If a tree falls in the woods and there's no one around to hear it - what sound does it make? Yeah, I don't know either, but that's how life was at TH King this afternoon, where SKOB fought off a persistent and much improved old Melburnians in a tough encounter. Whilst the match was nowhere like the last time these two played - which by a quirk of the draw and a couple of weeks lost to lockdown was only two rounds ago - SKOB were still able to emerge with a vital 4 points to keep them atop the Premiership table.
OM's were vastly improved on the last encounter and the game was close all day, until SKOB managed to pull away in the final term to record a steady victory in front of no-one. Phil Edgar put in his best game of the season - lifting when the game was on the line, and kicking the sealer after a big mark at the half way point of the final term. With Billy Kanakis missing from the team that defeated OM's comfortably last time, it was Edgar that filled the void, booting 4 goals in a BOG performance. Tom Jok was also an unlikely scorer, bobbing up for 3 of his own as the makeshift forward line got the job done in the end. Ultimately it was the SKOB defence, again beautifully led by Coates, Presutto and Merrett who kept OM's goalless in the final quarter and ensured SKOB would maintain a narrow winning lead. Josh Wallis again continued his rich vein of form, and Sam Critchley once more showed that he is a Utility in the classic sense.
They would have lost no fans with the performance, and that's just as well, as there were no fans to lose, but SKOB will pocket the points and move on to next week, where hopefully we can have a few spectators to hear those trees falling...
Around the grounds SKOB had a mixed bag of success. The Ressies just went down to OM's after trailing all day. They came home strongly but ultimately couldn't reel in the visitors and went down by two points 48-46. Our Thirds also came undone as OM's had the better of them all day. The redlegs too strong as they won by 49 points. Our Under 23s however had another day out, crunching Old Trinity 187 to 11. Willmott (5) Hopkins and Gouci (4 each) were the chief destroyers for SKOB, who lept to the top of the table with the win.
In the Under 19's there was no joy for the Premier team who went down to Williamstown at Willy by 89 points. A good result in Div 2 with SKOB accounting for Old Carey by 57 points to remain third on the table, and our Div 3 guys got on the board and will be celebrating tonight after beating Oakleigh by 22 points to chalk up their long awaited and much deserved first victory of the season. Joey Parente was again prominent with a couple of snags, whilst Josh Collins was adjudged best afield. Well done boys. In Division 4, SKOB learned that "it's never easy at Brindisi", as they went down to St.Bede's Mentone.
Our Saints Women's teams had another clean sweep as they returned to the field with some vigour. The Gold team were too slick for Old Xavs with Lizzie Wardlaw a standout booting 3 goals in their 46 point win. The Saints Blue team kept their WOX opponent scoreless and racked up 97 points of their own. A bit wayward at times booting 13.19, but Maddy Pattison had the kicking boots on, slotting 6 majors in an unstoppable display up forward. Finally, the Saints Green went back to Macalister Oval and this time brought home all 4 points as they proved too strong for West Brunswick, running out winners 44 to 2.
And on Sunday, the Mighty Masters kept their season alive, coming from the clouds at 3/4 time to storm home and claim a vital 7 point victory over De La Salle Dinosaurs. Facing almost certain elimination from finals calculations, the Masters found the accuracy that had been missing all day and booted 4 majors to zip in the last term. Matty Shannon booting one with two minutes left on the clock to give SKOB the lead and they held on to the siren. A great win to SKOB but plenty of work still to do. At least their campaign is alive after this tight victory.
