Hawk Heroics, Gryphons Greatness

Anna Pavlou

Mud, wind and rain were the center of attention in Round 11, with all sides battling the weather as well as their opponents in some cracking footy.

Hawthorn have recorded their first win for the 2019 season, while Whitefriars did the job to keep their perfect record. Glen Eira had an exciting 1 point win over Brunswick, who suffered only their second loss for 2019. Let’s see how it all went down.

Glen Eira vs Brunswick

After a tough week for Glen Eira, they bounced back to take the chocolates against Brunswick in a shock win, by one point. It was a close game all day with both sides booting six and seven goals respectively to open the game. The lead went between both sides, with Brunswick’s Dom Sullivan (3 goals) and the Gryphons’ Julius Waras-Carstensen (3 goals) neck and neck all afternoon.

Glen Eira took the late lead and held off a fight back from the Nobbers, taking the four points which will help their finals push.

Brunswick can blame their poor kicking (15 points) for this narrow loss, which is only their second of the season.

Jed Carey from the Nobbers was awarded BOG votes, while Ash Carey was given the best for Glen Eira.

This was a taste of finals footy and shows how exciting September truly could be.

MHSOB vs Bulleen Templestowe

MHSOB have stormed home against Bulleen by 36 points, to keep their push for the final four well alive in D2.

Bulleen were held goalless in the first term, while the Unicorns piled on two goals. In the second term, the Unicorns added four majors to their total, while the Bullants failed to apply scoreboard pressure and kicked only one goal from their eight kicks at goal. The game could have been a lot closer at the half time mark. However, the Bullants came out refreshed after half time and kicked five goals and narrowed the MHSOB lead to 20 points going into the main break. But, it was too little to late and the Bullants seemed to run out of legs, kicking only one more major, letting the Unicorns boot four to ice the cake.

Ashan Wijayakumara booted six majors for the Unicorns, with Luke Whittaker awarded BOG votes.

For Bulleen, the ever-trusted Rob Edsall was awarded BOG votes, as Anthony Lucisano booted 2 majors.

Power House vs Hawthorn

In the game of the round Hawthorn have triumphed and taken a much needed four-point boost, in their first win for the 2019 season and first-ever senior victory in Division 2. Winning by 59 points, the tussle was tight in the first quarter, as Power a House booted three unanswered goals. The Hawks took the hit and came out firing for the next three quarters, piling on 12 majors to Power House’s one. They annihilated the House around the ball and played a hard game of contested footy in the mud and rain.

The Hawks performance was their best in Division 2, finally taking four points and taking their first win ever in D2.

For the winners, Coady Travaglia booted five majors, while Aaron Downie was named best for his four-goal performance.

Harry Phelan booted three for the House, with River Carroll one of the few shining lights.

Whitefriars vs Yarra Old Grammarians

It’s harder and harder to fault the game of the undefeated Whitefriars side, who had a 65-point win over an injury-plagued Yarra Old Grammarians side.

An injury-stricken Yarra side had to register seven new players this week in order to field a strong outfit to take on the best in the league. But, in true, undefeated Friar fashion, they won’t stop their annihilating game for anyone.

The Friars rendered the Bushrangers goalless in the first term and allowed them only two goals in the second. While at the other end, the Friars piled on eight majors in the first half. The performance of the Friars didn’t slow down for the second half as they added another six goals to their total to come home victorious.

Yarra were held to only four goals for the day as the Friars midfield ran rampage for four quarters.

Simon Yeo booted booted a goal for Yarra and Damian Hopper was voted the best.

The Friars has a spread of handy helpers who kept them on track for an h drafted season.