Blues, Cardinals hold steady in close encounters, St Kevin’s unleash

Competitive clashes and monster results underscore Holmesglen Under 19 Premier Men’s in Round 2, as an early group of contenders takes shape.

The round kicked off under Friday night lights, with a dominant second half from St Bedes/Mentone Tigers discarding Caulfield Grammarians’ competitive efforts.

With both sides seeking their first win of the season, the game began in a back-and-forth affair as each club attempted to establish their own advantage.

The Fields’ Aleksander Tamaressis was influential early with a goal, while ruckman Oliver Sail’s stunning ability to break two tackles and unload a 50 meter bomb symbolised Caulfield Grammarians hard-to-match start. However, SBMT kept the scores within three points at the first change.

The game remained within single digits for the majority of the second term too, before an inside 50 for Caulfield was failed to be capitalised on and rebounded by the Tigers. St Bedes/Mentone quickly delivered the ball back inside their forward arc, before a chase down tackle on an unaware Fields’ defender led to a goal from advantage and effectively caused a 12-point swing in the Tigers’ favour.

It set up a 15-point buffer at halftime, a lead soon to grow. Caulfield Grammarians were held goalless in the third term and kicked just one in the last, as the deficit increased from 15 points to 66 by the final siren.

Caulfield Grammarians coach Cooper Rule said his side “lost their way” in the second half.

“I thought our intent and pressure around stoppage was where it needed to be early, but in the second half we gave them too much room and allowed them to spread, especially through handball chains,” Rule said.

Rule commended his ruckman Sail as well as Henry Martino, who has earned votes in the best in both games.

SMBT’s Jack Meredith, Oliver Moodie and Jai Pugsley had three each while Oliver Mangoni was named best on ground.

Old Scotch have delivered a stirring fourth quarter to record their second win against a much-improved De La Salle.

De La suffered a 91-point defeat at the hands of St Kevin’s in Round 1 and the response was clear on Saturday. Taking it up to last year’s preliminary finalists, De La Salle went goal for goal with the Cardinals in the first half.

Old Scotch trailed by five points at quarter time and then led by one at the main break, in a low scoring affair of just 29-28. De La edged ahead again in the third term to bank a two-point buffer, with the game’s highest margin yet to exceed 13 points.

De La nailed the first in the final term to extend their buffer, but it is where their control ended, with the Cardinals breaking the dam wall, kicking four goals and a behind to create a game-high lead of 17 points.

De La Salle’s Corey Mackie would peg one back late, before Old Scotch’s David Swan kicked the sealer, seeing Old Scotch secure their second win of the season in a mature 17-point victory.

Ashley Margerison was best afield for De La Salle, while Brody Rossney kicked three goals. Skipper Finn Nankervis was amongst Old Scotch’s best, as was George Coldwell.

Reigning premiers Old Brighton have yet to put a foot wrong in 2025 with a comprehensive 139-point win over Williamstown CYMS.

The Tonners held the CYs goalless for three quarters at Brighton Beach Oval, extending their lead into triple figures midway through the third term.

Williamstown were able to snag a few goals late to show some promise heading into the Easter bye, but the damage had been well and truly done.

Old Brighton Coach Travis O’Donohue said defensive pressure across a four-quarter effort was the key to such a dominant result.

“The boys put in a complete four-quarter performance and applied fantastic pressure and were able to cause plenty of turnovers in our forward half,” O’Donohue said.

“Our back six were excellent all day and were able to shut down most opposition entries, particularly in the first half. Our midfield continued to improve their connection, and it was pleasing to see some really unselfish play in forward line.”

That unselfish brand was clear on the stat sheet, with 12 individuals snagging goals in the encounter. O’Donohue championed Max Lorden, who banked five majors, as well as Cooper Dowe’s efforts in the midfield.

Focus now turns beyond the bye to Round 3, where O’Donohue hopes the momentum will continue against “yardstick of the competition” St Kevin’s.

It will be a juicy top of the table clash, as St Kevin’s made light work of Hampton Rovers to produce a second-straight percentage boosting win.

Even more impressively than the Tonners, SKOB held the Rovers to just one point through three quarters of football while bombarding the goals, scoring 10 goals in each of the first and second quarters.

The demolition job didn’t stop there, as St Kevin’s lead ballooned out to 175 at three-quarter-time, before a 45-11 final quarter ended the game’s margin at 209.

The win provides St Kevin’s with an overall percentage of 738.3% after Round 1’s emphatic victory, and now sits the club comfortably in pole position.

Archie Steedman, Chevi O’Neill, and Stefan Somogyi were best for the Rovers, while Benjamin Palmer was St Kevin’s’ best afield with six goals.

Anticipated to be match of the round, Old Xaverians and University Blues delivered a quality game of Under 19’s Premier football.

Coming off a landslide victory, Xavs were beat to the punch by the Blues who had tussled their way to victory over Williamstown CYMS in Round 1. That gritty performance evidently came in handy during the ugly hardball moments on Saturday, as the Blues never relinquished their lead from quarter-time despite the close result.

The Blues led by two goals at the first change, before extending that margin to 19 points at halftime. The Xavs and Blues continued their goal-for-goal affair in the second half, but the lead crept out to four goals, with University ultimately holding on for a 24-point victory.

Round 1’s Anytime Fitness Rising Star and Old Xaverian Harry Wharfe booted three majors, maintaining his position as the competition’s leading goalkicker, while Sam de Steiger kicked five for the Blues. Orlando Keleman and Carl Ziebarth were amongst the Blues’ best too.

With Easter approaching, players will have the weekend to refresh before getting right back into the swing of things in Round 3.

Caulfield Grammarians will travel to the Uni Blues’ home deck to avenge an 0-2 start to the season, while Hampton will host SBMT to hopefully produce the same outcome.

A potential ripsnorter between Old Scotch and Old Xaverians would have been the game of the round if it weren’t for the mouthwatering grand final rematch between St Kevin’s and Old Brighton, who were split by just four points on both occasions in the 2024 finals series.

Two sides unlucky to not record a win thus far will battle for their first triumphs of the season to close out Round 3, with the CYs hosting De La Salle.