St Bedes/ Mentone Tigers consolidated their position at 3rd on the Premier B ladder when they won ‘one-for-the-ages’ at The Fortress on Saturday as they downed Parkdale Vultures by a solitary point after being 31 points behind at the 24 minute mark of the last quarter.
Parkdale kicking with a flukey 2-3 goal breeze, started well only to be pegged back by the Tigers in mid-quarter and finally finished the quarter 13 points up.
In the second the Mentone team took better advantage of the breeze and through the agency of tough in-and-under football from skipper Simon Richards and hard running by Michael Barnes banged on 7 goals 2 for the quarter to turn the deficit into an 8 point advantage at the half.
The third quarter was tough hard footy and the (once) Two Blues from Parkdale looked to be gaining the ascendency as they took a 9 point lead into the final quarter
St Bedes worked hard to regain the lead but Parkdale’s cleaner use of the ball enabled them to slowly stretch their lead to 31 points at the 24 minute mark and the game appeared to be over but this didn’t take into account the Tiger outfit’s history of clawing its way back into games
As the quarter wore on Brayden O’Toole and Lachie Mirams had more and more effect and Paul Wintle and Simon Richards showed their experience as the Tigers just willed the ball forward at every attempt and dragged the deficit back to 11 points at the 29 minute mark
Not to be denied, St Bedes Mentone attacked and attacked to ultimately take the lead courtesy of a Jaryd Robertson goal at the 32 minute mark – a fine win that will be handy in the memory bank as the season progresses and big games are there to be won under pressure.
Good teams win tough.
The Development team won another close one by 10 points with Lew Stutterd and Ben Nicoll again the best and Matt Caia bagging another 4 majors.
The Thirds journeyed to Williamstown and came ever-so-close going down by 4 points after flying home with 7 goals 3 in the last quarter to just fall ever so short. Corey Bader and Jake Townley were the best with Joel Stewart bagging 4 majors.
The Under 19s worked hard in their top-of-the-table clash with Parkdale but fell short by 23 points in a high quality game with Kieren Arthur, Ryley Kennedy and Sam Kappler the best for the Tigers.
The Under 19 Development Team continued on their winning way with an excellent 35 point victory away to Latrobe Uni with Tate Stainer, Oscar Adorno and Sam Browne the best.
Next Saturday the Seniors and Development Team play the Owen Lalor coached Hampton Rovers at The Fortress The Thirds take on Old Camberwell at Southern Road. The Under 19s are away to another contender in Old Melburnians while the Under 19s Development Team take on St Johns at Southern Road.