The boys of the under 19 2's made the trek down Warrigal Road to face the ladder leaders in Oakleigh. After a stirring victory before the midseason break, spirits were high and the Xavs went in full of confidence and belief.

The first 10 mins were disastrous for the Xavs with Oakleigh slamming on 4 goals in the blink of an eye to gain the early ascendency. To our boy’s credit, we weathered the storm gaining large amounts of possession thru the middle of the park and our flankers and wingers began to work harder.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get reward for effort throughout the quarter and went into the first break with a 5 goal deficit to make up.

The second quarter began much the same as the first with Oakleigh being first to the ball and executing there possession and goal kicking brilliantly. They were a lot cleaner then our boys and defiantly had more of a preparedness to be first to the sherrin.

The quarter ended up fizzing out and half time came at a good stage to sit down and re assess the position we were in aand swap a few magnets to try and make headway into the 10 goal Oakleigh lead. Bosnar and Pirrie had been stand outs in the first half thru the guts with Darrer and Healy also propelling good attacks from the backline and keeping their men quiet.

The first 5 mins in the 3rd quarter provided a good spark for our mob as we made all the running and abided by instructions made at the main break. But again, our disposal let us down into the forward line and Oakleigh made us look vulnerable on the break as they took the game by the scruff of the neck and powered clear to claim a near 100 advantage by the last change.

It was a flat group at 3 qr time, but a big last quarter effort was asked by the coaching panel with the main aim to win the quarter. The one positive out of the game is we won the last quarter and won it well, with quick link up play and hard, disciplined running! Our best footy was fantastic, but our worst was too low to compete with the good sides. Shinning light Donnellan again provided a strong and potent target in the forward 50 ending up with 7 goals.

It was a disappointing afternoon but one we can put behind us after a big month of footy. Important to remain confident and let Melb High cop the backlash this weekend of a hard, determined Old Xavs outfit.