Take it breezy...

The SKOB Seniors sailed home on the breeze at TH King on Saturday to reel in league leaders Old Brighton in a great come from behind win. Brighton came into the match purportedly understrength, but half way through the third term had established a healthy lead. SKOB were able to get a goal back late just on three quarter time before rattling home 7 goals to 1 with the breeze at their back in the last. Earlier, the Reserves towelled up a less than full strength Old Brighton team, to the tune of 84 points to give them breathing space in second spot on the table. Prior to that, the Stingers romped in by 72 points over Willy to give SKOB a perfect three from three at the King. Down at Shark Park, it was a feeding frenzy for the Saints Gold and Blue. Both teams registering big wins over Beaumaris - although not without some casualties. Elsewhere the fortunes for SKOB were not as great. The 19 Premier had their game abandoned due to a nasty injury to a junior Uni Blues player in the third quarter. Our thoughts go out to the player and we wish him a speedy recovery. The 19s were well in control when the game was called off. The 19 2s had a draw at Pitcher Park against Parkside. Our Academy were tripped up by Old Xavs at Toorak Park whilst the SKOB Dogs went down in a close one at Kew. The Green Machine fought hard but were no match for the Westies at Old Rigret.

Seniors set up spinnaker to sail home

While focus will be on the 7 goals to 1 last term, this game was really won by SKOB in the first. Holding Brighton out for most of the opening quarter despite the tonners kicking with the healthy breeze, SKOB were able to limit the damage early, and then take their chances once they had the wind at their backs and the spinnaker at full hoist. Changes aplenty for both sides with SKOB having 9 different names from their earlier meeting with Brighton, to the 'tonners 8 new names, as teams from all clubs in the competition battle to navigate the mid season waters of travel inducing July.

It was another brilliant day in this winter of eternal sunshine (why go to Europe?), although the mud patch in the middle of the TH King deck was a reminder that footy is a winter sport. The old fashioned glue pot made it difficult to extract the pill from the centre, and around the ground it meant more stoppages as the Cape was the only way to navigate for the Captains of both crews. Brighton had first use of the breeze but SKOB were able to shut them down for the most part - the opening goal taking 16 minutes to arrive. Shortly afterwards, Brighton had another, and then a series of unfortunate events hit SKOB as Angus Hart, Sam Cameron and Sam Milne were all forced from the ground with injury - Hart and Milne both done for the day - reducing Coach Lynch to just two on the bench for the remaining 3 quarters. A late strike by Sam Critchley on the end of an old mongrel country punt by Luke Winter that fell in his lap gave SKOB a crucial 6 pointer and reduced the visitors lead to just 7 points at first change.

With the wind at their back, SKOB set about erasing the deficit and hitting the sheds with a surplus come the half. Another early goal to Sam Critchley was followed by one to Vince Adducci and the Seniors were soon in front. Sam Barnett then stamped his presence with a moment of banana bending brilliance and Jack Mahoney added another to give SKOB the breathing space they had been hoping for at the main break. Brighton had a few chances of their own, but heavy pressure from the SKOB defence ensured that they were minor scores only and the 14 point buffer at half time was most cherished.

Undermanned though they may have been, Brighton have proven themselves to be a high quality outfit, and they showed this with full might in the third. Rather than waiting around until the 16th minute for their first, the tonners had booted four goals by the same stage in the third quarter, using the breeze far more efficiently and turning the deficit around quickly to extend out to 17 points as the clock ticked into time on. Although SKOB were going to have the breeze in the final term, they needed to limit any more scoring or this one might get away from them. A smart piece of play from George Delimitrou found the ball in the arms of Flop Phillips, who then nailed his set shot and gave the home team a vital 6 pointer (probably worth double that) at the High St end. As the teams headed for the final huddle, Brighton's lead was just 11 points - a margin well within reach given the advantage to the wetlands end. After a couple of near misses, Cam Hodges stepped up to nervelessly nail back to back set shots. It gave SKOB the lead, and then the floodgates opened. Al Richards goaled after a fortunate 50, then Sam Cameron - who had recovered well from his opening term knock - did the same, he too getting the rub of the green from the men in green. Tom Ferguson turned tall forward and marked inside 50 to put SKOB almost home - despite an instant reply from Brighton (only the third goal kicked all day to the High St end). Cal Jones then made sure of it by walking one in from a ruck contest and Sam Cameron finished off a great game with his second for the afternoon to give the home team a 27 point buffer when the final siren rang.

Cam Hodges, who seems to love playing against Old Brighton was a standout with two clutch goals in the final term. Others to star for SKOB were Anthony Seaton, William Coates, Sam Tucker, Luke Winter and Sam Cameron. A hugely important 4 points to pick up for SKOB with the chasing pair both dropping games as we head into the double bye. A welcome break for all, but we can't wait to get it all happening again in the run home starting on July 26.

Ressies Roll on

The Reserves had a big win over their main rival for a top two spot - Old Brighton - emphatically dispatching their opponents to the tune of 84 points. The tonners looked a bit light on and came in less than full strength, but Coach Clough's team were showing little sympathy as they built on their lead each quarter and finished off with a dominant 6 goals to one final quarter. Our intrepid traveler Yanni would have been following the progress closely from his vantage spot in southern Europe as Lachie Merrett, Xavier Duke, Hamish Reimers, Tom Burley, Oliver Doyle and Sam Jones all starred for the Ressies.

Saints bite sharks

In their first ever visit to Shark Park, the Saints came away with the points - but not without a few casualties. The Saints Gold got the win they needed, and were comfortably in front of the plucky sharks all day, but a season ending injury to Molly Simpson and a concussion for Kate Stanton soured the celebrations for the Saints in Women’s Premier.

Having only just returned to the Saints

after a season and a half with Williamstown in the VFL, Molly Simpson suffered a knee injury that will keep her out for some time. We wish her all the best in her recovery.  The double bye comes at a good time for the Saints who will use the break to rest and ready themselves for the final stretch. It was a strong effort from Coach Tommy’s team against the brave Sharks, with Belinda Woolcock, Kate Stanton (3 goals), Elysia Burvill, Charity Russell, Mischa Beaconsfield and London Ashcroft the better players on the day. New mum Margaret Gleeson's return to the Saints was very warmly received.

Blues Cruise

Our Blues were playing with the yellow footy at twilight, and truly enjoyed their hit out, leading all the way as the sun went down in bayside Beaumaris. Sharp shooting Sarah Cameron led the way with 5 majors as the Blues racked up the score in a percentage boosting performance. Others to star for the Blues were Molly Howard, Kellie Woodhouse, Sarah Cameron (5 snags) , Rachael Wilson, Jessica Mounas, Teagan Berkowitz

Tough day at Old Rigret

The Green Machine battled hard all day against ladder leaders Westbourne, and despite their best efforts were no match for the table topping Westies. Pip Stephenson used all her experience to help out the young Greeners who had no bench at all to turn to. Jaime Tucker, Zoe Kritikides, Sophie Stevens-Williamson, Kate Shannon and Edenn Baczyk were also good players for the dreamers who will welcome the break coming up.

Equation getting tight for Academy

The Academy were back at Toorak Park for the second time this season, and alas, found their red and black opponents too strong on their home deck. Our man on the ground was there to capture it all in his report:

The Academy are a step or two ahead of the rest of the clubs with a 16 round season and a single bye when others have a double bye such that they are on final approach to a finals campaign. Being at the ‘pinch point’ for the Club when it comes to covering injuries and Sail Croatia commitments the Academy had just 16 magnets on the board on Thursday night. Several phone calls and urgent emails saw Josh Hardy & Matt Buckeridge dust off the boots and combine warm up with pre-season. Young Archie Cornell and Tommy Maccullum both  backed up and played their second games of senior footy in as many weeks. Eventually 20 players ran down the SKOB race. 24 ran down the Old Xavs race at Toorak Park (remember that stat, it comes back later..).

The first quarter was nothing short of ferocious with the R&Bs being a tad more efficient up front and going to quarter time 17 points to the better. As he has all season, Dan Macarthy, proved to be a Nick Naitanui clone – the resemblance is uncanny, both ruckmen, both hard at the ball, both prepared to rove their own ball once the pill hit the deck. Lucas Mascia, meanwhile, had a work rate not matched on field, constantly busy, constantly prepared to make a physical contest.

The 2nd quarter saw the Academy get some return on their work rate and they completely outplayed the Xavs on their home deck.  When the Captain Du Jour, Michael Naughton, kicked truly in red time the SKOBs went into the sheds 2 points up and with the momentum. That’s when things started to unravel a little. Yogi was in Seminyak. Muz brought the All- Natural snakes rather than the customary mandarins (peel quicker than oranges - it’s the little efficiencies that can start to stack up and make a difference).

The 2nd half saw one of the bravest efforts this scribe has seen from this squad in the 4 years I’ve been sitting in the cheer squad with my thermos and iced-vovos. The intensity didn’t drop an ounce, nor the desire, nor the talk, nor the work rate. As the match wore on the fatigue-induced concrete in the boots of the SKOB lads just made them a fraction slower than their better rested opponents when getting to a contest (who, in fairness, also put in a fair effort – credit where due). It was painful to watch as the Academy slowly succumbed to trying to hold back the tide. Eventually Xavs recorded a 31 point win which belies the closeness of the contest – two goals being scored by them in the last 60 seconds. 12 SKOB Academy players saw out 100% game time on field. It’s a stat that’s hard to shake or ignore.

Asked for comment Coach Ollie was optimistic and full of praise for his troops, ‘I’m not one for talking up an ‘honourable loss’ but a coach can only ask for character and application from his players all day and the boys delivered that in spades. We’re not done yet, you’ll be seeing more of these lads before this season is done, no fear.’ With 3 games to go and at least 2 highly winnable games to come before finals, you’d have to think he may have a point.

For the Academy, Mamuch Chuol, Daniel McCarthy, Lucas Mascia, Matthew Buckeridge, Justin Willmott and Seb Nogara were all good.

Stingers spin a tight web

At TH King in the early game, the Stingers made short work of Williamstown. Showing style in all facets, the Stingers stung early and never let up all day, in the process, keeping a tight grip on their top four spot and staying in touch with the top two in their division. Max Day, Lachie Haig, Zach Close, Julian Chaffey, Jimmy Hill and Oli Phillips were the best of the Stingers in an otherwise even and satisfying team effort.

Hounds held out

Over at Vic Park in Kew it was a thriller between the SKOB Dogs and the Bears, with the hounds from the King coming up just short in a terrific contest. Coach Doyle was full of praise for his team who went all the way to the wire, but couldn’t quite grab the prize at the finish. Best for the SKOB Dogs were Aiden Posterino, Jack Elsworth, Andrew Smale, Angus Rolleston, Roshan Fernandes and Joel McMahen

Thrills and spills in the 19s

A nasty injury to a Uni Blues player forced the Under 19 Premier game to be abandoned in the third quarter. We send our best wishes to the Blues player and wish him a full and speedy recovery. The young SKOB team was well in control of the contest when the game was called off, and despite some wayward kicking, had doubled the Blues score by that stage. Best for Coach Greeny were Dante Tomarchio, Edward Burley, Taj Fernandes, Matthew Redenbach, Pat Harmon and Tom Bromhead

It was a nail biting draw at Pitcher Park in Parkside as the two sides finished on 52 points apiece, having to share the premiership points on offer. With no bench from the start of the game, the 19 2s were always up against it, but fought tooth and nail right to the finish. There was hardly a breath separating the sides all day, so when the final siren rang with the scores tied it was no surprise. The 2 points still leaves Coach Joey’s team in the four as we head for the bye, so they will take that and head into the break. For the 19 2s the better players were Matthew Curtain, Zach Ibrahim, Fred Walshe, Joseph Smith, Addison Barrett and Liam Cornish