Wattle Park has gone one from three at Bennettswood Reserve on the weekend as the Reserves and Seniors both suffered at the hands of Elsternwick, but only after a comeback win for the ages from the Women, whose nail-biting two-point win against Brunswick will go down as one of their best. Away at Frearson Oval and with the late start time, the Thirds weren’t bothered, once against beating the Monash Blues by 23 points and creating a three-team race for the final Finals spot.
The Reserves have suffered their sixth loss of the season, Elsternwick taking the win by 25 points on Saturday. Miskicking in front of goal kept the scoreline closer than it should have been, with both teams unable to get a handle on it going into quarter-time. Five goals from eight scoring shots to two goals from three in the second term put the Animals well onto the back foot, from which they weren’t able to recover as the momentum swung decidedly into the away side’s favour. With the lead in hand, Elsternwick were able to continue their dominance, a 29-point margin at three-quarter-time denying the Reserves a chance to get in front, despite kicking four goals in the last term. Jacob Glare earned best-on-ground honours for his performance, while a return to the Reserves side has done wonders for Jordy Rodda, who continues his good form for the club. Joining them on the best players list is Lachie Hicks, Fletcher Cooper, and two elevated debutants in Lochie Sketcher and Aman Singh. Seven individual goalkickers managed to get on the scoreboard, with two each from Jarrod Sandells and Jacob Mitchell.
The Seniors’ form slump extends to four losses in a row after going down to Elsternwick by just eight points on the weekend. Despite a five-goal-to-two first quarter, from 11 and two scoring shots respectively, the Animals were ultimately unable to get the job done. An inspired second term from the opposition saw the buffer cut to just seven points at the main break as the Seniors slowly started to lose the momentum. Missed opportunities in front of goal, a consistent theme for the day it seems, kept Elsternwick closer than they arguably should have been. Nine points separated the teams going into the final quarter, with four scoring shots to seven, of which one goal to four were kicked, was the difference as the away side ran away with it. Captain Harry Davis tops the best players list, joined by the usual suspects of Joden Crothers, Nathan Bird, Baxter Newbegin and Tom Clarke. Newbegin continued his goalkicking run with another three, while both Bird and Daniel Hill kicked two of their own.
An 11-point deficit at the final break has been whittled away by the Women, who took down a fierce Brunswick side by just two points after an inspiring last-term effort. With much of the play for the first half of the game in the away side’s control, the Animals wrestled back some momentum in the later stages of the second quarter, a Liv Walker goal getting them back into it. Two goals to Brunswick in the third quarter might have had the game won, but a goal from Rose Kennedy with less than three minutes to go reminded the Animals they still had one last quarter left. Eager to keep their lead, Brunswick came out in the final term intent on stoppages and contests, but with 10 minutes to go, the Women had had enough and flipped the switch. A behind to both sides had the deficit back at 11 points and with consistent pressure, the Animals were finally able to get another goal on the board, through the efforts of Emily Severin, who had been moved to the backline for the final term but managed to sneak her way forward. Suddenly, everything seemed possible with the margin at less than a goal. The home side was rolling now, the momentum swinging firmly in their favour as the ball barely made it past the middle of the ground before it was booted back towards the pavilion. A mark from Kennedy at the top of the 50 settled the team before an expert lead from Ashton Billing saw her with a shot on goal almost directly in front, the ball no doubt in the hands of one of the Animals’ best users. Now with a tiny lead, the Animals put their heads down, leaving Brunswick with no room to move as the seconds ticked down. Scrounging another behind in the final few minutes of the game to keep the ball down their end of the ground, the Women ultimately sealed a fourth-quarter come-from-behind-win to get their second set of four points in a row.
The Thirds have won their seventh game of the season after taking down the Monash Blues in their rematch on Saturday. The Animals got going early, keeping their noses in front for much of the game and denying the home side a sniff. With a six-point margin going into the third quarter, the Thirds kicked four goals to one, with Monash’s inability to convert in front of the big sticks allowing the Animals a larger buffer. A rather even final term saw the Animals get the job done with relative ease, moving to third on the ladder. Only three goals for Caden MacDonald from his 10 disposals, who continues his run of at least a goal a game. Benjamin Kearns was once again best-on, joined by Daniel Thorson, Cameron Muratore and, for the first time all season, WIll Taylor, who appears to have broken his streak of zero touches.
For round eleven, Bennettswood Reserve will be home to a second consecutive, and final, triple-header as the Women, Reserves and Seniors run out at their usual times of 9:20am, 11:40am and 2pm respectively, facing La Trobe and Brunswick. All three squads will be looking to even up the ledger after suffering losses to those teams earlier in the season. A trip to Elsternwick awaits for the Thirds, with first bounce scheduled for 11:40am.
FINAL SCORES - ROUND TEN
Monash Blues v Thirds: 7.8.50 - 11.7.73
Reserves v Elsternwick: 9.10.64 - 12.17.89
Women v Brunswick: 4.4.28 - 4.2.26
Seniors v Elsternwick: 10.13.73 - 12.9.81