Snowdogs find their snarl in William Buck Premier Men’s

The race to remain in Premier Men’s took another turn as Steve Alessio’s men chalked up their third win of the campaign.

St Bernard’s re-ignited their season with an impressive victory over University Blues at the Snake Pit.

The Snowdogs jumped out to an early lead to hold a 17-point advantage at the first change and a 15-point lead at the half as the Blues fought to hang in the game.

But a 5-goal third term broke it open as the St Bernard’s faithful sensed their 6-game losing streak was about to come to an end, and when they added the first 4 majors of the final term – three to Edyn Sibbald – it was party time at the Snake Pit.

The Blues were shaded around the contest and their trademark efficiency Inside 50 deserted them without star forwards James Stewart and Eddie Ziebarth.

The final margin stretched out to 42 points – St Bernard’s leapfrogging OMs and Uni Blacks to clear the drop-zone on percentage, with a huge away game against rivals Fitzroy this weekend.

Steve Alessio (St Bernard’s): “I was really pleased with the effort of our team. The concentration and willingness of the boys to work together was great.

“Our depth continues to be tested but is already providing some rewards with debut players performing well at senior level. Hopefully, the win builds some belief in the team we can use for the remainder of the season.”

Guy Martyn (Uni Blues): “St Bernard’s comprehensively beat us all over the park in all facets of the game. Smashed us in critical contests – both on the ground and in the air, ran harder than us and executed their skills more effectively.

“A pretty disappointing day for us. We’ll be looking to bounce back this week.”

Old Xaverians & St Kevin’s played out the thriller of the round at Toorak Park.

The opening term was a defensive struggle with just 3 goals kicked – 2 of them by Xavs to lead by 5 points at the first change.

The teams went goal-for-goal in a tight second term as neither team allowed the other to find their offensive rhythm and they headed to the major break locked together at 4.4 apiece.

SKOB threatened to sneak away with 3 goals to 1 in a highly-contested third quarter, but their 13-point three-quarter time lead disappeared when Xavs hit back with the opening 2 goals of the last to close back within 3 points and an upset was potentially on the cards.

But St Kevin’s have been the masters of tight finishes this season and, sure enough, they found the final goal of the game then successfully defended it as Xavs threw everything at them.

SKOB remain within striking distance of the Tonners after their third win by a goal or less in their last 4 starts.

Anthony Lynch (St Kevin’s): “I thought the game was a great reflection of the quality of our competition – high skill level and competitive all over the ground.

“Both teams had momentum at different stages of the game but fortunately, we were able to execute when it mattered later in the game.

“It’s always a difficult place to go and win at, so we were thrilled to be able to perform again in a tight finish and continue to build incredible belief in close games.”

Dan Donati (Old Xavs): “Another super competitive high quality game of Ammo footy. It was tight from the outset with never more than a kick or two in it all day.

“I was really pleased with the effort and pressure we brought over 4 quarters, but ultimately couldn’t find enough avenues forward with the amount of looks we had to kick a score deserving of the win.

“Certainly take a lot of positives out of the game against a quality opposition but disappointed not to get the result in the end.”

Collegians returned to the winners’ list in fine style, ultimately prevailing over Old Melburnians at Harry Trott Oval.

OMs had the better of a tight first term to lead by 5 points before the Lions found their groove, booting 5 goals to 2 in the second quarter and open up a 14-point lead.

The third term kicked up a gear with both sides adding 4 goals as the contest rose to another level – Collegians by a solitary point at the last break as the visitors eyed off an upset win.

But it wasn’t to be as the reigning premiers put the foot down in the final quarter, slamming on 7.5 to 0.3 in a dominant display of finishing as they careered away to a 45-point win.

Jordie McKenzie (Collegians): “It was a good hard-fought win. It was very much an arm wrestle until the last quarter, where we were able to get on top around the contest and then get our running game going.

“Will Mayhood continues his great form and Ben Van Twest played his best game for the club, providing a lot of drive from the backline all day. It was also terrific to see Tom Sargeant and Jack Meacham debut. Both fellas showed they are more than capable at the level.

“Huge game for us versus St Kevin’s next week, which we can’t wait for.”

Paul Satterley (OMs): “We were really proud of our effort for the first 3 quarters – we competed in all facets of the game.

“On reflection, losing a couple key players early put us under pressure & full credit to Collegians who ran all over us late, led by Mayhood, Bazzani & Boucher.”

Old Brighton took care of business early against University Blacks at Melbourne University Oval.

The Tonners flew out of the blocks with 6 unanswered goals to take complete control from the outset, making a strong statement on a road trip that can be tricky to deal with.

The league-leaders added a further 3 majors to start the second term before Ben Oliver hit the scoreboard for Blacks at the 10-minute mark and Nick Caris added another soon after to reduce the half-time deficit to 43 points.

Any thoughts of a second-half comeback from Blacks were snuffed out when Old Brighton went for the throat in the third, ramming home 7 unanswered goals – giving them an incredible 13 goals to 0 at one end of the ground.

The margin rocketed as high as 98 points early in the last term before Blacks dug in and showed some pride, booting 6 of the last 7 goals of the game to reduce the final margin to a more respectable 69 points as the Tonners sent another frightening message to the rest of the competition.

Marcel Bruin (Old Brighton): “Always a tough challenge out at Uni Oval, but we prepared really well and were able to get off to a really strong start. We were able to get some control at stoppages which fed opportunity up forward and then our defenders set up well behind that. I thought we had an even contribution across the group which I’m very happy about.”

Dale Bower (Uni Blacks): “We were soundly beaten by a better team for 3 quarters. It was great to see some good patches in the 2nd quarter and a very good last quarter for our boys. At our best, we are capable of playing very good football.”

The final match of the round saw Old Scotch jump up to third after pulling away in the second half against Fitzroy at Brunswick Street Oval.

The Cardinals got away to a bright start to lead by 3 goals at the first break then booted the first 2 of the second term as they threatened to put the game away early.

But the Roys showed their trademark pluck and responded with the last 3 goals of the opening half to give the locals plenty to cheer about as they closed to within 9 points.

Old Scotch kicked again in the third, booting 4 goals to 1 to pull out to a 26-point break at the last change, then motored to the line with an impressive final term, overpowering the Roys with 6 goals to 1 to add precious percentage on their way to an eye-catching 58-point win.

Mark Gnatt (Old Scotch): “We jumped out of the blocks really well in the first quarter with some solid ball movement and scoreboard pressure.

“Full credit to Fitzroy who lifted their pressure in the second quarter to take the points for that term.

“Our ability to make some adjustments mid-game and respond positively in the second half was most pleasing. Our latest 19-year-old debutant, Ollie Badr, was brilliant in his first match for the club.”

Travis Ronaldson (Fitzroy): “We worked hard to be in the game at half time but couldn’t go on with it. A good challenge for us however against a strong opposition. Julian Turner was influential across half forward and Tom Wilson was tireless in the midfield.”