game clear of fifth. Glen Eira and Bulleen Templestowe battled it out in the match of the round, with the Bullants coming out on top to leapfrog Glen Eira and out of the relegation zone. Prahran Assumption confirmed their claim for premiership favourites with a convincing 41-point win over West Brunswick in the top of the table clash out at Toorak Park.

Emmaus St Leos came from behind with a four-goal final term giving them a three-point win over Yarra at home. The Animals started slow but thanks to poor kicking on goal from the Bushrangers they only trailed by seven points at quarter time. Accuracy on goal would continue to haunt Yarra in the second term as they brought their total to four goals and 17 points. A three-point margin at halftime gave the Animals a sniff, but Yarra managed to kick away to lead by eight points with one quarter to go. A rampaging Emmaus fought back in the final term with four-goals to run out three-point winners. Yarra will rue their poor accuracy on goal, having seven more scoring shots than Emmaus, scoring 27 behinds from their 36 shots on goal. Christopher Beluszar kicked three goals for Emmaus to bring his season total to 32, whilst Brent Simons continued his recent hot form with his second Best on ground performance in three weeks. Nicholas Chamberlain again found the goals for Yarra with three majors bringing his season total to 39, whilst Michael Letson was named best on ground in his second game for the season. Yarra fall to fourth on the ladder behind MHSOB on percentage, whilst Emmaus continue to surge up the ladder to find themselves sixth and one win away from securing safety in Division 2 for another season.

Old Paradians kicked their highest score for the season when they took on Hawthorn at home last week. They raced out of the blocks with six first quarter goals and they never looked like slowing down. Another five goals in the second term gave them a 65-point lead at halftime, with poor accuracy in front of goal keeping the scoreline within relative striking distance from Hawthorn who hadn’t troubled the scorers since the first term. Hawthorn fought hard in the third, restricting the Raiders to four goals whilst also adding one of their own, but unfortunately the damage had already been done. The game opened up in the fourth quarter as both sides had their time in front of goal. The Raiders dominated the final term to add another seven goals to their tally whilst Hawthorn added another three majors, bringing the final margin to 113-points. Danny Nolan had another big day at the office with a bag of nine goals for the Raiders to go along with his bag of eight two weeks ago against Emmaus St Leos in another best on ground performance. Matthew Downie kicked two goals in his first game this season for Hawthorn, whilst Justin Raiti was voted best afield for the Hawks for the second week running. The Raiders now sit one game out of the top four, with a match against fourth placed Yarra OG in two weeks time shaping to be a fight for a spot in the final four.

MHSOB jumped to third on the ladder after a convincing win over Eltham Collegians out at Melbourne High School on Saturday afternoon. The Unicorns started fast with a six-goal-to-one first term, only allowing Eltham within striking distance due to their inaccuracy in front of goal. MHSOB continued to add to their lead in the second term, kicking another three goals to go into the halftime break 54-points up. A huge last half from MHSOB kept the Turtles at bay, kicking 10 goals to five to bring the final margin to 75 points. Jarrod Sherwin and Kane Smith kicked 4 goals each for the Unicorns whilst James Tran was voted best afield for the second week running. Eltham had six goal kickers with Fraser Cloney the only multiple goal kicker, bringing his season total to 30.

The battle between Glen Eira and Bulleen Templestowe at Packer reserve was the match of the round due to it having huge ramifications at the bottom end of the table. Bulleen Templestowe’s accuracy in front of goal gave them the lead at halftime, despite Glen Eira having much of the pay down their end. Despite a more accurate quarter in front of goal from Glen Eira, Bulleen were able to make the most of their opportunities to kick away to a 27 point lead at the major break. An even third term gave both sides plenty to play for in the final term, with only four goals in it the match was there for either side. However Bulleen took control and piled on seven goals whilst restricting Glen Eira to just three behinds to bring the final margin to 69 points. Spiros Lambropoulos kicked four goals for the Bullants in a best on ground performance whilst Kristain Cherbakof kicked another three goals to take his season tally to 43 goals, the highest of any player in Division 2 this season. Vaughn Colyer continued his recent good form with his second best on ground performance for Glen Eira in three weeks.

The top-of-the-table clash saw the Two Blues assert their claim to flag favouritism with a convincing 41-point win over West Brunswick. The game was tight early with neither side able to really assert any dominance, West Brunswick leading by two points at quarter time. The magpies grew their lead to 13 points in the second quarter by adding another three goals to their tally whilst keeping Prahran to just the one. But after the main break Prahran stepped it up a gear and took control of the match, kicking four goals whilst restricting the Magpies to just one behind for the third term. West Brunswick were unable to wrestle back their dominance in the final term, allowing the Two Blues to add another four majors to bring the final margin to 41 points. Timothy Maya continued his form in front of goals kicking three majors for Prahran whilst Tom Freeman was voted best afield for the second time in the past month. Dylan Muscat and Mitchell Booth both contributed with two goals each for West Brunswick, with William Sadler once again featuring in the votes.

Round 16 will see Yarra Old Grammarians face league leaders Prahran Assumption out at Doncaster reserve as they look to keep their spot in the top four. A loss looks likely to give the chasers Old Paradians the chance to go above them as The Raiders now sit one game out of the top four. But first the Raiders will need to overcome an Eltham Collegians who are keen to bounce back after a string of poor performances recently in this Saturday’s clash out at Eltham College. With three rounds remaining MHSOB are in a strong position to make a finals berth after just missing out to Yarra OGs last season, with this week’s matchup against bottom side Hawthorn out at Rathmines Road Reserve shaping as a possible danger game. Glen Eira and Bulleen Templestowe are now locked on points going into the remaining three games of the season, making for an exciting run in to the end of the year. Glen Eira will face West Brunswick out at Ransford oval whilst the Bullants face the rampant Emmaus St Leos out at Ted Ajani Reserve.