St Bedes/ Mentone Tigers lost their first game for the season to Old Brighton Grammarians at Brighton Beach Oval on Saturday.
The game started with plenty of pressure from both sides and it told as first St Bedes then Brighton missed ‘gettable’ shots at goal and in fact the home team’s lead should have been much more than the six points they took to the short break as their dominance in the second half of the quarter was undone by some wayward goalkicking.
The second quarter was a replica of the first as the Tigers, with Simon Richards a shining light, willed the ball forward and the Brighton defence stood firm and then rebounded, however, the pressure continued to show as both sides regularly missed targets by hand and foot and the accuracy around goal was unbecoming two premiership aspirants.
Old Brighton started the second half with some clean football and momentarily got the scoreboard ticking over but this was short-lived as the Tigers, showing their mental toughness, took control of the football and for the last twenty minutes of the quarter played the game almost entirely in their forward half but were unable to reflect this dominance in goals.
With the home team leading by 9 points and only 10 goals scored for the game the last quarter shaped as an armwrestle and a true test as two real contenders slugged it out.
The Tigers, true to their top position and undefeated status threw everything at the Brighton team and with Hiwad Shakaib and Jack Hellier continually rebounding the home side’s attacks, looked capable of grabbing victory but the premiers found penetrating the Brighton defence as difficult as it had been all day and ultimately couldn’t find the big sticks when required.
In the end, Old Brighton repelled the Tiger onslaught and provided one of their own by kicking the last four goals of the game and running out comfortable and deserved 34 point winners.
The Tigers’ Club XVIII and U18s both had good wins to remain in the top 4 while the Reserves and U19s ran into tough opposition and succumbed. Next week the Tigers play for top spot against another leading contender in the competition’s constant benchmark, Old Xaverians, at Toorak Park.