A season ends in either triumph or disappointment, and the conclusion of the 2019 campaign provided a big dose of the latter.

In a powerful afternoon of muscle-flexing, St Kevin’s completely outclassed Old Xaverians in the Premier section Preliminary Final at Elsternwick yesterday.

Xaverians looked to be on song early. Matthew Handley marked strongly and booted his 800th goal for the club. But the Red ‘n’ Blacks sprayed the next three shots to release the pressure on SKOB, who opened their account with two quick majors.

Hamish Cullity and Matt Margin responded, but the Xavs scored no more after the half-way point. Kevins did, nailing three big ones late in the term.

Cullity goaled again to open the second term, but SKOB doubled down. Rohan Bewick responded to bring his team back into strong contention, but the Tricolours skipped late in the term with another three goals. The margin at the half was 27 points.

Xavs had the use of the breeze in the third term and managed to maintain some hope. Goals to Hayden Troiani and Denis Symeopoulos provided a spark, but this was soon extinguished when Kevs booted two late ones to win the quarter convincingly.

The last hurrah saw goals from Fraser Pearce and Bewick, who had been battling an adductor strain most of the afternoon. But these majors were sandwiched between six from SKOB – three at the start and three to finish.

The reigning premier booted eleven of its twenty goals in time-on. They ruled the air and played with system, spreading and kicking to position in a tricky breeze.

Despite sterling efforts from Chris Margin and Will Hams in defence, the brave Tom Anderson and Rohan Bewick in the front half, and Marcus Stavrou and Hamish Cullity in the midfield, Xavs were unable to produce any precision. Their sweeping ball movements were thwarted by over-use, lack of accuracy and SKOB pressure.

The door to the Grand Final was slammed shut by a very powerful and cohesive opponent.

The Red ‘n’ Blacks regrouped strongly in the early part of the year after premature exits in the two seasons previous, but few things came together after the July double-bye.  

The rising tide of Premier section football has lifted all ships, but some more than others. Old Xavs last saluted in 2016 and there is much work to be done to end the drought.

Old Xaverians 3.6-24   5.7-37   7.8-50       9.11-65

St Kevins          5.1-31 10.4-64  14.7-91    20.9-129

Goal Kickers: R. Bewick 2, H. Cullity 2, F. Pearce, M. Margin, M. Handley, H. Troiani, D. Symeopoulos

Best Players: C. Margin, T. Anderson, W. Hams, R. Bewick, H. Cullity, M. Stavrou

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