St Kevins dominate again to keep Old Xaverian’s scoreless

Kristin Sims

It was a battle of third and fourth on the ladder between Caulfield Grammarians and Melbourne Uni. With a loss to Kew in round nine this game was a must win for Melbourne Uni to put some breathing space between them and West Brunswick. Melbourne Uni put their mark on the game early, scoring four unanswered goals in the first quarter. Defensively they were sharp too, keeping Grammarians to just the sole point.

The third quarter saw Caulfield up their pressure on Melbourne Uni, they were forcing turnovers and taking some strong intercept marks. Caulfield were able to keep their pressure up over the length of the quarter and it paid off with them kicking two goals and limiting Melbourne Uni to just one very early. Melbourne Uni were trying to spread the play across the ground, but Caulfield were sticking with them in a one on defence. The suffocating pressure of the defence kept the ball out of the Melbourne Uni back half and set up for a great last quarter. Victory was there for Melbourne Uni, they just had to control the play in the last quarter to hold on.

The start of the quarter was everything Melbourne Uni needed, winning clearances off hitouts and controlling the ball on the ground. Melbourne Uni continued to work hard, controlling most of the play in the final term. A penalty got them the goal they needed to seal the victory. The win for Melbourne Uni was enough to keep themselves one game ahead of West Brunswick and hold on to fourth spot on the ladder. 

Kew came out hot putting the back line of Marcellin under pressure within the first few seconds of the game. The ball was coming into the Kew forward line hard and fast forcing the Marcellin backline to scramble. The hot start for Kew resulted in missed opportunities on goal which helped keep the door open for Marcellin. The play was more measured in the second quarter with Marcellin stopping the momentum that Kew held early on.

In the second quarter possession was distributed evenly between the two teams and it seemed that Marcellin had stopped Kew’s momentum. The effort across the ground was rewarded for Marcellin with them ending the quarter with a narrow lead to go into half time. There was a nasty collision early on in the third quarter that stopped play for some time and saw players come from the field. When play did resume it was Kew who took back the momentum. This quarter saw both teams score just one goal and set up the final term for an epic finish. It was a tussle for the first few minutes of the final term, with the ball going end to end on many occasions. It was Kew who broke through to to kick the opening goal and put them in prime position to grab the win.

They followed up with another goal quickly and gave them a narrow lead. Marcellin kept fighting and eventually they kicked an incredible goal to keep themselves in the game. It was Kews game to defend and they held off the attack from Marcellin to win by just four points. 

Week after week it seems that no one can get close to St Kevins and this week it was Old Xaverians turn to take on the ladder leaders. In true St Kevins fashion they were hot on the attack early. The ball spent most of the quarter in the St Kevins forward line, kicking three goals including an impressive snap straight out of the ruck and one right on the quarter time siren. The second quarter saw St Kevins continue right where they left off.

Their attacking game was blazing and they added three more goals to their tally in quick succession. At times Old Xaverians got through the middle of the ground and inside their fifty but St Kevins were able to thwart any attempts at goal. Another goal on the siren gave St Kevins a 55 point lead at half time. Despite the strong lead St Kevins did not take the foot off after the main break, continuing to attack hard. St Kevins gave Old Xaverians no room when they got hold of the ball and did not break their pressure even with an 80 point lead at three quarter time. Defensively St  Kevins were also at their best, not allowing Old Xaverians a single shot at goal for the entire game.

It was an 83 point victory in the end for St Kevins, who now hold a percentage of 595 on top of the ladder. 

West Brunswick were in need of a win to stay in touch when they came up against St Marys Salesian. In under a minute West Brunswick opened the scoring and had the first goal of the game. They continued to stay strong in attack from here and had a solid three goals in the first quarter. St Marys struggled from early on in the game to keep up the pace with West Brunswick, it was always West Brunswick who were first at the ball.

This allowed West Brunswick to control the possession throughout the game, but they were untidy in possession and this kept them from generating a larger lead. As the game went on West Brunswick continued to stay one step ahead of St Marys and capitalise on the mistakes that were made by St Marys.

On the rare occasion that possession fell with St Marys it wasn’t long before West Brunswick were there putting pressure on the ball carrier and forcing a turnover to win the possession again. In another hard day for St Marys that managed just one goal and West Brunswick won the game by 80 points.