VAFA ROUND 21_Col.indd - Victorian Amateur Football Association
VAFA ROUND 21_Col.indd - Victorian Amateur Football Association
VAFA ROUND 21_Col.indd - Victorian Amateur Football Association
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DIVISION 4<br />
BACK TO THE FUTURE<br />
Jim Sutton<br />
Monash Gryphons have repeated the deeds of so<br />
many D3 demotees before them by making their<br />
stay in the bottom grade a short one, and will return<br />
from whence they came in 2011. Meanwhile South<br />
Mornington’s season came to an end after a topsy<br />
turvy clash against Manningham.<br />
Second Semi – Monash Gryphons vs Mt<br />
Lilydale<br />
Mt Lilydale gave Manningham a four goal start the<br />
previous week in the Qualifying Final, and clearly<br />
didn’t learn their lesson as they again struggled to<br />
get out of second gear early in their clash with the<br />
Gryphons. The margin remained at a manageable<br />
level after a tighter second term, before the<br />
Gryphons switched on the afterburners early in the<br />
third and got out to an almost ten goal lead. The<br />
Rams bunkered down and took a big chunk out of<br />
the deficit by the last change, but were unable to<br />
maintain the momentum in the last as the Gryphons<br />
steadied and ran out to a comfortable victory. Mt<br />
Lilydale racked up more inside 50’s for the day<br />
but couldn’t hit their targets up forward, and their<br />
turnovers were punished by the Gryphons who<br />
played clean skilful football up the ground on the<br />
rebound resulting in many scoring opportunities.<br />
Mick Malloy (5 goals) had a day out at half<br />
forward for the Gryphons, Lee Wells and Luke<br />
Wilson were terrific turning defence into attack,<br />
and Chris Leeton was strong in the ruck, but will<br />
be anxiously awaiting the outcome of a tribunal<br />
appearance this week. For the Rams, Michael<br />
Rhodes played his best game for the season in<br />
a ruck roving role, Mark Gower was solid in<br />
defence all day, and Al Stuart in the midfield and<br />
Haydn Moyes on a wing both provided plenty of<br />
run.<br />
First Semi – Manningham Cobras vs South<br />
Mornington<br />
Great conditions for the Sunday game which was<br />
played at a very fast pace from the outset. The<br />
Cobras had the best of the early going before<br />
South Mornington hit back late in the quarter to<br />
take a narrow lead at the first change. In the second<br />
quarter it was all South Mornington, who were full<br />
of run and cleaner with the footy, taking a four<br />
goal advantage into half time. The Cobras had to<br />
re-group and with some key positional moves,<br />
Manningham quickly clawed back the lead in the<br />
third taking a slight advantage into the final break.<br />
The last quarter was a tense close battle, with both<br />
sides missing some crucial shots on goal and the<br />
Cobras finally coming away with the 11 point<br />
victory. Great season for the Tigers, who started<br />
0-3 but in the end took a step up from last year, and<br />
with another season under their belts the young<br />
club will be anticipating a big 2011.<br />
For the Cobras, Stevie Sheales second half, and<br />
in particular his run was superb. Big Terry Young<br />
was outstanding all day, and Andrew Coonan also<br />
provided excellent run. Sam Wright and Kyle<br />
Gascoigne both completed great finals series for<br />
South, while Jacob Riordan and Matt Killen<br />
were others to perform well on the day.<br />
This week:<br />
Preliminary Final – Mt Lilydale vs Manningham<br />
Cobras<br />
Third meeting in the last five weeks for this pair,<br />
who by 5pm on Saturday will probably be sick of<br />
the sight of each other. Of course with a 0-3 record<br />
against the Rams this year, the Cobras may already<br />
be feeling a little queasy. Preliminary finals are<br />
often the most tense matches of the year with the<br />
last promotion spot up for grabs, with the loser<br />
going unrewarded for a season of sweat and toil<br />
while the winner gets a big prize regardless of the<br />
result the following week. Hard to ignore the form<br />
line of Mt Lilydale who have only lost twice this<br />
season and if they can turn around their slow starts<br />
of the last two weeks, they should be too good<br />
and advance to a Grand Final showdown with the<br />
Gryphons.<br />
In the reserves North Brunswick came close to<br />
toppling the Gryphons last week and will be keen<br />
to get the job done against Swinburne Uni and set<br />
up a rematch next week.<br />
Match reports to d4scribe@gmail.com by Monday<br />
arvo please. A big thanks to my regular contributors<br />
during the season. Have a good weekend all.<br />
14 THE AMATEUR FOOTBALLER 2010
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