Saints put Kew in the rack

A 60 metre - no make that 70 metre - bomb from Hannah Smith blasted SKOB Saints Gold past Kew into the Preliminary Final in dramatic scenes out at Preston City Oval on Saturday. With the wind at her back, Hannah launched from inside the centre square and the ball tumbled through for a goal to break Kew hearts and send the Saints into a showdown with Caulfield to decide who gets to go to the big dance. Later on Saturday our Under 19 Premier team were defeated by Old Brighton who produced a brilliant second quarter to take hold of the second semi and book their ticket to the Grand Final. Coach Greeny's team will get another chance in the Preliminary Final next week against Uni Blues. The Senior Men's and Reserves team had a pre finals bye and will start their finals campaigns next week.

Hannah's bomb blasts Saints into Prelim

A monster long bomb from Hannah Smith sealed a thrilling comeback from the Saints who needed to rally in the final term to topple a gallant Kew in the First Semi Final at Preston City Oval on Saturday morning. The dramatic finish sent travelling fans into raptures as Coach Tommy’s team dug deep to fight off the Bears - who had clearly come to play.

With the wind at their backs in the first quarter, Kew made the most of their advantage and came into the huddle with a two goal buffer. The big ground and intense pressure of finals football was always going to mean goals would come at a premium, especially to the northern end. SKOB would have been OK with the two goal deficit as it was a fair reflection of the conditions and they went to work in the second term. Kate Stanton kicking the first for the Saints as they wrested control of the game. But the Bears hadn’t read the script and were soon back out to a two goal advantage when they booted one to the less favoured end. Suddenly the Saints were looking shaky, and although they had the ball in their half for the majority of the quarter, they were unable to land another major.

At the main break, the Bears were a goal and a half in front of and now kicking with the breeze. The Saints would need to put up the wall, less they be left with too much to do in the last. Showing great discipline and patience, the Saints held out Kew for the entire quarter, and although they didn’t score, they were able to hold the Bears to a solitary point and at the last change found themselves within striking distance. 

Given the way Kew had defended in the second quarter, there were no guarantees a flurry of goals would arrive for the Saints to claim victory, but after three quarters of torrid contested footy, fatigue set in and scoring suddenly became easier. Holly Kenealy got things going for the Saints with an early goal. She then clunked a towering grab in the goal square to boot her second for the term and put SKOB in front. After 17 minutes, Bella Stutt marked and booted long into attack where Hannah Smith superbly crumbed the pack and slotted one through to put SKOB 8 points up. With the wind behind them and time expiring, surely the Saints were home. But wait, there was drama to come. Kew threw everything at the contest, and forced a rushed behind that made it 7. Then a mark at the top of the square and a goal reduced what had seemed a comfortable margin, to just a single point. With less than two minutes remaining, Kew had the ball inside their 50 and were attacking when Kate Stanton took a huge pack mark to save the day. Her kick to the wing forced a stoppage and from it, the Saints edged it forward to Hannah Smith who, from inside the centre square, threw it on her boot and launched a monster torpedo inside the vacant 50. The ball landed and bounced through for an incredible goal, and this time there would be no comeback from the brave Bears. The siren rang shortly after and SKOB were through to the Preliminary final to face Caulfield next weekend. Best for the Saints were Bella Stutt, Kate Stanton, Bree Doyle, Holly Kenealy, Zara Guss, Belinda Woolcock

Greeny's boys have work to do

The much anticipated clash between the two best performed teams in Under 19 Premier did not let the fans down as they were treated to a high quality contest at Elsternwick Park on Saturday afternoon. The game was evenly matched throughout, but Old Brighton took charge in the second term and made the most of their momentum swing in that period to boot five goals to one and keep SKOB at bay for the rest of the day. SKOB would have their moments, but couldn't maintain patches of dominance through the quarters as Brighton seemed to have the answers each time SKOB got their game going. There's plenty to take out of the game and they will get another chance in the Preliminary Final next week, but for now, Coach Greeny and the boys have some work to do.

Best for SKOB were Pat Harmon, Benjamin Palmer, Ged Saunders, Johnathon Gambaro, Liam Edwards and Tom Bromhead