La Trobe reach the top as Masala makes a statement

Billy Bolch

Round 11 in Division 4 Men’s saw matches that could shape the rest of the season take place. Whilst some of the matches answered questions, some may have, and others raised more questions and made the division that more interesting as we near finals.

The first match of the round saw Albert Park take on La Trobe. As we’ve seen before and we saw here again, La Trobe got off to a dominant start kicking 5 goals to the Falcons’ 1 leading to a 27-point lead at quarter time. The Falcons however quickly rebounded and replicated the previous quarter of La Trobe’s kicking 5 goals in the second to bring the margin back to 6 points at halftime.

The third saw both teams play a more defensive style with only a combined 3 goals kicked for the quarter, 2 of which were kicked by La Trobe, which helped extend the lead out to 15 points. With the final quarter, and the game, for the taking and entirely up for grabs, La Trobe stormed home with the victory kicking a massive 7 goals and taking out the game by 62 points.

The best for the Falcons were William Marshall, Jack Lee, Mackenzie Hyder & Sam Lee, while the best for La Trobe were Bryce Dowler, Thomas Whelan and Ben Vicary. The main goal kicker for the Falcons was Jack Lee who added another 6 goals to his tally. Other goal kickers include Enver Krasnic and Alistair Lupo who both kicked one. La Trobe’s goal-kicking trio once again contributed significantly combining for 14 of the 16 goals. Bryce Dowler kicked 6, Tate Spiteri kicked 5 and Riley Alexander kicked 3 in what was a dominant display by La Trobe.

Albert Park will now have the bye before they take on Box Hill North in round 13. La Trobe will now face the in-form Masala in a twilight fixture in what should be the match of the round.

Box Hill North and St Johns would do battle in the second game of the round. From the start, St Johns dominated, getting the early start over the Demons and taking a 37-point lead into quarter time. The Demons made a slight comeback in the second quarter kicking 3 goals and only allowing 1 goal from the JOCS to bring the margin back to 24 points.

The third quarter saw the JOCS bring the game back onto their terms kicking 6 goals to the Demons’ 2 goals bringing the lead back out to 49 points. The JOCS then turned it on again in the fourth quarter kicking 4 unanswered goals and ending the game in dominant fashion winning by 75 points.

The best for the Demons were Beau Parthenides, Austin Wilcox and David Edwards whilst the best for the JOCS were Brendan Ash, Jeremy Lay and Jed Dexter. The main goal kicker for the Demons was Peter Cassidy-Marsh who kicked 2. Sean Donovan, Cameron Liston and Michael Maertzdorf kicked 1 goal each for the Demons. Jason Naffa (3) led the goal kicking for the JOCS with Dylan Harris (2), Nicholas Terrill (2) and Liam Salisbury (2) being the other main contributors.

Box Hill will face another top challenge as they take on a Swinburne that will be hungry to get the top spot back. The JOCS will host the Sharks in what is an important match.

The final match of the round saw Masala take on Swinburne in what was the division’s match of the round. The game started even however it was the Razorbacks that took a slight advantage heading into quarter time holding a 4-point lead. The Tigers then turned their intensity up in the second adding on 5 goals and in the process taking a 24-point lead into half-time.

To get back into the game, the Razorbacks would need to get off to a good start and have a good third quarter and that they did. Swinburne kicked 6 unanswered goals, taking the lead back from the Tigers and holding a 16-point lead heading into the final term. The fourth quarter saw another momentum swing as Masala fought back into the game and held a 5-point lead as the game entered ‘red time’. With 7 minutes left on the clock, the Razorbacks hit the front through Ben Cox. However, you can never count out Masala as the Tigers would hit back kicking the next two goals and run away with another close victory.

Masala’s best included Noah Scott, Brandon Kelly & Dale Gibb whilst the best for the Razorbacks were Thomas Hartney, Zachary Lassey and Ben Cox. Declan Fowler, Thomas Edwards and Anthony Dorrington all kicked 4 goals for the Tigers whilst the leading goal kickers for Swinburne were Benjamin Cox (4) and Declan Watts (2).

Masala will now make the trip down to La Trobe in what is another tough fixture for the Tigers. Swinburne will look to rebound as they face a struggling Box Hill North outfit.

Eley Park, who had the bye, will now take on St Johns in what will be an important but tough game for the Sharks.