Redlegs run red-hot vs Blues, T’s tale of two halves

Nick Armistead – @NickArmistead

Old Melburnians celebrated their first victory of 2018 after they came from 19 points down at three quarter time and ran over Uni Blues by five at Uni Oval. Tim Marshall, who was one of five important inclusions for OM’s, kick-started the fourth term with consecutive goals in the opening five minutes. Fellow inclusions Matt Thomas, George Hurley-Wellington, Alex McFarlane and Sam Hooper all played their part as OMs came to within a goal before Cam Banfield sealed the match in the 29^th minute with his fifth of the day. Despite losing captain Tom Paule for four weeks with a finger injury, OM’s will take confidence from an away victory against their highly-fancied opponents. The powers that be at Uni Blues will be scratching their heads following a third consecutive final-quarter fade out. They’ve now had a total of 20 goals kicked on them to just five in fourth quarters. They remain at the bottom of the William Buck Premier ladder with a percentage of 66.88% and need to reclaim the intensity showcased in last year’s preliminary final run. On a positive note, Sam Schulz made his debut while Tom Quinn kicked four goals.

Old Trinity’s unbeaten run continued as they held on for a seven-point win over St Bedes/Mentone Tigers. It was a tale of two halves at Daley Oval on Saturday as the T’s used their run and spread from the defensive 50 to pepper their forwards in the first two terms before the Tigers got on top in the clearances and fought to within a goal late in the fourth. Harry Tinney, Luke Pacconi, Jake Steinhart and Cal Pohl were outstanding for the T’s while Sam Joyce kicked three goals and Seb Nicolosi used his vice-like grip to snaffle every mark that came his way. Three wins to start the season is ideal for the T’s but they’ll be looking to put teams away in future weeks with a current average winning margin of just 9.33. Both Simon and Chris Richards were a large part of the Tigers’ second half comeback with their elite work through the midfield and at stoppages. The Tigers could count themselves unlucky to be 1-2 and two games outside the four given their two losses came from a total of 15 points.

While the Blues are currently challenged with running games out, Old Brighton seem to have no such issue as they defeated De La Salle by 59 points for their third straight win. The Tonners led by 13 points at three quarter time before piling on eight goals to one in the fourth. Tom Fisher and Eddie Tait led the charge for the Tonners with standout performances, while Nick Pavlou kicked three goals. Harry Hill told the VAFA Tragics Old Brighton aim to feature in finals this year, and who are we to doubt that when they’ve kicked 16 goals to five in the fourth term of their opening three matches? A win/loss record of 1-2 and sitting in seventh spot on the ladder is not how De La would have envisaged their season starting but the main concern is the 103 points they’re giving up per game. Comparatively, they allowed just 72.8 points against in 2017. Offensively they’re averaging 61 which is ranked 10^th among all sides so the importance of this weekend’s home game against Uni Blues cannot be understated as both sides look to find form.

St Kevin’s OB strengthened their position at the top of the ladder with a 38-point victory over Old Xaverians. Six goals from Billy Kanakis earnt him BOG honours as the small forward took his season tally to 12 from three games. Tom Jok and Conor Ross continued their outstanding individual form, with Jok putting forth his application for goal of the year in the second term after taking the ball from the midfield, ducking, weaving and finishing off in style. SKOB’s average of 105.67ppg and 54.3 points against ranks number one in both categories. Xavs have now fallen to three consecutive losses but have not been blown out in any match barring SKOB. Matt Handley stood tall with three goals and as the only multiple goal kicker for Xavs, while Campbell Lane returned from Collingwood VFL duties with another standout performance.

Collegians and Old Scotch played out a tight affair at Wesley College, with the Lions running out seven-point winners. The big names stood up for the Lions when called upon with Courtney Hylton, Sam Hibbins and Viv Michie asserting their dominance when the game was on the line. George Burbury kicked three goals for the second week in a row as the Lions’ recruit unsurprisingly takes to Premier football with ease. Nick Jamieson, Jack Bull and Lachlan Hill were outstanding for the Cardinals and Jono Daggian provided highlights of his weekly brilliance. Despite three losses, the Cardinals have been ultra-impressive over the first three rounds and have an average losing margin of just 8.3 points. They rank seventh for points per game (66.3) and sixth for points against (74.7); however, their numbers showcase the difficulty jumping from Premier B to William Buck Premier given last season they averaged 104.7ppg and 60.1 points against.