OGS prove too strong as Roy’s and Snowdog’s continue unbeaten streak

Josh Heriot

Wet and cold conditions greeted Saturday afternoon footy as the ladder for season 2023 starts to take shape with three teams still yet to record a win for the year. Meanwhile, St Bernard’s and Fitzroy are perched right at the top with undefeated campaigns in the first four rounds.

St Bernard’s played out at their fortress over the weekend with a victory over AJAX by 49 points. The Snowdog’s entered as hot favourites for this contest and didn’t disappoint their fans with a strong first quarter of football kicking 5 goals to none. AJAX showed some great fight in the second quarter keeping the Snowdog’s to just one goal and cutting the margin back to 20 points at the main break. But the second half of football saw St Bernard’s kick away on their home deck with seven goals in the half. Ben Overman was influential for the Snowdog’s along with Ben Huggard who kicked two majors. Oliver Liberatore also booted three goals for the afternoon with the Snowdog’s sitting second behind Fitzroy on the Premier B Men’s ladder.

De La Salle were on the winners list in round four with a victory over a gallant Monash Blues. Monash, who are yet to register a win this season, showed strong fight but couldn’t quite stick with De La as they kicked away in the second half. Tom Filipovic was huge for De La Salle with a best on ground performance while up forward, Josh Cumberlidge, Thomas Lyngberg and Adrian Indovino each kicked three goals for the afternoon. Although Monash were able to stay within touching distance for much of the afternoon, De La Salle remained comfortable and the stronger side. Meanwhile, from a Monash perspective Mitch King helped keep them in it with five majors with Alex Bennett also having a strong presence around the ground for Monash.

Meanwhile, Fitzroy continued their winning ways beating Old Trinity by 33 points at the Brunswick Street Oval. In a relatively low scoring affair, The Roys were able to take control and led at every break with Jack Hart booting home three goals alongside Charlie Faubel who kicked two goals to advance to nine goals kicked for the season. The ruck dual was also a fascinating contest with star Trinity ruckman Harry Thompson battling ex-teammate Charles Roberts. On a positive for Trinity, the Scott brothers were able to hit their peaks with Myles Scott kicking three majors and Oliver Scott finding plenty of the football to be named Trinity’s best player.

After coming up from Premier C last season, Old Geelong have proved themselves to be a contender in 2023 at B grade level and this was solidified over the weekend, with a 48 point win over St Bedes/Mentone Tigers. They pounced on the Tigers early with five first quarter goals which set the tone for the remainder of the game. Harrison Kol was massive for Old Geelong with four goals to his name while Sam Harrison also proved influential along with Mickey Nicholls with three majors. The Tigers were assisted by the performances from James Mangoni and Michael Barnes but if wasn’t enough to keep up with the Old Geelong outfit.

The final game of the round saw Beaumaris up against Williamstown CYMS and it was the Sharks who pulled away to record their third win of the season. Williamstown as they’ve shown so far this season showed resistance to the Shark’s attack in the first half, but fell away as the game progressed with the final margin being 49 points. Beaumaris favourite Jak Nardino was back to his best with three goals and was helped by Benedict Andrews who kicked four goals. Sharks’ ruckman Callum Heath was important with a best on ground display. Tane Roordink for Williamstown was their main man up forward with four goals and progressing to seven for the season.

It’s another massive weekend of Premier B Men’s action so what can we look forward to in Round 5?

It all kicks off with what could very well be match of the round in Premier B with Fitzroy to travel out to Waverley Oval to take on De La Salle. The freshness of youth at De La Salle has been a major asset for them in recent seasons but they’ll have to bring their top gear on Saturday. Whatever the result, it should be a tight tussle between these sides. The second matchup see’s Old Trinity tackle Beaumaris with these two teams similarly placed. Trinity can be dangerous and will be looking to overcome the Sharks who sit one win above them. The other intriguing match will see Williamstown CYMS and Monash Blues go head-to-head with both teams yet to have a win this year. The final two games of the round will see St Bernard’s host St Bedes/Mentone while Old Geelong will welcome AJAX to Como Park. It’s sure to be another cracking round of football and with some nice weather forecast for the weekend it should make for perfect game conditions.