Wattle Park and Whitefriars produce first draw of the season as Brunswick continues to dominate

Jainarayan Tiwari

As the sun sets on Round 4, some teams continue to dominate, whereas few teams seem to be struggling with a fairly evenly matched competition in Division 2 Men’s. Speaking of even, the league recorded its first Senior Men’s draw of the season between Wattle Park and Whitefriars.

The table toppers Brunswick are outplaying everyone in Division 2 as they once again have proved why they are one of the best in the competition. This time, they defeated the hosts, MHSOB, by 114 points at the picturesque Melbourne High School.

The final score was Brunswick, with a mammoth score of 148, whilst MHSOB, who defeated Aquinas in their last game, only managed to record 34 points. MHSOB started the first half on a decent note, but Brunswick pumped the accelerator and dominated the whole game.  Brunswick showed off their defensive strength as well as their scoring prowess when they prevented MHSOB from registering a score in the second term.

Hayden Parker was once again a top scorer for Brunswick, kicking 7 goals. Brunswick’s coach, Tom Hunter, expressed his emotions and said, “It’s a good start to our year. The four games have thrown up different challenges, and we’ve won them in different ways after being challenged in all of them.” Will Hellier was best afield for the Unicorns on a tough day and managed to score one of their four majors.

St Mary’s Salesian is still struggling to take a victory back home, as they went down by a mere 13 points to Aquinas at Ferndale Park. Aquinas finished the afternoon on 90 points, while St Mary’s Salesian managed to hit the scoreboard but only recorded a final score of 77.

St Mary’s was nine points behind in the first quarter but attempted to come back in the second quarter and took a three-point lead into the final term. The fourth was a showdown, where Aquinas got back on top and ran home with the win thanks to a 40-point quarter.

Aquinas’ Garrison Asciak was the top scorer for them as he kicked three goals, while at the other end Jos op’t Hoog from St Mary’s had three goals of his own. Meanwhile, the Saints coach, Clay Tait after the game, said, “We are a very young side, and we have only a few experienced players. But we are heading in the right direction. As a team, we will try to give our best in the next game.”

Rivals Elsternwick and South Melbourne Districts also met in the fourth round with the hosts coming away 14-point victors. This game was a doozy with numerous lead changes keeping spectators engaged right up until that final term.

Spencer Hankin of Elsternwick kicked off the action with a swift goal in the game’s second minute, propelling his team to dominate the first quarter. Notably this was his first of his bag of 5 for the day alongside teammate Daniel Marchese who also had 5 goals for the afternoon.

However, South Melbourne turned up the heat in the second quarter, mounting a fierce comeback and energised the match, led by the Districts’ leading goal kicker Jamie Brooker. By the end of the third quarter, South Melbourne had a slight lead of five points, but in the final quarter, Elsternwick ensured they won the contest. The full-time score read 93-79 in favour of the Wickers.

At Rathmines Road Reserve, Hawthorn defeated Bulleen Templestowe by 26 points in a high-scoring affair to maintain their winning streak in the competition. Hawthorn was ahead in the game from the first quarter all the way through but to the Bullants credit, they really motored home with a 6-goal final term stint to narrow the margin, largely thanks to key forward Jack Cowell and his 5-goal haul.

The Hawks had numerous multiple goal scorers including James Southby and Lucas Mercorillo with 3 majors each. Corey Shiels was another to impress on the scoreboard for the Bulants with 4 goals of his own. Bulleen Temp will charge into next week on the back of the resilience they showed late in the game on the weekend, while the Hawks are showing no signs of slowing. The final scoreboard read 110-84 in favour of Hawthorn.

It was the battle of the Ws at Bennettswood Reserve, but a win was not on the cards for either side. Wattle Park and Whitefriars produced the first draw of the season in a thrilling tug of war, with neither a victory nor loss as the final siren.

Both the Animals and the Friars were coming off Round 3 losses and were looking to get back on the winners list. The Friars finished the day with 6 more scoring shots, but ultimately it was their inaccuracy that cost them, the game ending at 58 apiece.

James Marshall from Wattle Park contributed two goals to aid his team efforts, while Benjamin Galtieri, alongside his teammate Thomas Jacotine, had a couple of goals each for the Whitefriars. Both sides will need to shake that flat feeling that lingers following a draw and will be looking to light a fire in them at training this week to explode into Round 5 this coming weekend.

As the fifth-round heats up, once again Brunswick emerges as the frontrunner in Division 2 and will play against the underdogs St Mary’s Salesian, who are still trying to find their first victory.

Bulleen Templestowe will be eyeing to make a comeback against the Aquinas at Ted Ajani Reserve. Having just lost back-to-back games, South Melbourne Districts have showdown ahead of them as they travel to face Whitefriars who are also looking to climb the ladder.

After suffering a massive loss against Brunswick in the fourth round, MHSOB will be eager to win against the informed Elsternwick. Wattle Park will lock horns with Hawthorn who almost felt short of winning its last game.