St Bedes/Mentone Tigers went down to fellow finals’ aspirant University Blues at Melbourne University on Saturday but remain in second place on the VAFA Premier Division ladder but now with only a half game margin to the chasing Old Xaverians. The Tigers started brilliantly and had two goals on the board before Blues got moving. In fact, the Tigers were dominating the home team all over the ground with fast ball movement and fierce tackling and looked to be totally focused but after missing 3 gettable shots allowed Uni to get there game going and a 13 point lead at the first break was not a very good return for the control the visitors had on the first quarter of the game. The second started much the same as the first, with Simon Richards, Ben Phibbs and Chris Richards in great touch, St Bedes skipped out to a 21 point lead midway through the term and looked to extend it before the Uni team kicked two late ones and got some surprise momentum just before the long break. Blues started well with the first goal in the second half and only for some sterling defence from Dan Garside and Paul Wintle would have taken the lead as they ran hard and delivered with precision but in the second half of the quarter the Tigers restored some form of order as they kicked out to an 11 point lead only for Blues to eventually take the lead just before the 3/4 time bell. In the last Blues again took control early with 2 quick goals in the first 3 minutes but the Tigers switched on looked dangerous as they got one back and then missed two running shots only to see the home team counter-attack against the flow and with 3 quick goals put the result beyond doubt much to the pleasure of the previously silent home crowd. In the end, the University team cruised home to a well-deserved victory over a Tigers team that was surprisingly lack-lustre in the second half and now have a major fight on their hands to retain the covetted double-chance over the remaining 3 rounds of the home-and-away season.
• The Reserves had a 24 point loss to the top team while the U19s had a comfortable 42 point victory over local rival Beaumaris which confirmed their position in the final 4.
• Next Saturday, the Tigers meet Old Trinity at Brindisi Street in must-win affair as they strive to ward off challengers for the double chance.