November 19, 2024
RALPH'S NEW ROLE
O'Shaughnessy is Xavs' Footy GM
A Century of the Red & Black
Round 2 brought seven more wins from ten contests, highlighted by the efforts of the Seniors, Reserves and U19s who all came from behind to collect the points.
Old Xaverians scored a great fighting victory over Old Melburnians at Plunkett Oval yesterday, erasing a 19 point half-time deficit to win by six goals.
It was a competitive skirmmish in the first term, with only the Dark Blues inaccuracy preventing them from a quarter time lead. The Red 'n' Blacks were outplayed, but more of their opportunities in front of the sticks to take a quarter-time lead.
The home team's problems were magnified in the second term when the Men of Harlech added four unanswered goals kicking into a slight breeze and up the hill. Xavs' ballhandling, particularly below their knees, looked ordinary and they appeared to be unable to apply any pressure to their pacy OM opponents. At the half, as one optimist quipped, there was some room for improvement. At that stage, it appeared any home rally might have to come without big Oscar Duncan, the first gamer who was doing well in the ruck until his knee buckled.
However, when they resumed, Duncan was there. Scoring was at a premium early in the third stanza, but the Red 'n' Blacks were clearly doing better. Some spirited efforts in the middle from Dan Robinson, Hayden Troiani and Denis Symeopoulos sprung the team into action. At nine minutes, the X-Men commenced a four goal flurry, taking an eight point lead as the clock wound into time-on. The visitors responded late after some infectious ill-discipline from the home team. Their two goals saw the Dark Blues ahead by five points at the lemons.
Old Melburninans scored just six points in the fourth term. Remarkably, five of these came before Xavs kicked their first goal of the final chapter. Hook. Let-off. At nine minutes, Julian Soccio goaled to begin the procession. Hayden Troiani and Tommy McCrae both drew twin calicos, but Xavs were only ten points up as they hit time-on. Charlie MacIsaac, always a threat, and Bill Gowers, whose final term was full of purpose, both nailed braces to finish it off and the Xavs trudged to the distant shedst to sing for the first time this season.
After looking in a spot of bother in the first half, the Xavs defence provided plenty of shut-down rebound in the second half. Jordan Kelly and Will Goss were integral to this while their roommates at nthe Defence Academy also did their jobs well.
The solid win leaves the X-Men in sixth spot, with the road taking them next week to the Heath, where they will battle the winless Caulfield. The Hoops should not be under-estimated, having topped Xavs in the the two contests since the Fields returned to Premier section.
Goal Kickers: C. MacIsaac 4, W. Gowers 3, D. Tuddenham 2, T. McRae, H. Troiani, H. Bell, C. Whitehead, G. Valles, J. Soccio
Best Players: D. Robinson, D. Symeopoulos, J. Kelly, W. Goss, O. Duncan, H. Troiani
Big Jack Boyd debuted for the Red 'n' Blacks and his five goal BOG performance boosted the home team to a big win at the Plunkett.
Xavs struggled with accuracy in the opening half, but after Boyd set them alight in the third term with three goals, Wade Brusnahan, En Hummerston and the Senator, Ted Kennedy, thrust more daggers into the hearts of the Old Melburnians.
The Ressies are top after two rounds with a percentage of 490%.
Goal Kickers: J. Boyd 5, W. Brusnahan 4, E. Kennedy 2, C. Westcott, E. Ralph, M. Exell
Best Players: J. Boyd, E. Hummerston, W. Brusnahan, E. Kennedy, W. Hart, C. Dunne
The WOX were torched by a strong Coburg team at Pirhana Park. The Red 'n' Blacks just didn't have the size, experience or firepower to go with the Burgers and lost by 105 points.
Best Players: B. Crowe, M. Mennilli, K. Dowd, E. Neuwirth, H. Ryan, A. Fairweather
Trailing by 27 points at the half and still down by 16 at the lemons, Dan Rush's boys slammed on six last quarter goals to steal the points at Stradbroke Park.
The 19 Twos continued where they left off last week by torching Old Haileybury at Stradbroke Park yesterday. The goals were spread among 11 players in a totally dominating performance that yielded nine goals in the opening term.
Coach Andy Batten reports:
Round 2 and the boys started their run of 3 consecutive home games with a convincing victory over Old Haileybury.
There was a good feeling amongst the group all week and that continued in the rooms before the bounce on Saturday. Tom Regan was playing his first game back from an ACL. Luca Santalucia, Matt Dahlsen and Will Wrigley were unveiled as the leadership group. And we managed to have all the match day jobs filled the night before the game. What more could we possibly ask for?
Enter Ben Sherman.
I’m not sure what The Shermanator had for breakfast, but whatever it was, I'd like to personally pay for a year’s supply. Sherman started red hot, booting 4 goals in the first quarter and dare I say it could have been more. This was off the back of some great work from the midfielders, who were giving us first use. In particular Harry Bird, who had a severe case of leather poisoning early. The backline led by new skipper Santalucia was turning defence into attack at lightspeed, and our forwards were too cunning and too fast for OH. There were some unselfish leads from Dahlsen, Charlie Christopher and Eddie Paul, which allowed for mountains of space out the back for Sherman and the other smalls to run into. We kicked 9 goals for the quarter and took a staggering 47 point lead into the first change.
47-point
It was difficult to identify areas to work on at quarter time, so the coaching group set up a mental challenge for the boys. It would be easy to just go into cruise control after such a quarter, however, we challenged the boys to keep the foot down. Goals flowed early in the second, with Eddie Paul (seemingly loving being back on his junior home ground) and Justin Salce booting them from outrageous angles to really deflate OH. However, OH is a proud club and there was a noticeable shift in dynamic halfway through the quarter. They sent numbers to the contest and started winning more clearances and getting repeat entries. If not for Dan McCarthy and co.. they might have made some bigger inroads into the score. However, we took a 72-point lead into the main break.
After the improved effort from OH in the second, there were some notable things to work on. Our tackle count had dropped and the opposition were on top in the clearances. A couple of tweaks were made, but ultimately we wanted to get back on the good vibe train from the first quarter. It didn’t come however, with the renewed spirit from OH now starting to hit the scoreboard. They closed down our switch and applied a lot of forward half pressure. Will Beattie and Harry West, both playing their first game for the Ressies, along with Oliver Sheehan did their best to keep our “take the game on” mantra, with some great ball movement. And we did manage to hit the scoreboard ourselves with some crafty work up front from Salce and Jackson Gomezel, tapping it inboard and keeping the ball in motion. However we lost the quarter, and credit to OH for getting back into it.
The final quarter rolled around and there were some tired bodies on what had turned into a lovely April day. Bird, Luke Fares, Nick Pozzi, Will Troy and Charlie Bourne had done a mountain of work through the middle, but wanting to finish on a high there was an obvious lift from the team. Some of the transition was magnificent, with players hitting forwards lace out on long searching leads. Paul got his fourth. Salce, Bourne and Christopher got their second, and Bird got his second to finish off a wonderful BOG performance and a 102 point win.
A slightly sour note with an injury to Dahlsen, as well as a couple of others who we will monitor this week. I’m also proud of the way the boys held themselves. There was a bit of emotion in the game, particularly from the other team, however for the most part we didn’t stoop to their level or get involved in the nonsense.
A great start to the season and we are starting to see the group gel on and off the field. A big challenge next week with the undefeated Hampton Rovers coming to Stradbroke park.
Also, a final note to remind players and parents about the season launch next Saturday night at The Auburn Hotel. All family welcome. Go Xavs!
Goal Kickers:E. Paul 4, B. Sherman 4, C. Bourne 2, C. Christopher 2, M. Dahlsen 2, J. Salce 2, H. Bird 2, P. Gilmour, J. Gomezel, N. Pozzi, L. Santalucia
Best Players: H. Bird, L. Santalucia, E. Paul, B. Sherman, M. Dahlsen, J. Gomezel
Goal Kickers: D. Fitzgerald 4, D. Condon 2, N. Brown 2, G. Villiers de Casanove, M. Robinson
Best Players: T. Mantesso, D. Fitzgerald, R. Calvert, G. Villiers de Casanove, N. Brown, N. Johnson
The Menages belted Willy with Oscar Silk booting ten and Michael 'Zulu' Cain snagging four in the 142 point romp at Stradbroke Park.
Goal Kickers: O. Silk 10, M. Cain 4, P. Beaton 2, W. Mantesso 2, L. Tobin, X. Romanin-Green, M. Tempone, T. Pereira, T. Fantasia
Best Players: O. Silk, M. Bell, J. Norman, T. Pereira, X. Romanin-Green, W. Honan
Goal Kickers: J. Lyon 6, C. Brown 2, M. Perrett 2, J. Cowell 2, G. Lachal, S. Murray, S. Stanley
Best Players: E. Chiodo, S. Murray, A. Eden-Lachowicz, J. Lyon, H. Ralph, C. Todaro
Not the best day at Crawford yesterday for the young hopefuls, but better days are ahead.
Goal Kickers: A. McGowan 2, O. Tehan, W. Greig, A. Lo Giudice
Best Players: O. Tehan, A. McGowan, N. Ongarelo, A. Lo Giudice, T. Davine, M. Comito
