SKOB maintains unbeaten run

ROUND 7 SUMMARY

Six out of ten SKOB sides saluted with victories on the weekend, the senior extending its unbeaten run to seven, the Reserves continuing its climb up the ladder and the SKOB Saints Gold returning to the winners list with a comprehensive win over Fitzroy

In the Seniors a four goals to two final term allowed St Kevin’s OB to maintain their unbeaten run, defeating St Bedes/Mentone Tigers by 14 points at Brindisi St Oval. The ladder leaders trailed for most of the day and by as much as 21 points at the main break. However, another BOG performance from Mitch Brown and three goals from Billy Kanakis helped SKOB to a hard-fought seventh straight as they piled on nine to three in the second half.

FROM THE PRESIDENT

I was lucky enough to witness a part of six different games on Saturday.

First up, at TH King I was again called to run the boundary (given an apparent, chronic lack of able bodied volunteers). At the same time trying to assist my daughter do the scoring and timekeeping for the first time, hobbling a bit with a sore foot and already tired from a morning swim I was no mood for the derogatory comments from some opposition supporters. In a salient lesson to myself (and all other SKOB volunteers, supporters and players) – it is far better to say nothing when confronted with this sort of thing. Note to self!

Anyhoo, after a shower and a change – I took in the start of the Under 19 (2) where the boys quickly asserted themselves against Beaumaris. A quick pie (incidentally, the best pies in Melbourne are served at the Canteen at THK – thanks Sybil) it was off to Basil Reserve to see the Under 19 (3) taking on the Preston Bullants. Preston were the better side on the day but our boys fought out the game right to the end.

After watching the start of the Saints (2) game against Fitzroy, it was back to THK for the end of the U19 (2) and the U19 (1) game against De La Salle.

From there I was back to Basil!. Getting dizzy yet?  After witnessing the Saints (2) get beaten by a few points by Fitzroy, it was back to THK to see a gallant U19 (1) team go down to a slick De La outfit. The 31 point margin not reflective of the closeness of the game.

From there it was back to Basil Reserve for the last time (anyone got a spare helicopter next time?) I witnessed a great win by the Saints (1) side against the traditionally strong Fitzroy Premier ladies team.

I spoke to all six teams post each game. I re iterated the message of how important both cohorts are to the club.

When your best players are not with the U19 group - it has an impact. The U19’s have many players established in (and integral to) the Senior squad. On Saturday the Premier and Thirds team lost while the Premier Reserves had a strong win. Regardless of results, the resilience and resolve of the players and coaches is tremendous. All understand how important they are to the club. Without the Under 19’s our club would have no future. The effort of the players, coaches and volunteers is greatly appreciated. We have a fine group of young men set to come through SKOB ranks for some years. I impressed upon them the beauty of our club, the support it affords and the community they can be part of for life.

It was great to talk to the Saints too. Apart from the record decibel reading in the rooms as the Saints (1) sang the song that had one of our Youth Mentor Program mentees (Jai) blocking his ears – everyone was happy. After reminding the Saints of their importance to the club (simply, that their presence has enriched the club substantially) – it was time to witness the joy of mentors (the players) and our mentee as a “roof raising” rendition of Happy Birthday was sung … for Jai’s 13th Birthday. Tommy Purcell is doing a tremendous job with Jai. The young guy seems to grow in confidence weekly.

AROUND THE GROUNDS IN PREMIER

University Blues and Old Trinity played out the first draw of the William Buck Premier season when the two sides finished 89 apiece at Uni Oval earlier today.

Collegians remain in second spot on the ladder while the Xavs are eighth and a game above the Tigers in ninth.

Old Brighton bounced back after last week’s loss to SKOB, defeating Old Melburnians by 39 points at Brighton Beach Oval. 23 scoring shots to 14 helped the Tonners’ cause as they increased their lead at every break throughout the match.

De La Salle held on in a thrilling fourth quarter and came out two-point winners against Old Scotch at Waverly Oval. De La led by 29 points at the last break before going scoreless in the fourth while the Cardinals hit back with four unanswered goals majors.

MATCH REPORTS

SAINTS BOUNCE BACK

SKOB and Fitzroy-ACU met in a much-anticipated 6th round clash at Basil St Reserve, with SKOB running out 52-point winners one week after a convincing loss to Caulfield. The improved SKOB unit were impressive for three of the four quarters with Fitzroy-ACU only able to match them on the scoreboard in the final term. SKOB’s Sarah Cameron starred with 4 majors, 18 disposals and 11 marks, asserting herself again this season as one of the best forwards in the competition. Georgia Cropley continued her consistent season with 2 goals and 19 touches and Margaret Gleeson also had a solid game with 18 touches and a goal. Fitzroy-ACU’s Lucy Kerr was superb with 25 touches and was one of the best in her side’s defeat, alongside the underrated Ruby McDermott with 3 goals, and one of the competition’s most consistent ball winners Erin Gogerly with 20 touches.

Final Scores: SKOB 10.12. 72 def Fitzroy-ACU 3.2. 20

Goal Kickers: S. Cameron 4, G. Cropley 2, E. Straford 2, E. Wedgwood, M. Gleeson

Best Players: S. Cameron, G. Cropley, M. Gleeson, E. Straford, S. Dunell, A. Bloom

Under 19 Reserves

Round 7 saw the U/19 Premier Reserve side host Beaumaris at TH King. It was important to make up for our poor starts in the last few weeks and get the engines running straight from the first bounce. Beaumaris also had a point to prove as they are currently without a win. It was a great battle in the first quarter with both teams hitting the ball hard. Beaumaris was having crack and putting a lot of pressure into our backline, catching them off guard and behind their man. SKOBs entered their forward 50 on 15 occasions with Beaumaris flooding our forward line scoring was hard, quarter time scores SKOB 4-2-26 Beau 2-2-14.

At quarter time the boys were told to take the game on, turn and go, take their first options and push up for second and third efforts to get our hardball game going and the boys responded with fast hands and good running, which resulted in fast long forward entries, bring Josh Willmott and Ben Pearce into the game. The backline tightened up and made their men accountable holding Beaumaris to 1 goal. Half time SKOB 8-11-59, Beau 3-2-20.

At halftime we spoke about playing the game on our terms and using this game to iron out small faults in our game plan in preparation for the top teams in the coming weeks. And the boys played the second half as they were asked keeping Beaumaris goalless for the half, even through we were off on our kicking for gaol we had 75 forward 50 entries for the match

Final Scores: SKOB 22.23.155 def Beaumaris 3.4. 22

Goal Kickers: Willmott 6, Pearce 5, Arthur 3, Sfetkidis 3, Donald 2, Harrington, Lee and Wells 1.

Best Players: Great team effort by all players.

Under 19 3's

The boys played Preston this week and started really well. Lead by Ryan Dossetor kicking 2 goals and being everywhere in the first term which lead to a 8 point lead going into the second term. Unfortunately we dropped our heads in the second term however Dom Gaustalegname was brilliant with his tackle pressure trying to spur the boys on. John Mackenzie was a bull for us in the first half. However we trailed by 16 at the main break. Unfortunately we couldn't match it with our opponents in the second half. However Fabian Bower and Luke Surh were really solid for us. We lost by 54.

SKOB MASTERS 2018 – ROUND 4 MATCH REPORT

by David “Shark” Makohon

Winter had arrived like a halal snack pack down Sydney Road, in your face confronting, slightly uncomfortable but rewarding to get through. St Kevin’s were looking to recover after the take 2 version of the Box Hill North loss and were excited for the wide open spaces of Franco Cozzo’s territory Brunsaawick for our run and carry game. Matt ‘Stone Roses’ Stonehouse had done some quality recruiting with a new swingman making his debut in Justin ‘J-Mac’ McFarlane alongside another debutant in ‘Fabulous’ Phil Cameron. The team was ably supported by Long John Murray taking over the cordial duties in Frank the Tank Marca’s absence, best of luck in the knee rehab process Franky!

The troops were frothing for the contest after the pre-game tunes of Cyndi Lauper ‘Girls just wanna have fun’ from the Shark playlist, and obviously it worked as they came out of the gates like a young colt slamming on the first 4 goals before Brunswick had time to blink. Tommy Simpson was cutting the lines picking up where he had left off last game. Matt ‘Maf’ Shannon was presenting well and then turning quickly back to goal to surprise the beards of Brunswick and create plenty of space for Jesse Seven Heaven to lead through. Benefactor of this was Tommy with his continuous running leading to a PB of 3 goals for the quarter. Brunswick must have been hungover from the Royal Wedding escapades however they came back into the game with a few goals midway through the quarter. They did find it tough against the brick wall of Godde, Shark and P Money Mount repelling and providing more forward thrusts than when Harry met Meghan Markle…no wonder she makes him sparkle. This was one of our best quarters for the year with great talk, run, tackle and smooth finishing. SKOB finished the quarter with 3 more goals to establish a handy lead into the first break up by 4 goals.

Unfortunately, the second quarter was an arm wrestle and we didn’t have the big guns of Scarfo however, Rigatoni Sheehy was providing the muscle through the centre square. The rain was coming down and it was in and under footy the type that Chichanitza Campagna and Nick ‘Puops’ Marca thrive in with some tough tackles and surges coming from the Masters’ mosquito fleet. However, the conditions were playing into the Mudlarks’ hands as they capitalised on the ball skidding at the back of the packs on a few occasions resulting in frustrating goals. Any continued momentum was halted with the aerial work of Joel similar to a Goddes(freys) vacuum sweeping Brunswick attacks. SKOB’s response was led by Stone Roses who made the most of the few opportunities in the quarter adding a couple more sausage rolls to his first quarter haul.

Coming into the main break SKOB were 5 goals up and ready to put the foot down. Coach Rockwana served up the half time sermon with more direction than Bishop Michael Curry ‘Forget the opposition’s whinging, get first into the contest, go straight through the guts, let’s back our runners and show me the power of love.’

The troops put Coach’s words into action in the second half as it began with some nice tap work from the ever reliable Razor Ray Shorty allowing Sucos Marchesani to crush through the centre square. Jake ‘Potato head’ Ireland was providing his usual gut running along the wings and proving way too quick for the opposition. When the ball did go the other way SKOB backline led by Nick ‘The Big O’ Halloran were smothering their opponents tighter than the plastic on classic Franco Cozzo upholstery. This frustrated the home team and SKOB continued to push forward through the grit and class of Rigatoni Sheehy and Maf man who were linking well through the half forward line. Franky Four Fingers was presenting well and crunching through the contest and kicking truly to finish the quarter. At the last change it was SKOB up by 6 goals.

The last quarter was all about St Kevin’s putting their head over the ball whilst the opposition were more interested in backchat and using Strauss ‘Jim Bradley’ for sparring work. It was a weekend for the redheads and Wayne’s World was saluting with his tackle and run to continue his solid work throughout the year. The rain had now gone and SKOB were using the corridor to great effect and distributing well to J-Mac, who was providing some dukish work in his debut. SKOB finished off the game with Fabulous Phil jetting out a handball to midfield Mako snapping to a great lead from Jesse ‘One day I will kick’ Seven who rocked forward on that big hoof and converted. SKOB ran out 9 goal winners with a nice percentage lift having us snapping at the heels of Point Cook on the ladder.

Final Scores:

SKOB MASTERS 7.5 10.9 12.10 14.10.94

BRUNSWICK MUDLARKS 3.2 4.5 5.7 5.7.37