Heartbreak for the Academy team as they went down to a buzzer beater shot from Old Scotch that sailed through the uprights as the siren sounded putting them out of the finals in Premier Thirds. A thrilling contest that literally went down to the wire. Elsewhere, the Saints Gold flexed their muscles as did the Under 19 Premier team. The Saints Blue and the Under 19 Div 2 went under to some tough opposition, but there was better news in the Under 19 Div 4 as the co-cousin combine registered a famous win over MHSOB at TH King.
With no games fixtured in Premier or Premier Reserve, the focus was on a couple of teams playing finals with a couple others shoring up their positions at the top of the table ahead of monster clashes this coming weekend.
Heartache for the Academy
As mentioned, Coach Ollie and Krushers men went down in dramatic circumstances against Old Scotch at Camberwell on Saturday. the game was incredibly tight all day with nothing separating the teams right throughout the contest. A long range shot with the seconds counting down consigned SKOB to their fate and Old Scotch go on to the Preliminary. Despite the devastating season denouement for the Academy they can be extremely proud of their season which started slowly and gained fantastic momentum as the year went on. They have come up just short and will dust off the disappointment and return for another campaign in 2024. For SKOB, the best were Will Cooper, Sam Doyle, Matt Canning, Sam Rausch, Josh Willmott and Jack Liszukiewicz. On Sunday our Masters were unable to get past Marcellin who march straight on through to the Grand Final next week against De La Salle. We hope to see the Masters comp return in 2024 after two fledgling seasons in the VAFA. It's great to give an opportunity for players to continue (or in some cases begin late) their football journeys and be able to connect with the community and be a significant part of our Club.
Saints power on
The Saints Gold have reclaimed their spot at the top of the Premier Women's Division with one round remaining. That round is against Kew who have been top for most of the year. Both sides will play off in the Second Semi, so only bragging rights are on the line in the final game of the regular season. On Saturday, SKOB powered past West Brunswick in a solid display of football. Clearly hungry for more success, the Saints Gold are hitting form at the right end of the season and on Saturday were well served by Eliza Straford, Bree Doyle, Ashleigh Byers, Sarah Betts, Molly Simpson and Kate Stanton. Our Saints Blue again battled hard but couldn't match West Brunswick who were too good at Old Rigret. They will look to finish off well next week against Kew in the final round of the season. No finals for the Blues this year who have been rocked with injury and availability challenges but have never stopped trying on the field. Best for Coach Strauss were Dominique Garcia, Alex Bland, Sofia Zielonka, Brige Snell, Steph Chong and Brook Stringer.
Premier 19's gearing up
Our Under 19 Premier team have solidified their recent return to form with a commanding win over St Bernards at TH King. With two rounds to play they have locked in a top two spot - and double chance in the finals - which is already a tremendous result. Next week they come up against Old Xavs who will be their most likely opponent in that first final, so they'll be keen to see where they are at as the finals approach. On Saturday, SKOB were led by George Delimitrou, Harry Kirkwood, Jack Romanin, Oli Gill, Matt Adams and Tom Williams. Our Div 2 team had a tough outing against Old Haileybury who were at full strength. The Div 2's have been hit by injuries and have also promoted a number of players up to Premier which is a great sign, but can make life difficult when playing an opponent at full strength. Best for SKOB were Zach Gleeson, Oli Garlick, Ronan Smythe, Alexander Smith, Matt Buckeridge and Sam Mulcahy.
It was a famous win for our Div 4's as they brushed off a couple of heavy losses in the past fortnight to come out firing against MHSOB at TH King. Led by Tom Mclellan up forward. with a huge bag of 5, SKOB were terrific from start to finish, showing great determination and a huge will to get over the line. A great reward for the boys who have never given up and for their coaching and support staff who have never stopped believing in them. Well done to the young SKOBBERS. Special mention this week to the "Toms" Mclellan and Whelan, Patrick Shaw, William Keely, Aiden Posterino and Jackson O'Malley
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