Seniors – Season Smashed By Xavs

In what turned out to be Coach John Kanis’ last game in charge, University Blues were comfortably beaten by a ruthless Old Xaverians in the 1st Semi Final. The first minutes gave no portent of things to come as Mick Monteith kicked the first goal for the game. Moments later, Pat Smith hit the post from a tight angle and the Blues looked to have some momentum. Sadly, it was not to be. The opposition slammed home seven goals in the remainder of the quarter to remind all gathered why they were favourites heading into the final. Mark Paterson was one Blue who was throwing himself at contests trying to stem the tide, but could not buy any luck. The second quarter was equally awful. Xavs slotted through another eight goals to quash any idea that the northern end was the better end to kick toward. By the time the siren mercifully rang for half time, the Blues were a gigantic 73 points in arrears and the season was all but over. Coach-in-waiting Fergus Watts was furious and must have been questioning what he had gotten himself in for. Down back, captain Matt Torney and full-back Tom Maddocks fought manfully but they had too few helping them. Only Monteith and Paterson could join the two defenders in holding their heads up high, as most Blues looked absurdly out of place on the expanses of Elsternwick Park. The second half brought much-needed respite. Reminiscent of junior football, many Blues started the half at the opposite end of the ground to their norm. The Blues kept Xavs goal-less in the third term while pegging back a couple for themselves. Pat Hayes ran hard around the half-forward line to take a few marks and kick a couple of goals, but one could not help but think that Old Xaverians knew they had done enough for the day. The final term was easily the Blues best. Although it was fanciful to think that they could come back, especially after the opposition added the first two goals of the quarter, the Blues earned some respect. The Blues reduced the margin to 25 points and even ended the game with more scoring shots. Smith got some swagger back after adding his second, while full-back-turned-full-forward Maddocks also kicked two. Big man Jack Watts continued to work as hard as he could but they could not undo the damage of the first half. The 2011 season ends somewhat disappointingly as the Blues showed they were a capable team but were probably too inconsistent. Players will spend time regretting errors before hitting the track hard in a couple of months.

University Blues: 12 – 12 – 84

Old Xaverians: 17 – 7 – 109

Best: M.Monteith, P.Hayes, M.Torney, T.Maddocks, J.Watts, M.Paterson

Goals: P.Smith 2, M.Monteith 2, T.Maddocks 2, M.Paterson 1, B.McConnell 1, P.Hayes 1, J.Mugavin 1, M.Torney 1, M. Steinbach 1

Reserves – Pipped At The Death

The Mighty Uni Blues Twos lost only one game through the home and away season and bettered Old Xaverians on two occasions. But finals football is a different ball game as Coach Baumgartner’s men found out on Elsternwick Park. In a low-scoring affair, Xavs managed two late goals to hit the front and hold on to the final siren. The Blues started the game strongly against the breeze as they went into the quarter time huddle only a goal in arrears. As he has done all season, Ben Millard marshalled troops in defence to halt many Xaverian attacks and launch Blue attacks from within the defensive half. By his side against some big Xav forwards was Tom Calvert, fresh from a holiday in Tahiti. Showing no ill-effects, Calvert out-played his large opponents and speedily ran the ball from danger. The wind began to die down, but the Blues tried to use the last of it in the second quarter. Unfortunately, they missed more than they kicked and as a result were still four points down at the long break. Veteran Quinton Gleeson kicked two goals and was using courage and guile to play well through the middle and up forward, but some miserly Old Xaverian defenders kept the Blues at bay. The third term was the Blues’ best. The game was continually being played in their half of the ground and the opposition was under pressure the entire time. Unfortunately the Blues were not able to kick accurately as they kicked two goals and five behinds. Jack Heinz was doing his best for the Blues and put pressure on through the middle of the ground. At the final break, the Blues lead by a solitary goal. Disappointingly the Blues were only able to add two behinds in the final term as the Old Xaverians slipped forward to kick two goals. Despite the best efforts from the likes of Shaun Bryce and Jack Maxwell, the Xav onballers kept on winning possession late in the game to deny the Blues by a solitary goal. The loss means that the Blues will face Collegians next Sunday at Elsternwick Park in a do-or-die Preliminary Final. The teams take to the field at 11:40am and the Blues will be looking to make amends for their second loss of the year.

University Blues: 5 – 11 – 41

Old Xaverians: 7 – 5 – 47

Best: T.Calvert, J.Heinz, B.Millard, Q.Gleeson, S.Bryce, J.Maxwell

Goals: Q.Gleeson 2, L.Michell 1, D.Withers 1, A.Weddell 1

Thirds – Fly The Blue Flag

An early alarm woke players in the University Blues Tertiary Team as they took to the field at shortly after 9am to play De La Salle in the first semi final. A howling southerly was blowing and Blues’ Captain Dave Marshall wisely chose to kick with it in the first term. Despite the early start, the Blues were quickly away to a lead with Llewyn Butler doing the damage through the middle. Playing in his first game for the thirds, Butler aggressively won the ball from the centre square before resting forward to slot a few goals to get the Blues away. By the first break, the Blues were four goals up but would need to defend stoutly if they were to maintain that lead for the half. And defend they did. Will Robinson continued his solid season marking opposition kicks and he regularly repelled Sallian forward forays. Playing a role he was born to do, Jason Clifford drifted across the backline unmarked and must have broken records for kicking balls out of the defensive 45m arc. At half time, the Blues had maintained their lead and held a 25 point advantage. The players in the Blue and Black knew that the game wasn’t over and came out full of run in the third quarter. Butler continued to punish his opponents and Marshall slipped through the middle skilfully to kick two goals. In the backline, Aaron Harris was ruthless in his spoiling attempts and refused to get beaten, making it difficult for De La Salle to score. By the time the three quarter time siren sounded, the Blues held a 45 point lead and it would take a Herculean effort for De La Salle to come back from that position. The Blues hammered the nails into the coffin in the final quarter. Andrew Walsh kicked his second as Rory Kennedy continued to run and link up all over the ground. Butler kicked his fourth in a best on ground display, while Jared Edwards snuck in to kick a pair. The Blues humbled their opponents by 60 points after being bettered in both home and away fixtures against De La Salle. The Tertiary Team has improved all year and now takes on Collegians in the Preliminary Final next Sunday at Elsternwick Park. Set your alarm to get up early and be there by 9:20am to see Bobby G’s Boys in action. Go Blues.

University Blues: 13 – 8 – 86

De La Salle: 3 – 8 – 26

Best: L.Butler, J.Clifford, R.Kennedy, D.Marshall, W.Robinson, A.Harris

Goals: L.Butler 4, A.Walsh 2, D.Marshall 2, J.Edwards 2, J.Crawford 1, J.Westmore 1, N.MacRae 1