Round 13 Match Reviews

It was a soggy Saturday and Oakleigh made the trip to Heidelberg for their return match with Banyule. The Krushers, whose recent form had seen a marked improvement since the last time these two teams had met, had grown in confidence and fancied themselves a chance against the Bears who’d been struggling of late. The conditions were dismal. The ground was in poor condition and it was raining and cold yet, to their credit, both teams and the umpires went out and put on a pretty good show. Banyule took the early running with a couple of goals before Oakleigh hit the target booting 3 to take a 4 point lead into the first change. The Bears hit the front early in the second term but again Oakleigh struck back with another 3 goals to clear out to a 20 point lead at the main change and, given the conditions, it was a valuable lead as goals became increasingly hard to come by.

The slog continued in the third quarter with Banyule adding 2 more goals but the Oaks were proving to be more adept at wet weather footy and added 3-4 for the term including Trevor Bromley unleashing a “Bromley Bomb” torpedo that split the middle and brought the small but appreciative crowd to it’s feet.  The Krushers took a 5 goal lead into the final term and seemed to relax as Banyule lifted with 3 goals but Oakleigh rallied and answered with 5 to finish 44 points up at the bell. Bromley led the goalkicking with 3, Dermot Cleary and Tim Scott added 2 each. Gary Bennet, Peter Holden and Lee Barrand were in Oakleigh’s best.

The Reserves battled hard but due to injuries found themselves a man short for most of the early game. Only 11 points adrift at half-time, the Krushers took the game up to the Bears in the third term but couldn’t buy a goal, adding 6 points for the quarter to the Bears 2 goals. More of the same in the last quarter put paid to any chance of a miracle and they succumbed by 34 points. Chris Lavery kicked 2 goals for Oakleigh with Ben Hogan, Adam Matthieson and Matt Wass in the best.

The U/19s hosted Beaumaris at Scammell Reserve and given a wake-up call as the Sharks proved to better at wet weather football than the young Krushers. The Oaks didn’t handle the conditions at all well and had their colours lowered for the second time this season. After having it fairly easy for some weeks now, the Oaks got a reminder that complacency is not an option if you want to bring the silverware home in September. Zac Pearce-Thomas led the goal-kicking with 2 and Michael Tate and Austin Deneys among the best. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Final Scores:

 Seniors: Oakleigh 14.12.96 v Banyule 8.4.52

Goals: Trevor Bromley 3, Dermot Cleary 2, Tim Scott 2, Lee Barrand, Gary Bennett, Mimo Demachki, Pat Ioannidis, Zac Thiessens
Best: Gary Bennett, Peter Holden, Lee Barrand, Chris Hogan, David Counihan, Jim Hunt

Reserves: Oakleigh 4.12.36 v Banyule 10.10.70

Goals: Chris Lavery 2, Jim Cleary, Lee Webster
Best: Ben Hogan, Adam Matthiesson, Matt Wass, Michael Klonaridis, Will Manning, Chris Lavery

Under 19s Oakleigh 6.7.43 v Beaumaris 10.14.74

Goals: Zac Pearce-Thomas 2, Austin Deneys, Chris Grant, Luke Pappon, Ben Still
Best: Michael Tate, Austin Deneys, Zac Pearce-Thomas, Zac Barrett, Chris Grant, Alex Seremelis