The Old Xavs Reserves came into yet another game against the top side and had plenty to play for.  Last week we conquered the premiers of last year and came away with a solid performance with another box ticked!  Old Melburnians have been sharing the top spot with Uni and De La for the best part of the season, while the reserves have been sitting quietly in fourth spot, waiting to get their opportunity.

It was a lively first quarter with both teams having plenty of opportunities to kick clear.  The boys had 6 scoring shots to 4 but the ladder leader was in front when the siren went at 12.05pm.  Tim Agius kicked a stirring goal early, as did Dan "Averages" Molan and Chris Santalucia was back to his harrowing best of 2009 with clearance after clearance.  Whilst we had some serviceable ins (Josh Agius and Cam Purss from injury), it was the likes of Dustin and Tyson Lloyd, Tim O'Meara and Andrew Oswald who kept the ball moving into our forward line.

At the break it was a 3 point lead to Grammar and a hot contest was brewing.  A couple of errant free kicks and 25 meter penalties gifted the boys from South Yarra 4 goals which kept them in the game during the first half and the coach at the break wasn't too happy.  Again, the difference between the sides was less than a goal and a big third quarter was just about to show the men from the boys.  Enter Chris Smith who was pushed deep, one out and this seemed to be the right move.  Mark and goal within the first 2 minutes gave the early starters a slight lead, but there was more to come from the young veteran.  Again he out ran and marked his opponent and set up another which pushed the momentum our way.  Big Ossie was leading and marking everything that came in his arc and provided some quality disposal deep into the forward 50.  At three quarter time we had a 2 goal cushion and what seemed to me more run coming into the start of the last.

A quick goal saw the lads hit a 19 point lead with about 10 minutes to play and things were looking good.  But enter Malcolm Blights love child who belted one of the biggest torpedoes seen on the Junction.  From that point on the boys from the Grammar had a sniff and kept running and added two more goals to put them in front by 5 points.  With a minute on the clock, John Pasceri who was very quiet all day had the opportunity to level the scores but narrowly missed.  The OM's full back quickly brought the ball back in which to the Old Xavs coaching staff was slightly strange!  The ball was flying around our Half Forward line and fortunately for us the ball fell into Chris Smith's hands who played on and kicked the winning goal with the last kick of the day.  The clock kept ticking, as it does in reserves so we knew the siren was imminent.  As soon as the ball was thrown up, the bugle went and the boys got the four points with a win that still gives us the opportunity to finish top 2.

The backline all day was superb with Damo Ryan, Sean Langdon, Pete Ryan and Dan Higgins negating their opponents while captain Skidmore lead the team with his brutal best and lay tackle after tackle, which is the way he always plays.  James Ulbrick again showed his immense talents and skill for a big man whilst Matt Skidmore is fast becoming an elite reserves player at the ripe old age of 19.