By Ben Pollard
Round 6 kicked off just days after the announcement of the SMJFL Under 14 and 15 interleague squads. Let’s take a closer look at how some of those selected to represent our league at the AFL Victoria Metropolitan Junior Championships fared over the weekend:
- What a ripping encounter between two of the lower-placed sides in Under 14 Division 1, with St Peters and Beaumaris going toe-to-toe all afternoon. Scores remained tight until the second half, when Beauy shot out to a 25-point lead at three-quarter time, but somehow, St Peters crawled off the canvas with a six-goal-to-nil final term to get by up 10. Interleague selections Tate Short and William Taylor were in the best for St Peters.
- Murrumbeena Gold kept their unbeaten start to the season rolling, with a 36-point win over Ajax Jets. Harry Bowen showed the kind of goalkicking power our interleague team needs with four majors for ‘Beena.
- East Brighton Vampires did it comfortably over East Malvern Gold to remain in touch with Murrumbeena Gold in second on the ladder. Andrew McGrath was close to best-on, while fellow Vampire interleague picks Christian Hatzis and Blake Hayes kicked two goals apiece.
- Under 14 Division 2’s Ormond Blue continued their unbeaten season in a mismatch against bottom-placed Waverley Park. Ormond’s only Under 14 interleague rep Reuben Hayward kicked a snag in the win.
- Interleaguer Mitchell Freeman bagged four majors for Cheltenham in a resilient victory over Northvale, who fought back from an early deficit to go into the last term just five points down. Chelt were too strong in finishing though, going home 19 points the better.
- In Under 15 Division 1, East Sandringham has a wealth of talent heading to the Under 15 interleague games. It was on show on Sunday, with Nicholas Pirrie, Xavier Subotsch, Nick Gabsch and Lachlan Albion – with nine sausage rolls, if you don’t mind – all starring in a big win.
- Not to be outdone, Cheltenham has nine reps in the Under 15 interleague squads! When you consider they’re unbeaten in six matches, it’s not so surprising... That talent brought home the chocolates again on Sunday, with James Taylor particularly good.
- Scoreboard contributions from interleague reps Theo Thompson, Patrick Burnell and Robert Iudica helped Caulfield to a strong victory over Murrumbeena Gold and into second on the Divvy 1 table.
- In a battle for Under 15 Division 2’s top spot, St Bedes/Mentone Tigers made an absolute mess of Waverley Park. Among their best were Robert Evans and Sam Barca, who are also heading to the Metro Champs.
- Jarrod Munday showed why he’s an interleague selection with a five-goal best-on-ground showing for St Peters in a ripsnorter against Beaumaris. This was a game where the Sharks just didn’t go away – down by 26 at the half, they nipped at the bow of the St Peters ship for the entire second half but couldn’t get over the line, going down by a measly four points.
- Finally, kudos to Charlie Young, who kicked three goals for Mt Waverley in a dominating win over East Brighton Vampires. Another performance like that in the Metro Champs, please Charlie...
Good luck to all players who will be representing the SMJFL when the AFL Victoria Metropolitan Junior Championships kick off next Wednesday, just a week from now!
Last Modified on 01/06/2012 17:11