Oakleigh Amateurs opened their account in VAFA D1 division on Saturday with a nail biting win over Preston Bullants at Scammell Reserve. Oakleigh took the honours in the first term as the Bullants sprayed scoring shots for a 1-7 return to the Krushers 3-2. In the second quarter it was the Krushers who wasted opportunies in front but they still managed to hold Preston in check and went to the main change with a 3 goal advantage.
After the break the Bullants fired back and held the Oaks goalless cutting the deficit to 4 points at the last change and in a see-sawing final term both sides broke even and Oakleigh held on for a hard fought 4 point win. Aaron Cloke led the goalkicking for Oakleigh with 3 and Trevor Bromley added 2, Pat Ioannidis, Shane Borland and Luke Pappon were among the best players.
The early game saw the Krushers withstand a hard finishing Preston. After going into the first change with a 7 point lead, the Krushers booted 5 goals to 5 points in the second to go into the long break with a 34 point advantage. They followed on after the break and went to the last change with a 46 point lead but a 7 goal final term from Preston had them within 15 points at the bell. Josh Abela and Brodie Weymouth shared the goalkicking honours for Oakleigh with 3 apiece and Zac Thiessens, Josh Revere and Andrew Weymouth were in the best.
The U/19s travelled to Garvey Oval in Bundoora to take the more fancied Old Paradians and opened their 2017 account in style with a 34 point victory. Chris Galanos led the way for the Krushers with 4 goals, Dylan Goodwill and Ed Standish added 2 each with Mina Farid, Hayden Everett and Shaun Vapp in the best players.
The women played local side Monash Blues at Monash Uni on Sunday for the second match. The Blues came out firing 7 goals in the first quarter without the Krushers scoring. Monash continued their goal scoring with 5 with the scores at 77 to 0 at half time. The Krushers played a far better 3rd quarter to hold the Blues to 3 points but the we still could not score. The Blues managed to kick a further 2 in the last but the women had unable to score. Audrey Bosito, Crystal Van and Casey Morris were among the best.
Final Scores:
Seniors: Oakleigh 7.16.58 def Preston 7.12.54
Goals: Aaron Cloke 3, Trevor Bromley 2, Jack Davidson, Chris Grant
 Best: Pat Ioannidis, Shane Borland, Luke Pappon, Tom Nolan, Aaron Cloke, Leroy Moeller
Reserves: Oakleigh 14.8.92 def Preston 11.11.77
Goals: Josh Abela 3, Brodie Weymouth 3, Joed Cook, Rod Gonzalez, Nathan Miller, Jake Pappon, Matt Pearson, Michael Tate, Jaryd Wines, Josh Revere
 Best: Zac Thiessens, Josh Revere, Andrew Weymouth, Nathan Miller, James Chapple, Chris Pearson
U19s: Oakleigh 14.12.96 def Old Paradians 9.8.62
Goals: Chris Galanos 4, Dylan Goodwill 2, Ed Standish 2, Izaiah Elisaia, Mina Farid, Tim O’Donoghue, Hayden Everett, Harry Bootjes, Jacob Pearce
 Best: Chris Galanos, Dylan Goodwill, Mina Farid, Hayden Everett, Shaun Vapp, Harry Bootjes
Womens: Oakleigh 0-0-0 lt Monash Blues 14-12-96
Best: Audrey Bostio, Crystal Van, Casey Morris, Steph Wood, Shannen Bethune, Adrienne Ringin.