Again on their home turf, St Bedes/Mentone Tigers vanquished another VAFA Premier Division premiership aspirant with a resounding 25 point victory on Saturday to celebrate the 250 game milestone of one of their greats in Luke Wintle. The Tigers took advantage of a gusty, 4 goal, Brindisi Street northerly with 2 early goals and were 15 points in front before the visitors went inside their forward 50. However, De La did consolidate and with some hard running were able to drag a couple back but in a game of attrition the home team seemed to know how to force the ball into their scoring zone and pepper the goals and with Simon Richards streaming out of the middle and Luke Wintle taking towering marks the Tigers looked well-placed albeit with only a 17 point lead to show for all their ascendency. Into the breeze, the Tigers were well-structured and with sheer determination kept the ball between the arcs for long periods and when pressed were very well-served by a reliable defence led by Paul Wintle and Anthony Scafidi and held the Malvern team to 2 majors for the quarter while racing through 2 of their own late to take a well-earnt 14 point lead into the long break. The Tigers were inspired at the start of the second half and looked to blow the Blue and Golds away with quick goals but again De La regrouped and ran hard at the Mentone team to reduce the margin but in an old-fashioned scrap James Tyquin, Luke Collins and Tom Garside – in his best outing for the season – were in-and-under all day and refused-to-be-denied. Again the Tigers banged on 2 late goals to stretch the margin to what looked a match-winning lead of 33 points at the last change. The final quarter was much like the previous two, with both teams committing their bodies to the contest only to see the Tigers hold on stoutly and deservedly prevail in a bone-crunching finale before chairing their ex-captain and crowd favourite off to rapturous applause. It is the mark of true champions that they always seem to save their best for the biggest games and notwithstanding that he has won 2 Best-on-Grounds in winning Grand Final teams, Luke Wintle brought out one of his very, very best on Saturday in a truly dominating performance to mark his 250th game milestone in the most memorable way – a St Bedes/ Mentone Tigers win against a long-time rival and BOG… •The Reserves were well-beaten while the U19s scrambled hard all day against one of the ladder-leaders only to ultimately fall 17 points short. •There is no VAFA Premier Division football this Saturday as the VAFA take on Vic Country at Shepparton with four St Bedes/Mentone Tigers (Luke Wintle, Jack Hellier, Paul Wintle and James Tyquin) named in the representative squad while three Tigers (Luke Barnhoorn, Dan Garside and Darcy Holden) are in the U19 squad. •The following Sunday, St Bedes/Mentone Tigers take on the fabled Old Xaverians at Headquarters in a clash that will answer a number of questions about both teams’ true standing in the 2011 premiership race.