This was a match that the unders had been looking forward to since the same fixture ended in a draw earlier in the year. The team that took the field for the red & black had a number of changes in it, but the desire to get some revenge back against Marcellin was clear. Ben Plant made a welcomed return to the team, as did Johnny Pintal who returned from an injury in round 3 and the much hyped debut of Will "the bull" Moffit in the premier under 19 side. It was a different looking forward line that began the game also, as the competitions leading goal kicker Brendan Goss had been rewarded for his excellent form in the 19's with selection in the senior side.

The start was an exact copy of the game earlier in the year, Harangozo extracted the ball from the middle and hit up a leading Jackson McGrath, who missed the set shot. This was all that was to follow the script of the previous game as the Xavs dominated play, creating space for each other and using the ball with exceptional skill. Heesham Nidam was getting his hands on plenty of the ball around the ground, and bringing others into the game through his handball use, while big Pat Ambose was proving a headache with his smart leading and bulls eye finishing. At quarter time we had piled on 9 goals to nill and hold a commanding lead.

The second term proved to be a much tougher affair as Marcellin pushed back hard into our space and it took us some time to adjust. We lacked the same movement we had in our forward line early on and found scoring a difficult proposition. Our half back kept providing plenty of run and delivery, with Tristan Parker continuing his great form. Jack Amad was at the bottom of every pack, forcing the opposition into errors with his tackle pressure and body work. At half time sounded Xavs lead 86-0.

The challenge after half time was continue with the foot down, and improve on our structures and ball use, especially into our forward 50. With Dom Walker off, Matty McLean did a power of work in the ruck- getting to every contest around the ground and controlling the stoppages. Pat Ambrose didn’t let up and with tall partner Nick Biddlecombe, who was dominating the centre half forward area, we had two targets to hit up. Captain Tom Mcclusky showed his class in front of goal kicking 3, while Ben Plant was marking everything on a half back.

We kicked 8 goals in the second half to run out comfortable winners and set ourselves up for this week’s big clash against De La Salle. Much has been spoken about their dominance of the under 19 competition over the last few years and next week provides our boys the perfect chance to pit ourselves against the current pace setters. This group has so far risen to every challenge put to them by the coaches and each other, and are determined to continue working towards big things in this second half of the year together as a group. It would be great to see as much support down at Stradebroke Park in Kew at 2pm this week to cheer on the future of Old Xavs footy.