Big win for Melbourne Uni sees them take third spot

Kristin Sims

Melbourne Uni weren’t wasting any time in their William Buck Premier Women’s game against St Mary’s Salesian getting themselves on the scoreboard within a few minutes of the siren going. It was all Melbourne Uni from here with St Mary’s Salesian unable to stop the onslaught from Melbourne Uni. As the first quarter went on Melbourne Uni kept the ball out of St Mary’s hands and scored five goals themselves to take a commanding lead early on. In the second quarter, St Mary’s slowed the momentum of Melbourne Uni and were able to keep Melbourne Uni away from the goals for much of the quarter.

It wasn’t until a momentary breakthrough from Melbourne Uni that saw them get another goal in the last part of the quarter. With St Mary’s struggling to get near the goals, Melbourne Uni went into the main break with a very comfortable six goal lead. Melbourne Uni had the pressure going early in the third quarter, converting a turnover from the centre to open the scoring. From here, Melbourne Uni continued to stay one step ahead of St Mary’s, they controlled the play for most of the quarter but didn’t use it to advantage in front of goal. The final term saw Melbourne Uni switch to a more defensive style of play and slow their ball movement down to hold onto their lead. With a win of 55 points, it was a nice percentage boost that saw them finally get hold of third spot on the ladder after chasing it for a few rounds.

It was second versus third on the ladder when Kew and Caulfield Grammarians faced off against each other. With Caulfield having Melbourne Uni hot on their heels for third spot, it was a must win for them to retain it. It was an even contest for the first quarter with both teams struggling to get clean possession of the ball. It was a tough contest in wintery conditions, but it was Kew who were stronger in offense, getting through traffic and taking some shots at goal but unable to get goals through. After some struggling again through the middle of the ground early in the second term, Kew were able to get the first goal of the match. There was a break in play after an unfortunate incident from a desperate smother and when play did get back on track, Kew were threatening to break open the game.

To the credit of the Caulfield defence, they were able to limit the damage and keep Kew to just one goal for the quarter. After half time, Kew went on a run and took command of the game, scoring two goals in quick succession and putting Caulfield under pressure all across the ground. From here Kew continued their strong offence, always ahead of Caulfield and taking a 35 point lead into the final term. The momentum continued to stay with Kew for the final term and they were able to keep Caulfield from having any impact on the scoreboard. It was a comfortable win that keeps them holding on strong to second place on the ladder.

St Kevin’s continue to show why they are the inform team of the competition when they came up against Old Xaverians. Old Xaverians showed some strength early on, keeping pace with St Kevin’s in attack. The St Kevin’s offense was doing its best to get their game going but Old Xaverians weren’t giving them the space that they are used to having. This resulted in a close low scoring first term. As they have the ability to do, St Kevin’s found a way to get through the Old Xaverians defence and get to the goals. The second term was a much stronger quarter for St Kevin’s that saw them add two goals to their tally with the wind wreaking havoc on their ability to score any more.

In the third, it appeared Old Xaverians had turned the game to their favour, they were winning contests and taking the game straight to St Kevin’s. Old Xaverians had taken control of the ball, all they needed was the goals to really challenge St Kevin’s. The attempts at goal eventually came but with the wind playing such a big part in the game, they were only able to muster two points on the scoreboard. Meanwhile St Kevin’s were still hitting the scoreboard and extended their lead once again. The final term St Kevin’s took control again and played the game to their strengths, running over the top of Old Xaverians. Using the wind to their advantage and getting an early goal to set the tone for the remainder of the game St Kevin’s picked up the pace and ran over the top of Old Xaverians for another big win.

When West Brunswick took on Marcellin, it was a game that really could go either way with both teams having an up and down year so far. The teams tousled early on and traded possession of the ball throughout the middle of the ground. West Brunswick were getting more of the ball but were unable to keep possession for the length of the ground to impact the scoreboard. The reward for effort came for West Brunswick with them being the ones to open the scoring for the game. The second quarter followed on from the first with both teams struggling to take control of the game. It was the last line of the Marcellin defence that was working hard to keep them in the contest as the ball was coming into the back half regularly. They had worked hard enough to keep West Brunswick away from goals and go into the halftime break just one point down.

When the second half started, West Brunswick came out firing and quickly put distance between them and Marcellin, in what would be a three goal quarter for West Brunswick that had set them up for a win. In the final term Marcellin were unable to keep up with the momentum that West Brunswick had going. West Brunswick were able to add another two goals to their tally and keep Marcellin to just one point for the quarter. It was a strong performance in the end for West Brunswick who came out 34-point winners.