2015 VAFA Premier B Award Winners

2015 Ajax Award Winners
Michael Ritterman Seniors Best & Fairest - Adam Caplan
Seniors 2^nd Best & Fairest - Jake Lew
Seniors 3^rd Best & Fairest - Brad Caplan
John Brustman Golden Boot Award - Jake Lew                            
Richard Pratt & AJN Trophy for Supporters Best - Jake Lew
Seniors Best First Year Player - AJ Thurin           
Lionel Rosenberg Senior Coach's Award - Adam Caplan
Daryl Cohen Seniors Most Courageous Player - Jarryd Ludski                   
Seniors Most Improved Player - Jordan Bade-Boon  
David Merkel Seniors Most Determined Player - Corey Jankie                    

Barry Linde Reserves Best & Fairest - Daniel Janover-Rocha
Reserves 2^nd Best & Fairest - Nadav Greenberger
Reserves 3^rd Best & Fairest - Roi Abraham
Reserves Coach's Award - Jamie Lewis

Thirds Best & Fairest - Eli Adelist 
Thirds 2^nd Best & Fairest - Benji Jones
Thirds 3^rd Best & Fairest - Jeremy Herz
Thirds Coach’s Award - Tamir Goldberg

Women’s Best & Fairest - Toni Hamilton
Women’s 2^nd Best & Fairest - Tamara Epshtein
Women’s 3^rd Best & Fairest - Danielle Robinson
Women’s Coach’s Award - Jess Marget
Women’s Most Courageous & Determined - Chelsea Fisher

Jeffrey Jankie President’s Trophy - Mark Mitchell / Craig Joel 

Mark Feldy Best Club Person Award - Daniella Abraham 

2015 Caulfield Award Winners 

Seniors Best and Fairest Winner - Tim Nixon
Seniors Runner Up - Jay Neratzoglou
Seniors Third place - Will Barker 

Morley Trophy - Jay Neratzoglou

Reserves Best and Fairest Winner - Sam Wood
Reserves Runner-Up - Will Osborn
Reserves Third Place - Lachie Gallop

Under 19 Best and Fairest Winner - Tom Smith
Under 19 Runner Up - Lachie Topp, Harrison Mills
Joe Avery Trophy - Geoff Noblett

2015 Fitzroy Award Winners (‘The Redlow’)
Seniors
Greg Roughsedge Perpetual Trophy - Daniel Bisetto
Best & Fairest Runner Up - Al Green
Reds Foundation Best First Year Player - Nathan Ligris
Marsden – Moriarty Superboot Trophy - Corbin Stevic
Coach’s Award - Nick Marshall

Fitzroy-ACU Women’s team
Elaine Findlay Perpetual Trophy - Remy Coleman
Best & Fairest Runner Up - Alexa Madden
Coach’s award - Claire Forbes

Reserves
Marc Marsden Perpetual Trophy - Alex Ricco
Best & Fairest Runner Up - James Meakin 
Coach’s Award - Sam Dalton

Under 19s
Stephen Drury Perpetual Trophy - Max Davie
Best & Fairest Runner Up - Sean Laidlaw 
Coach’s Award -  Angus Ryan

Thirds   
Tim Madden Perpetual Trophy - Adam Cicchini
Best & Fairest Runner Up - Tim DeNatris
Coach’s Award - Trent Coleman

Club Person Award - Wendy Symonds

2015 Hampton Rovers Award Winners
Seniors
Best & Fairest (Bob Cave Medal): Daniel Corp
Runner-Up - Leigh Fletcher
3rd-Place - Adam McNeil
4th-Place - Richard Atkins
5th-Place - Mark Devereaux

Reserves
Best & Fairest (Dom Devloa Medal) - Ben Kezilas
Runner-Up - Daniel Andersen
Most Consistent - Jake Connell
Most Reliable - Lachlan Wheeler
Most Improved - Jesse Parsons

Under 19
Best & Fairest (McGregor Medal) - Darcy Merlo
Runner-Up - Jack Stewart
3rd-Place - Ryan Fogarty
Most Determined - Jack Zaina
Best Team Man (Mark Johannsen Memorial Trophy) - Matt Oswald

Thirds
Best and Fairest - Vincent Camera
Runner-Up - Jack Massie
Best Team Man - Liam Dynon

Best Clubman - Matthew Gray

2015 Mazenod Award Winners
Best and Fairest - Stuart Inglis
2nd Best and Fairest - Robert Mann
3rd Best and Fairest - Nick Thomas
Most Consistent - Tim Wilson
Most Determined - Jace Kelly
Club Leading Goal kicker - Jacob Murdock

2015 Old Melburnians Award Winners
Seniors - Ted De Fegely
Reserves - Ed McMullin & Harry Maccioli
Thirds - Andy Cameron
Under 19s - Sandy McFarlane

2015 Parkdale Vultures Award Winners
Seniors
Best and Fairest (Hugh O'Donnell Memorial Shield) - Charlie Dillon
Runner-Up - Tom Redmond
3rd place - Dan Moloney
Most Consistent - Michael Meyer
Most Courageous (Terry Diggeden Memorial) - Tim Boland
Most Improved (William Soulsby Award) - Jack Edwards
Coaches Award - Nathan Ng
Team Efforts - Tom Redmond

Reserves Best and Fairest (Gerald Robertson & Stephen King Memorial Shield) - Reid Irvine Runner-Up - Jesse Waters

3rd place - Adam Knight

Most Consistent - Jesse Balic

Most Determined - Mac O'Donnell
Coaches Award (Peter Perazzo Memorial Award) - Darcy Ballard

Thirds Best and Fairest - Jason Austin

Under 19 Best and Fairest (Matthew O'Leary Memorial Award) - James Clark
Runner-Up - Jack Vorbach
3rd place - Brad Austin
Most Improved - Kye Steegstra
Most Consistent - James Salouris
Most Courageous - Matthew Francis
Most Determined - Andrew Watterson
Coaches Award - Ryan Stringer
Best Finals - James Clark

Under 19 – Section 2
Best and Fairest - Izar Daou
Runner-Up - Tom Richards
3rd place - Pablo Borboa
Most Improved - Ollie Herd
Most Consistent - Matthew Rattenbury
Most Courageous - Sam Davies
Most Determined - James Barker
Coaches Award - Samuel Timuska–Carr

Club Awards
Best Club Person (Harry O'Brien Memorial Award) - John Meade
Aggregate Goal Kicker - James Salouris (35)
Brian Hunt Encouragement Award - James Everest

Best 1st Year Player (Joe Godfrey Memorial Award) - Dan Moloney

2015 St Bedes/Mentone Tigers Award Winners
Club Champion award (William Groves Trophy) - Tom Tyquin
Runner-Up - Simon Richards
Most Courageous (E J Turner Trophy) - Chris Mangoni
Best Team Player (Doug Patterson Trophy) - Tom Garside
Most Consistent (Michael Hecker Trophy) - Pat Tyquin
Most Versatile - Tim Doherty
Most Valuable - Brayden O'Toole
Best First Year Player - James Colyvan
Coaches Award - Michael Barnes
Leading Goal Kicker - Luke Velluto (64 Goals)
Best Finals Player - James Tyquin
Mark of the Year - Chris Richards
Goal of the Year - Chris Richards

Reserves
Best and Fairest - Dale Foley
Runner-Up - Lewis Stutterd
Most Consistent - Chris McCready
Most Improved - Johnny Cayhan
Best Team Player - Luke Porter
Coaches Award - Ben Hodges
Best Finals Player - Mark Geschke
Leading Goal Kicker - Matthew Caia (45 Goals)

Under 19's
Best and Fairest - Kieran Arthur
Runner-Up - Max Millwood
Most Consistent - Daniel Pilch
Most Improved - Conor Shaw
Best Team Player - Dane Heverin
Coaches Award - Ben Hubeek
Leading Goal Kicker - Lachlan Palfrey

George Alexander Memorial Trophy for Best Clubman - Tom Brain

2015 St Kevins Award Winners
Seniors
Best & Fairest (Jack Douglas Perpetual Trophy): Philip EDGAR
Runner-up Best & Fairest (Denis Davies Perpetual Trophy): William COATES
Best First Year Player (Robert Hawkins Perpetual Trophy): Kelvin WILLIAMS
Coach’s Award: Billy KANAKIS
Leading Goal kicker (Des Shiel Perpetual Trophy): Philip EDGAR (43 goals)

Reserves
Best & Fairest (John Chapman Perpetual Trophy): Julian STAFFIERI
Runner-up Best & Fairest: Matthew LATTANZIO
Coach’s Award: Michael TURNBULL
Leading Goal kicker: Jack MULLEN (40 goals)

Premier Thirds
Best & Fairest (John Allan Perpetual Trophy):  Thomas JOHNSTON
Runner-up Best & Fairest: Matthew ROBERTS
Coach’s Award:  Charles RANDLES
Leading Goal kicker: Daniel KERR (26 goals)

Premier B Thirds
Best & Fairest: Michael MOORE
Runner-up Best & Fairest: Scott KAISER
Coach’s Award: Michael DAVY
Leading Goal kicker: William DOBLE (30 goals)

Premier Under 19
Best & Fairest (Les Radford Perpetual Trophy): Lachlan MERRETT
Runner-up Best & Fairest: Francesco BONACCI
Coach’s Award:  James SLEVISON
Leading Goal kicker: Francesco BONACCI (30 goals)

Section 4 Under 19
Best & Fairest:    Nicholas MILNE
Runner-up Best & Fairest: Hamish BURRILL
Coach’s Award: Macgregor MATTHEWS
Leading Goal kicker: Lachlan WRAY (59 goals)

VAFA Premier B Grand Final - St Kevin's OB v Old Melburnians; September 19, 2015

I am new to the Amateurs this year, so it will be a long time before I have a true appreciation of what St Kevin’s Old Boys Football Club has achieved in season 2015. I think I’m safe in saying very few teams have had a season like it. To be so dominant and go undefeated in a season is a rare enough occurrence; to do so with the added burden of internal and external expectations stemming from ten years of finals action but no ultimate success makes it even more extraordinary. Just to put the cherry on top, to be 44 points down in the final game of the year and still come back and win…

I have to say, I’m glad there is no word limit on my Premier B Grand Final review because I honestly couldn’t capture everything that was seen, felt and heard on this day in 1000 lousy words.

Sportscover Arena in Elsternwick was buzzing on a beautiful spring day. SKOBbers of all shapes and sizes had come to see the completion of a history-making 20-0 season while Old Melburnians, riding high after toppling St Bede’s/Mentone with a 73 point turnaround in the Prelim, held hopes of causing a massive upset and joining their Reserves team on the winners podium.

The OMs Ressies won the curtain raiser, ironically against St Bede’s/Mentone, by 40 points after opening with a seven goal to nil opening quarter. Josh Rundell won the best-on-ground medal and Ben Nicholl was named best for the Tigers.

Old Melburnians suffered a blow at the selection table, with Josh Freezer called up to the Essendon VFL team. He was brilliant in the OMs preliminary final victory and in my preview I had highlighted him as a significant piece of the puzzle if they had any chance of snatching a victory.

I parked myself in the grandstand (no press box for me!) and found myself seated behind the wife and some extended family of St Kevin’s president Paul Murphy, and just along from me were a group of OMs supporters. It’s the beauty of the game of footy: we have no need for fences or barriers separating supporters and can enjoy the game without attacking each other. If anything, as a neutral observer squeezed in between supporters of both sides, my location offered me a unique perspective on the match.

The crew from 96.5 Inner FM were on hand to cover the game and it was being live streamed through the VAFA website. Opinion was divided in the commentary box as to how the game would play out. The majority view seemed to be that OMs did well to make it this far but St Kevin’s would get up quite comfortably. On the surface it was hard to argue with this. SKOBs were undefeated all season with an average winning margin of over 70 points. They’d had a week’s rest and won both 2015 contests against OMs by 91 and 86 points.

However, there were a couple of dissenting voices who gave the OMs more of a chance. It was pointed out that while it might have appeared a mismatch on paper, Grand Finals consist of two hours of footy and anything can happen. OMs should have been coming into the game full of confidence in their own ability after toppling the Tigers by seven goals in a 73-point turnaround. They would have also been heartened by the Tigers semi-final performance against St Kevin’s, where they pushed the SKOBs the whole way and were within five points late in the game. Logically, if the Tigers could do it, there was no reason the OMs couldn’t do the same. I picked St Kevin’s to win by five goals.

First Quarter:
Old Melb    4.3-27 (N. De Steiger, A. Armstrong, N. Daish, S. Watson)
St Kevins   3.1-19 (G. Gleeson, J. Gysberts, H. Parkes)
It was clear right from the first bounce that OMs had come to play. Nick Daish got the first centre clearance, straight to George Hurley-Wellington for the first forward thrust. Ted De Fegely had the first shot on goal from the boundary on a tight angle and Nick Voyage missed soon after. Not surprisingly there was a bit of niggle early on, and Steve Salopek was slow to get up after being felled at a stoppage in the middle of the ground.

St Kevins took five minutes to make a meaningful entry inside their forward arc, but when they did they made the most of it. Ben Dowd was in the action early and he got the ball to big man Gerard Gleeson who converted a set shot for the first goal of the game. After the first goal, there was a knowing comment from the behind the microphone “And that’s the first sign of what’s to come in this game.”

There was some confusion about the redhead wearing #94 for Old Melburnians. He turned out to be Justin De Steiger, brother of OMs big man Nick. After Justin was the recipient of a kicking-in-danger free kick, he tumbled a kick forward to the goal square and it fortuitously landed in the arms of the other De Steiger, who kicked the OMs first for the day. There was some musing in the commentary box that that play may have been honed and practised.

One thing that stood out was OM’s pressure all over the ground. Their forwards made it difficult for the SKOBs defenders to get any sort of uncontested possession and this was affecting their decision-making. Stephen Gilham finally got his hands on the ball and marked strongly outside the arc, but failed to convert the set shot. A couple of minutes later the ball came back and Jordan Gysberts had an opportunity for a goal and made no mistake.

The indecision of the St Kevins defence was on display when Zach Ginies went across goal to Charles Ring who sent it down the wing straight to an OMs midfielder. The OMs wasted no time bringing the ball straight back through Tom Paule who went to Gibbons and finished up with a mark to Al Armstrong in the goal square.

Up the other end, the OMs defence were giving the St Kevin’s forwards absolutely nothing. This was best illustrated at the 25-minute mark when a SKOB jumper thought he had found his way through and immediately got unceremoniously dumped by two defenders, including Theo Rosenthal. Nick Daish gave OMs the lead when he ran onto a tap from Justin De Steiger and kicked truly.

St Kevins fought back through Salopek’s creative work at a stoppage. He managed to tap the ball to Ben Dowd, who went for a run and speared a pass to the chest of Henry Parkes. Parkes kicked the set shot through big sticks.

The final goal of the term was the result of an exciting fast-moving passage of play from OMs that almost came unstuck but, as the old saying goes, “when you’re hot, you’re hot.” Lachie Borthwick got the clearance from a throw-in on the SKOB half forward line; Tom Hywood went for a run down the wing, turned a couple of evasive circles and nearly got caught; Tom Paule ran the ball into his forward arc and nearly got caught trying to handball over the top to himself; Paule earned a free kick in the goal square when he was ridden into the turf but Stuart Watson took the advantage and ran into the open goal.

OMs had another couple of forward thrusts before the end of the quarter. A Tom Bachet miskick was marked on the line by Kelvin Williams and the St Kevins defence managed to hold firm under intense pressure to prevent the OMs lead from getting any bigger. When the siren finally sounded to end a frenetic and action-packed first quarter, the crowd was able to take a collective breath and OMs were leading the SKOBs 4.3.27 to 3.1.19.

There was an interesting discussion from the Inner FM team at quarter time. Ken Petruccio declared the wind heading to the golf course end to be worth ‘five or six goals’ and this was met with mirth and mocking from the other commentators:
“It’s not cyclonic, Ken! It’s not a hurricane. Five or six goals? Are you serious?”
“Yes I am serious, it’s worth that much. It blows a lot harder down there than it does up here.”
Ken would be proved right, as Old Melburnians kicked seven goals in the second term and St Kevins replied with 5.8 in the third.

Second Quarter:
Old Melb 11.5.71 (7.2 in 2^nd qtr) (Beck 2, Watson 2 De Steiger, Rosenthal, Paule)
St Kevins  5.5.35 (2.4 in 2^nd qtr) (B. McCann, K Williams)   
The message from the OMs coaches at the break was to keep the pressure and intensity up, and that’s exactly what the players did. Their tackling was ferocious. Cameron Beck wrapped up SKOBs defender William Coates who appeared to throw it away but no free kick was given. Nick De Steiger got one a little later and kicked truly from the resultant free. One of the commentators remarked “It looks as though OMs haven’t touched a ball all week and have just been doing tackling practise!”

The OMs scored three goals in seven minutes through Beck, De Steiger and Watson, to open up a 25 point lead. After the Watson goal an elderly SKOB supporter near me, racked with tension, informed his group “I’m going for a walk,” and off he shuffled.

Up the other end, the goal umpire was not interested in making friends with SKOB Hill. Zach Ginies had a chance on the run but the kick grubbed along the ground and just cleared the line accompanied by tremendous cheers from the St Kevins faithful, but the goal umpire deemed it had just hit the post. I was sitting on the other side of the ground but I dare say the next 25 minutes would not have been fun for him.

The remark was made during commentary that it was good to see St Kevins finally getting challenged and it meant we would get to see how good they really were. Prophetic words indeed.

The next 20 minutes were surely St Kevins worst period of footy for the entire season. Mistakes were common and their decision making and skill execution was poor. They were outmuscled, outplayed and outrun. In the crowd all around me there were sighs, groans, finger-pointing and people covering their eyes. OMs piled on three more goals through Stuart Watson, Theo Rosenthal and Tom Paule. Kelvin Williams, normally a reliable and skilful defender, dropped a couple of simple marks and fumbled under OMs forward pressure. OMs forward George Hurley-Wellington pounced on one of those mistakes at half-forward and sent the ball inside the arc to Watson, who ran into an open goal. St Kevin’s run through the midfield and defensive pressure seemed to have disappeared altogether. Tom Paule’s goal came after a ridiculously easy chain of handballs in the forward arc and at one point SKOB ruckman Dylan Jones marked the ball in the middle of the ground and did two full circles looking for an option running past, but could find nothing.

At the 21 minute mark of the quarter, Old Melburnians led by 44 points. The question was continually asked during commentary “How long can OMs keep this up?” and it was about 24 minutes in that it was observed their intensity started dropping off slightly and St Kevins started making some attacking moves. Phil Edgar and Stephen Gilham both managed behinds and then Brad McCann took a mark inside the arc and kicked truly for SKOBs first goal of the quarter 26 minutes in. Cam Beck quickly replied for OMs but then St Kevins worked the ball forward and found Kelvin Williams who had been moved from the backline and proved his versatility by converting a morale-boosting goal just before the half time siren.

St Kevins might have been six goals down, but no one dared count them out of this game. They would be kicking with the wind in the third quarter and their second halves had been dominant all season. They had proved a lot to everyone during the season, but with one half left on the biggest day of the footy calendar, this was their chance to show just how good the SKOB machine really was.       

Third Quarter:
Old Melb 12.5.77 (1.0 in 3^rd qtr) (A. Armstrong)
St Kevins 10.13.73 (5.8 in 3^rd qtr) (S. Gilham 2, C. Ring, D. Jones, K. Wissell)
St Kevins did all the attacking in the first ten minutes but could only manage five behinds. Williams and Gilham both had chances but were not successful. They paid for this lack of scoreboard pressure when OMs pushed the ball forward and Al Armstrong took a mark in the right forward pocket. He ran around and kicked truly, and it was the OMs only score for the quarter. Gilham earned himself a free kick in front of goal on a slight angle but turned the ball over when he elected to pass off but the kick did not reach his intended target and the OMs rushed it out of bounds to regroup.

Dylan Jones took a big pack mark and converted the goal, starting a run of five SKOB goals to end the quarter. Karl Wissell was next with a clever opportunistic goal from a stoppage in the forward pocket. OMs ruckman De Steiger tapped it straight toward the St Kevin’s goal and for some reason there was nary an OMs defender to be seen on the goal line, making the goal simpler for the SKOB #10. Charles Ring then marked inside 50 but his set shot faded to the left.

Lachie Borthwick tried to make something happen for OMs by taking on everyone in sight down the boundary line; he gained about 30 metres on his own but unfortunately ran out of room. From the stoppage Gerard Gleeson pinched the ball, took a couple of bounces and got the ball to Jordan Gysberts who kicked their third in five minutes. Gilham took advantage of the disorganised OMs defence to take another contested mark and this time he kicked it straight through the middle. When Gilham kicked his second for the quarter at the 29-minute mark the crowd went nuts, the SKOBs were within four points and had all the momentum going into the final quarter of the season.

Fourth Quarter:
St Kevins             13.18.96 (3.5 in 4^th qtr) (P. Edgar, S. Gilham, Z. Ginies)
Old Melburnians 13.7.85 (1.2 in 4^th qtr) (T. De Fegely)

Regardless of where the momentum was or what the feeling was around the ground, OMs were determined not to go down without a fight. They still had the lead and were kicking with the wind in the last quarter. Ted De Fegely kicked the first for the OMs to put them 10 points clear. Stuart Watson dashed away from half back, took three bounces and had a chance for another one, but his kick on the run dropped short and it was marked in the square by William Coates.

The longer the quarter went, the tempo, pressure and intensity lifted, which was exacerbated by long periods with no score from either team. Every possession was earned. SKOB Callum Matheson missed a quick snap from a stoppage and five minutes later up the other end of the ground Rosenthal’s quick kick was touched off the boot. Edgar and Gilham also missed shots as SKOBs edged closer but still trailed. Finally, at the 18 minute mark St Kevins received a free kick inside 50 and Phil Edgar took the advantage and ran into the open goal, which brought the SKOBs within two points of the lead.

The pressure was getting to everyone, even the very best, as GT Moore medal runner-up Steven Salopek took a contested mark but missed a very gettable set shot. Stephen Gilham was paid a mark in front of goal but it was debatable whether he had enough of it (OMs certainly didn’t think so). Regardless, he went back and slotted the goal, putting the SKOBs in the lead for the first time since the start of the match.

Nick Daish took a mark up the other end but his set shot faded right. Henry Parkes took a nice mark on the lead near goal but failed to put it through, giving OMs one last chance to make a forward thrust. SKOBs put enough pressure on and forced the ball back in their half of the ground and it was left to Zach Ginies to kick the sealing goal.

As it turned out, after the Ginies goal at the 27 minute mark there was only 20 seconds remaining. I had this great plan to get the last couple of minutes on video and capture all the reactions. So I stood up and got my phone out and before I had a chance to record anything, the siren rang and SKOB Hill streamed onto the ground, embracing their players in all the euphoria and emotions of victory.

It was a famous victory, capping off an incredible 20-0 season and well and truly getting the September “monkey-off-the-back” which has plagued St Kevins for the last ten years; so often being part of the finals action but unable to take that next step up to the Premier division.

Being a neutral observer out in the middle of premiership celebrations is an odd, but at the same time heartwarming, feeling. SKOBs coach Daniel Harford was overwhelmed with emotion and I was able to capture a nice post-match moment between he and his Old Melburnians counterpart Nathan Brown, who no doubt would have been feeling shattered but was magnanimous in defeat.

Stephen Gilham was awarded the Ian Cordner medal for best-on-ground (presented by the man himself). He kicked 3.5 and was always a dangerous prospect for the OMs defence. St Kevins president Paul Murphy had the job of handing out the premiership medals and it was especially poignant that the first player up on the podium was his son Matthew.

I thought it was a nice touch that three other players who weren’t part of the premiership 22 due to injury, but still played significant roles in the SKOB campaign during the season, were also acknowledged with medals: Ben Sullivan, Billy Kanakis and Chris Gleeson.

I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to cover Premier B this year. It was an enjoyable, high quality competition which always threw up its share of surprises each week, and this Grand Final was the cherry on top.

Next season we say farewell to St Kevins and Old Melburnians (Premier), Mazenod and Caulfield (Premier C) and welcome Old Scotch and Beaumaris down from Premier and Old Haileybury and Monash Blues up from Premier C.

2nd quarter...

Half time...

The SKOB Comeback...Three Quarter Time

They've done it! Victory to St Kevins

Heathdale Hornets U12A Boys and U14A Boys Grand Finals, September 19, 2015

U14 Boys A Grade: Heathdale Hornets 18 lost to St Andrews Jets 28
The Heathdale Hornets Under 14 Boys took on the St Andrews Jets in the A Grade Grand Final. The Jets were undefeated all season and top of the ladder, while the Hornets finished second with 11 wins and three losses. The teams met three times during the season and two of them were close contests. In Round 3 the Jets won 22-19, in Round 9 it was 29-16 and in their most recent meeting the Hornets just fell short, 28-25.

The Hornets were undersized and only had five players, so they were behind the eight-ball from the start. Connor was fouled early on and made both free throws to open the scoring for the Hornets. St Andrews then went on a nice little run, thanks largely to Harrison White who had 15 points for the game. Finding themselves down 13-3, the Hornets mounted a challenge, with Connor and Nash scoring four points each in quick time. Together with great defensive pressure from Kane and Jack, the Hornets ensured we had a game on our hands, going into half time down 12-14. Connor and Nash were the Hornets only scorers in the half, with six points each.

Tevyn tied the game up with the first basket of the second half but then the Jets scored six consecutive points to skip away to a handy lead. Connor got one back, but regular fouls were giving the Jets too many opportunities to extend their lead. When Tevyn scored again it brought the Hornets back within 18-23 but once again the Jets got away through successful foul shots and then Nash got fouled off with 1:20 remaining, leaving the underdogs with four players on the court. The final score was 28-18 in favour of the green mob, capping off a great season for them. Well done also to the Hornets who persevered and persisted, pushing their taller, more rested opponents for the whole 40 minutes. Nash led the Hornets with eight points, Connor scored six and Tevyn had four points.

U12 Boys A Grade: Heathdale Hornets 23 lost to Flames Embers 25
The Heathdale Hornets Under 12 Boys came up against Flames Embers in their A Grade Grand Final. Flames had dominated the season, winning 11 out of 12 games with a percentage of 229, while the Hornets finished third with 8 wins and 4 losses. They earned their way into the Grand Final by toppling second placed St Peters 37-24 in the semi-final.

I was informed by one of the parents that the Hornets chances of winning were “about 5 percent if we’re lucky,” but in a bonus for the underdogs, Flames were without their big centre Josh which gave the Hornets an advantage and made their big guy Mekhi the tallest player on the court.

Kyan kicked off the scoring for the Hornets with a free throw and Flames quickly replied with a couple of baskets. The Hornets initially struggled to get their defence right, with several fouls in quick succession. Eventually things started to click up the defensive end and their pressure, led by smalls Kyan, Jesse and Austin forced the Flames to pass the ball around the outside and they struggled to find a way in. Up the other end though, the Hornets were taking full advantage of the absence of Flames centre Josh, getting plenty of rebounds and shots up but they just weren’t going in. Paul, Lachlan, Mekhi and Austin all contributed baskets or free throws late in the half and the Hornets went into half time with a one point lead, 9-8.

Mekhi struck first for the Hornets in the second half, thanks to a clever pass from Jack keeping the ball inbounds. Jack joined the list of scorers next with a nice jump shot and then Flames replied with two baskets of their own. Jacob and Daniel made free throws and Jesse took on the defence and scored off an excellent drive, and all of a sudden the hornets were up 18-12 and looking the goods.
However, in basketball things can turn around in an instant and they did thanks to Flames #22 Nicholas, who scored two big three-pointers in quick succession and scores were level with four minutes to play. Mekhi scored twice and was answered quickly. Kyan made a free throw but then Flames #4 Jacob was fouled, the basket counted and he converted the bonus throw.

With 57 seconds remaining a timeout was called with the score tied at 23-23. Flames #52 Marlon had been dangerous all game and with four seconds to go he drove the ball, was fouled and the shot went in, giving Flames a two point lead 25-23. He failed to convert the free throw but the Hornets didn’t transition the ball in time, meaning Flames had won the Grand Final 25-23. In a positive for the Hornets, all nine players got on the scoresheet in a good even team performance. Mekhi led the team with nine points; Kyan, Paul, Austin, Jesse, Jack and Jacob each scored two points, while Lachlan and Daniel scored one point each.