SKOB in a close one, Saints continue to march towards the finals

Accurate kicking in front of goal helped St Kevin’s OB to their 10th win of the season as they defeated Old Trinity by three points at Daley Oval. Despite having seven less scoring shots than the T’s, SKOB kicked 10 goals from their 12 scoring shots as opposed to the T’s eight goals from 19. Nick Wood starred in a BOG performance for SKOB and Billy Kanakis booted three goals.

The Saints continued its rich vein of form, turning the tables on its early season defeat against Caulfield Grammarians. The girls from Caulfield proved too strong for the Saints Blue team, winning by five goals.

Read the full Senior Match Report here.

FROM THE PRESIDENT

Results:

The club won six of the seven games we played in on the weekend.

The Seniors played Trinity out at Bulleen with both Firsts and Seconds both recording victories. The Thirds Gold played St Bernards and won easily, while the Green team had to forfeit due to lack of players (due to overseas travel & injury).

Both Saints played Caulfield. The firsts had a win, the seconds a loss. The U19’s Premier had a bye whilst the Reserves played Old Xavs and won, while the Thirds played Old Parade and had a great victory. The Masters had the weekend off. 

Trinity pre game lunch

A few of us were fortunate to be invited to the pre game lunch on Saturday. The guest speaker was John Toomey (an Old Marcellin boy and mate of many SKOBers he told me). He is a very well known advocate for simple strategies to improve physical and mental health. After the lunch he referred me to a You Tube video he created on one of the easiest ways we can all benefit our physical health. The topic is hydration. It is worth watching. Watch here.

Volunteers. 

We have a huge number of tremendous volunteers that make it possible for each of the 212 SKOBers to play each week.

Game day volunteers are particularly important. Be they goal umpires, boundary umpires or interchange officials – they are all critical. Organising the various people each week are tremendously dedicated volunteers. In the Seniors John DiNatale and Dean Staffieri give a huge amount of time to the club managing game day activities for the Seniors. We are indebted to them for their diligence and generosity in donating their time. It would be great if a few people could step up to assist our Thirds teams in this regard too. Unfortunately we have coaches that are forced to complete the critical team management tasks each week.

Thanks also to Michael Cross who is filling in for regular club doctor Kim Whelan. Michael played 162 games from 1975 to 1988. He was such a good player and Doctor - he often combined both disciplines on game day! We are tremendously grateful that he has found time to assist and give Kim some time off.

Finally, to all our volunteers – if you are not available for the job you normally do – please remember Rule Number 1 for all volunteer based / community sporting clubs: Find your Replacement. This is the rule that applies to everyone on the Committee too. Without it we would have no continuity and the club would be a shambles.  

AROUND THE GROUNDS IN PREMIER

St Bedes/Mentone Tigers kept their season alive in the game of the year, defeating Old Xaverians by one point in a thriller at Brindisi St Oval.  The much-needed win brings the Tigers to within a game of both De La Salle and Xavs at the bottom of the ladder.

Old Scotch pieced together their most dominant performance of the season, running out 107-point winners against Old Brighton at Scotch College. Scotch are now a game and a half outside the four with the third best percentage in the competition, while the Tonners remain third and two and a half games clear of fourth.

University Blues proved too strong for De La Salle at the Uni Oval as they ran out 23-point winners in another crucial Round 11 clash. 

Collegians flexed their muscle against Old Melburnians with a comprehensive 95-point victory at Elsternwick Park. 

Caulfield Grammarians were not able to back up their victory against SKOB earlier in the season and fell considerably short by a drastic 48-point margin at Basil St Reserve.

SAINTS CONTINUE THEIR MARCH INTO THE FOUR

Caulfield were goalless for the entirety of the match with some mediocre set shot kicking impeding their scoreboard impact. However, SKOB came out firing and succeeded in fine form, further cementing their spot in the top four. Margaret Gleeson was relentless up forward kicking 1.2 and attaining 21 disposals, Alexandra Hynes was impressive in the ruck with 47 hitouts, as well as Sarah Cameron with 19 touches and Georgia Cropley kicking 2.1 and racking up 18 disposals. Eliza Straford and Bree Doyle were also influential with 15 touches a piece.

Keirice Farley fought hard for all four quarters in the backline earning herself an impressive 25 touch tally for Caulfield, while Breanna Arnold was best in her side’s defeat throughout the midfield with 23 disposals. SKOB continue their second half of the season surge up the ladder, jumping past Kew with their 7th victory, alongside Marcellin and Melbourne Uni, while Caulfield remain at the bottom of the table.

INAL SCORES: SKOB 7. 10. 52 def Caulfield 0. 4. 4

GOALS: G. Cropley 2, E. Straford 2, C. Brown, H. Starr, M. Gleeson

BEST PLAYERS: A. Hynes, J. Joyce, B. Doyle, S. Cameron, E. Straford, C. Brown

Under 19 3rds have finals on their mind

The boys had some strong school inclusions for its clash against Old Paradians on Saturday. Tom Burley was one of those and according to the statisticians took over 20 marks in a best on ground performance. The boys played a strong first half, leading by 66 points. Hugh Gastin and Ryan Dossetor were fantastic up forward kicking 7 between them. SKOB weren't troubled in the second half and cruised to a 117 point win. With a 5 win and 6 loss record, the belief is there to have an impact in September.

SPONSOR FOCUS: SIMPSON CONSTRUCTION

The sponsor of this week’s Past and Recently Retired Players lunch is Simpson Construction Company.

Simpson Construction Company is a successful and growing organisation with a committed focus on adding value to projects requiring a high level of skilled supervision and coordination.

Since commencing operations in 1984, they have expanded their dynamic team to include professional engineers and project managers, experienced supervisors, highly trained construction personnel and engage only skilled subcontractors who work under the requirements of their management systems.

Simpson Construction Company offers a broad range of quality civil construction services to government departments and private enterprise in both metropolitan and regional locations, gaining a significant proportion of their business through competitive local and state government tendering systems. They have built a formidable reputation for supplying quality civil contracting work at a competitive price.

Acker and Tom are key members of the SKOB Community. We thank them for their ongoing generosity and commitment to the Club.