Round 9 – Blues handed heavy blow vs. Old Xavs
It wasn’t a day to look back on fondly for the Blues with all teams recording away losses. The Thirds had no luck in the early games at the resurfaced Elsternwick Park against Old Melburnians who were too strong all day.
The Unders were also up bright and early to make the trip down to take on Parkdale, and in spite of being competitive all day, Parkdale proved too strong in the end.
The Ressies recent good form was evident early, but came to an abrupt end after half time as Old Xavs fought back to claim a 20-point victory.
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Old Xaverians 4.3-27 5.6-36 12.8-80 15.11-101
University Blues 1.3-9 2.8-20 2.9-21 6.13-49
With the Sun shining on cool day at Toorak park as the Blues and Old Xavs were raring to go in a must win game for both sides. Tom Batarilo kicked off proceedings with goal however the next four goals were kick by Xavs. Simple mistakes were punished and going into the first break, Blues were down by 18 points.
A rejuvenated Blues came out with intent in the second quarter with Paddy Hayes, Connor Lappin and Jezza Taylor bossing the Blues backline. This was rewarded with an Ayce Cordy major who continued his fine form in front of goal from last week against the Tigers. A hotly contested quarter ended with the margin remaining similar to the first, Blues down by 16.
The third quarter was certainly one to forget. Xavs kicked 7.2 as the Blues found genuine goal scoring opportunities hard to come by. The fourth was a much-improved performance as we out-scored Xavs four goals to three. It was a fast start to the fourth as Kieran Harper and Tim Geappen (2) kicked true in the first 7 minutes. The fast-paced movement and the intent to play-on as much as possible from Blues unfortunately tapered out, resulting in a 52-point loss
With the Queen’s Birthday bye round upcoming, this gives Blues a chance to breathe and recoup. June 16 will see Blues take on Old Brighton away… an upset may shake things up going into the second half of the season.
Click on this LINK to see the best of the goals from the Seniors game
Blues Twos
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Old Xaverians 0.4-4 5.7-37 8.9-57 12.9-81
University Blues 5.1-31 8.2-50 9.6-60 9.7-61
In the twos, the Blues jumped out well and gave Old Xavs a football lesson in how to play contested footy and how to capitalise out wide with good run and carry and held a 27 point lead at the first break.
Old Xavs were never going to take this lying down and rallied in the second quarter, and halved the margin by the main break.
After half time, it was a different game with losses through injury, we were limited on the bench, and the lack of fresh legs took its toll in the second half.
Xavs kept coming and eventually finished all over the blues with a 20 point win.
Thirds
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Old Melburnians 4.11-35 9.19-73 13.22-100 19.24-138
University Blues 0.1-1 0.1-1 0.1-1 1.1-7
Under 19’s
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Parkdale Vultures 3.1-19 5.5-35 8.6-54 12.8-80
University Blues 2.2-14 5.5-35 7.5-47 9.6-60
