After a great win against St Bernards at Elsternwick Park last Sunday, a confident St Bedes/Mentone Tigers headed to Glen Huntly Park to take on tenth placed Caulfield Grammarians. But ladder positions can be misleading and the Tigers found themselves in a real fight.
Kicking to the racecourse end on a wet track, the Tigers found the going heavy and accuracy in front of goal had deserted them. Caulfield defended stoutly, especially across half back where they seemed to able to switch the ball around at will. A goal a piece at the first break and the Tigers had probably missed an opportunity with the breeze.
Caulfield pressed their advantage in the second quarter, kicking four goals and opening up a handy 17 point lead. The Tigers only goal for the quarter came from a clever tap from Shaun Glennen to a running Pat Kean who finished with class. The Tigers supporters grabbed hot coffees at the long break, clearly concerned about the performance to date.
Some tough love from coach Mick Dwyer at half time returned the focus and urgency. The Tigers were starting to win out of the centre courtesy of some great ruck work from Luke Wintle, ably supported by brother Michael Wintle and Chris Richards. Darcy Holden was finding space in what had previously been a congested forward line. Down back Paul Wintle was marshalling the troops and debutant James Murnane was making a telling contribution. The Tigers headed to the oranges with a 5 point lead.
Both teams lifted the intensity in the final quarter and in the heavy conditions it looked like it would be a war of attrition. The Tigers kicked the first two goals of the quarter but Caulfield weren’t going to lie down, responding with a couple of their own. For the Tigers Dale Martin and Darcy Holden were finding second and third efforts and captain Simon Richards was in and under everything. The Tigers perseverance was enough to find them 10 points in front at the final siren, having faced and tipped out a very competitive Caulfield outfit to secure their seventh win of the season and book a place in Premier section in 2013.
The undermanned Reserves were outgunned by Caulfield Grammarians. The U19 Red (Premier) team lost by 9 points in what was a highly skillful affair and the U19 Blue (South) finished in front of St Mary’s Salesian to secure a finals berth.
Next week Seniors and Reserves take on De La Salle at Brindisi St, Mentone for the Lasallian Challenge Cup. Member and supporters are warmly invited to the pre-match lunch commencing at 12 noon. See www.stbedesmentonetigers.com.au for details.