June 14, 2025
GOALS GALORE
Round 9 Report
A Century of the Red & Black
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Wins to the WOX, Reserves and Seniors and a lunch crowd exceeding one hundred made for a great day at Toorak Park. The Women sent Melbourne Uni packing in the early one, and then the Reserves and Seniors both had comfortable wins over arch rival St Kevin's.
Led by Marcus Stavrou, who turned on a masterful performance in the middle, the Red 'n' Blacks beat finals contender St Kevin's by 37 points to remain second on the ladder. The X-Men never looked in danger, particularly after half-time, but there patches where the visitors looked dangerous enough to challenge the home team's supremacy.
The result was easily Xavs' best at Toorak Park against St Kevin's since the Tricolours returned to Premier section in 2016. The win was fired by many different contributors.
Charlie MacIsaac and Tex Wanganeen were very effective forwards, while Jed Feneley and Will Goss, with their clever ball-gathering and inch-perfect disposal, began many drives form the the back half. Hayden Woodhouse and Mish MacIsaac had some important moments, as did Ed Delany and Alec Spralja.
In the first term, C. MacIsaac hit the post but Kevs made the most of their next opportunity, goaling at 6 minutes. Bobby Knott missed a set shot , and Stavrou missed on the run. Kevs should have had another, but the ball was booted into the man on the mark. Some slick work saw the quick transfer via a chain of handballs. MacIsaac again was on the end of this sequence and ran to the square to gleefully punt through Xavs first.
Xavs had two low percentage long shots which were rushed through, but at the other end, the visitors bounced one home from close range, giving the Kevins the lead. Shortlived, as it transpired, when a Wanganeen tackle sprung Delany, who found MacIsaac in the square. Xavs went back in front. As the clock wound down, Josh Kennedy snapped a beauty and the X-Men went out by ten points.
The home team had certainly dominated possessions in the first term, but had squandered some opportunities.The Tricolours had shown some method, and though their forwards had struggledi n traffic, they looked dangerous when they found some space.
SKOB struck first via astrong mark, but then turned it over. Tommy Dunne found King Charlie who marked strongly and slotted it home for his third. Marcus Stavrou had a busy five minutes and speared a pass to Delany, whose kick wobbled short. After SKOB wasted some long opportunities, the X-Men worked it forward. Wanganeen kicked to Delany, who handballed to MacIsaac H, and Mish slotted it home with precision from 25 metres..
Xavs attacked again and Delany swallowed one inside the arc. He sent it through, and the home team was up by 19 points with 17 minutes gone. The Red 'n' Blacks, applying intense pressurein the midfield and front half, dominated the rest of the quarter, but could add only a behind to their score. Still, the Kevs had used their first turn with the breeze and fallen further back.
Delany marked and missed to open the third quarter. Charlie marked in space from a turnover and booted his fourth to pull the margin out to 27 points. Kevs enjoyed some minutes forward of centre and snapped one back at nine minutes to keep the contest alive.
At 16 minutes, Xavs curtailed a period of Kevs’ dominance when Wade Brusnahan raced out of defence, spied the running Wanganeen and put the Sherrin in his flight path. Tex gathered and snapped it through. The Kevin’s won the free kick at the bounce, drew a 50-metre penalty and missed badly. Kevs goaled again as they entered time-on.
Sam Fisher hit Delany on the lead and the big fellow kicked it straight but again Kevs snapped one to bring the margin in to 20 points. Woodhouse missed from 30 and that was it for the third stanza.
In the opening minute, the X-Men went forward. Charlie Westcott stripped the ball and ripped a handball to Woodhouse. He didn’t miss this time, snapping one over his shoulder. Wanganeen missed a set shot but a minute later snapped truly.
Mid-term, Hamish McIsaac dived for an intercept mark and smacked it home from 45 metres. Xavs controlled the contests thereafter but couldn’t find the sticks. Kevs pulled one back at 25 minutes and the game looked over. But then Woodhouse snapped two more before the visitors landed a consolation six-pointer.
And so to Uni Oval, where the X-Men broke their skein of six straight losses last year with a big win. Dan Donati's team will be looking to repeeat that, but the Phoenix has risen from the ashes and has been in greatwinning form.
BEST: Marcus Stavrou, Will Goss, Tex Wanganeen, Charlie MacIsaac, Alec Spralja, Jed Feneley
GOALS: Charlie MacIsaac 4, Hayden Woodhouse 3, Ed Delany 2, Tex Wanganeen 2, Hamish MacIsaac 2, Josh Kennedy 1
At Uni Oval, Uni Blues (46) drew for the second time in eight days, this time with fellow battler Collegians (46).
Old Scotch (92) beat De La Salle (59) at Camberwell.
St. Bernard’s (52) are still winless at home after their lead over Uni Blacks (74) evaporated in the final term. Blacks now sit fourth and meet the Old Xavs next week.
Old Brighton (71) beat Haileybury (70) after the Bloods had led by a goal at the lemons.
A slowish start from the unbeaten Magoos did not noticeably disturb them. The wind accounted for some of it, but there was no getting around that the X-Men needed to erase the three goal deficit they faced at the first change. They made light work of that in the second, and went to the sheds nine points to the good.
The X-Men's thrird term was their best to dat, booting another three and holding th Triclours to just two behinds. Effectively, the game was over at the lemons. However, as is usually the case, the Xavs like to run ot the game. They added another four to wrap it up and shake the Kevins out of equal top spot.
Ted Kennedy, on his day the most influential player in the team, and perhaps in the competition, turned in a big one. He dominated and with three goals, was a big factor in the win. Young Bailey Whelan also booted three to further impress. Big Jack Boyd returned from the SANFL to boost the Red 'n' Blacks fleet of big men, and to complement the strength of this extraordinarily talented group.
BEST: Edward Kennedy, William Egan, Sam Hansen, Hugh Basset, Bailey Whelan, Charles Holmes
GOALS: Edward Kennedy 3, Bailey Whelan 3, Charles Holmes 2, Tom Bourne 1, Jack Boyd 1, Josh Cumberlidge 1, Matt Exell 1, Ben Moyle 1
The WOX strengthened their case for finals involvement with a win over Melbourne Uni at Toorak Park.
Despite conceding 1.3 without reply in the first 15 minutes, the Xavs quickly jumped back into the contest. Late goals into the strong breeze to Sienna McLeish and Bella Villani saw the Red ‘n Blacks to a narrow lead at the first change.
Another two goals in the second term, to Praan Kulnides and McLeish, and the lack of a major response by the Uni team saw the gap widen to 17 points at the half.
While the WOX attacked early in the third, it was the Varsity which had the better term on the scoreboard when they landed a late goal. At the lemons, with the Xaverian crowd building, the Red ‘n’ Blacks led by 11 points.
At five minutes in the last, McLeish struck for the third time to boost the WOX lead to 20 points. Sarah Anderson added another before the Varsity responded with their third of the day. But McLeish wasn’t done. She snagged her fourth at 19 minutes and her fifth soon thereafter to complete a five-goal haul. Ir was a sweet morning for the youngster who had played one game with the Uni as a junior.
The WOX won it by 32 points and will head over the bridge to meet Westbourne, with whom they’ll argue over fourth position.
BEST: Sienna McLeish, Chiara Chiarelli, Alessandra Libertone, Emma Sheedy, India Harries, Olivia Benston
GOALS: Sienna McLeish 5, Sarah Anderson 1, Bella Villani 1, Praan Kulnides 1
Wait no more. After a shocking run with injuries and some disappointing scorelines, the U19s pulled one into the 'W' column, defeating St Bede's Mentone Tigers by a solitary point.
It was close all afternoon, and the failure of the Red 'n' Blacks to score a goal in the final term made for hight drama. But the Seasiders were held to just one major by a desperate defence to save the game for the X-Men.
Henry Lasscock has a had a great season and shone again, while Gerard Forrest booted three very valuable goals.
Next week, a battle with De La Salle who sit above the Xavs by just one win.
BEST: Henry Lasscock, Tommy Trist, Harry Glass, William Allen, Ted Hansen, Alby Hewitt
GOALS: Gerard Forrest 3, Alby Hewitt 2, Xavier Austin 1, Max Lightbody 1, Lachlan Mallett 1
Still struggling for numbers, the U19s Twos fell very hard to Uni Blacks in a struggle. There will be better days.
BEST: Ethan Browne, Nick Johns, Jeremy Dalton, Tom Senyard, Rory Hogan, Brooklyn Russell
The unbeated Threes made hard work of it at Basil Reserve against bottom-tranked Old Scotch. The Cards jumped early and held the ascendancy for the first half. Beyond the break it was a different story. New player Hugo Barry, a South Australian via Queensland and Uni Blues, booted three to make an immediate impact. His fellow Croweater Ollie Britten-Jones again attracted notice.
Ollie Tehan, again, was best for the Red 'n' Blacks, and Sam Asdagi, Jack Hansen and Tom Curtain also did plenty.
Next week, it's a Sunday trip to AJAX.
BEST: Oliver Tehan, Jack Hansen, Hugo Barry, Sam Asdagi, Oliver Britten-Jones, Tom Curtain
GOALS: Hugo Barry 3, Will MacIsaac 2, Luke Fares 1, Nick Honeyman 1, Will Sheedy 1
AJAX annihilated the Crocodiles on the Plunkett in a Sunday showing that stunned the football world. Yes, the Green Hose have lowered their colours occasionally, but rarely by such a margin. They started slowly, fell further behind and were effectively done by half-time when they trailed by 51 points. After the long break, things went even furth south. Faced with an 80 point loss late in the fourth, the X-Men managed two late goals, though celebration of these achievements was clearly muted.
BEST:
GOALS:
Milky Forrest booted ten and Rory Calvert four as the X-Men walloped Willy at Stradbroke Park. Scott Gordon was judged BOG in a very even team performance.
Next week, the Ménages meet the U23s in a derby at Stradbroke.
BEST: Scott Gordon, Murray Francis, Rory Calvert, Kieran Ellis, James Forrest, Xavier Romanin-Green
GOALS: James Forrest 10, Rory Calvert 4, Murray Francis 2, Kieran Ellis 1, Joshua Hanger 1, Will Honan 1
A big win for the U23s as they took care of St Kevin's by 64 points.
Stefan Stangherlin booted four and was best on ground. Next week, a derby against the third-placed Menages, with the winner poised to take (or keep) second spot.
BEST: Stefan Stangherlin, Edward Pick, Connor Briscoe, Aaron Ivak, Eddie Paul, Samuel Casserly
GOALS: Stefan Stangherlin 4, Aaron Ivak 2, Sam Purcell 2, Will Troy 2, Tom Egan 1, Eddie Paul 1, Oliver Sheehan 1
Fitzroy proved too strong for the T-Birds, who fell to their first defeat of the year. The Roys were three goals adrift at the first change, and still trailed depite Xavs having a golless second term. However, the Lions prove the better team after the long break, particularly in the final term when the floodgates opened.
BEST: Nicky Tyrrell, Conor O'Brien, James McCarthy, Harry West, Joe Corser, Charlie Bourne
GOALS: Conor O'Brien 2, James McCarthy 1, Connor Spears 1, Tishan Warnakulasuriya 1
