THIRDS:

A goalless first term has seen the Thirds fall to their ninth loss of the year, going down to UHS-VU at Bennettswood Reserve by 48 points.

Four goals from eight scoring shots to the away side in the first quarter caught the Animals unawares, before they limited their opposition to just two behinds and kicked one of their own in the second. 

At the beginning of the third quarter, the deficit was still reachable at 22 points but a barrage of inside 50s yielding another four goals from eleven scoring shots to UHS-VU gave them an arguably unattainable lead going into the last 20 minutes of the game. Two majors to both sides in the last quarter kept the buffer relatively the same at the final siren. 

Two goals to Brendan Ellwood, and one each to Sam Cordy and Fletcher Cooper were the only majors on the board for the Animals, as Cooper took top honours as best-on-ground and was joined by Khush Talati, Jacob Mitchell, Will Honey, Ellwood and vice-captain George Burgess on the top players’ list. 

Going into the VAFA representative bye and with four games left of the season, the Thirds sit eighth on the ladder with three wins, nine losses and a percentage of 56.24%. 

WP 4.5.29

UHS 10.17.77

RESERVES:

Another undermanned Reserves side left it all out on the park but were ultimately unable to catch a fit and firing Hawthorn side on Saturday, losing by 64 points at Rathmines Road Reserve. 

The game started relatively even as both sides managed three goals each in the first term, before the Hawks slowly got started and began their charge with a momentum shift in the second. 

Whatever was in the home side’s cordial at half-time worked wonders as the Animals struggled against their game plan and were unable to get the ball inside their forward 50 very often. When it did, the missed opportunities in the third term made the Seniors their own worst enemy as a one-goal-to-nine half meant they were fighting a losing battle. 

Sam Davis, Matthew Lewis, Matthew Price, Greg Rollo-Walker and Ray Kuhnell were the Animals’ five goalkickers, as Kuhnell, Davis and Rollo-Walker joined Harrison Jones, Liam Elso and Lachie Hicks rounded out the top six best players for the day. 

With six home and away games left of the year, the Reserves go into the bye third on the ladder, with nine wins, three losses and a percentage of 145.29%.

WP 5.5.35

HAW 15.9.99

SENIORS:

Not even a five-goal haul from first-year Animal Tom Hernan could save the Seniors from suffering their fifth loss of the year, going down to Hawthorn at Rathmines Road Reserve by 31 points on the weekend. 

On the back foot from the beginning, the Animals struggled to put pressure on the scoreboard, with Jonathan Greensides kicking their only goal of the first quarter, before Hernan got his goalkicking boots on in the second to kick the first two of his haul. But it wasn’t to be for the boys in the blue and blue, who went into the half-time break 36 points down after a six-goal siege from the Hawks. 

A better third quarter saw the Seniors peg back the deficit, but missed opportunities in front of the big sticks meant they were still down by twenty points for the final term. Four straight goals to the home side got them home by a comfortable margin as the Animals struggled for any real ascendency. 

Unsurprisingly, Hernan took best-on-ground honours for his bag of five, while Bailey Hunt, Tom Wales, Reece Luehman, Tom Clarke and James Moran rounded out the top-6 best. Luehman and Clarke were the other two goalkickers of the day, with two and one respectively.

At this stage of the season going into the VAFA representative bye, the Seniors sit fourth on the ladder with six games still to come, and seven wins, five losses and a percentage of 131.58% on the board.

WP 9.5.59

HAW 14.6.90