St Bedes/Mentone Tigers reinforced their standing in VAFA Premier B when they soundly defeated Parkdale at Parkdale by 41 points on a perfect winter’s Saturday afternoon at the footy. The Tigers got moving quickly and kicked the first two goals and were nicely in control with a 13 point lead at the quarter time break. After the short changeover Parkdale briefly fought back but SBMT, with Josh Cowan dominant off half back and Chris Mangoni starring, banged on 3 unanswered goals to leave the home side 31 points in arrears at half time and a long way off the pace. After the half, the Mentone team extended their control of the Two Blues and, with James Tyquin again showing his unique value to the Club, took a commanding 29 point lead into the final break. In the last quarter, Alex Smout and Simon Richards led the Tigers charge as they blasted out to a 53 point lead before the Parkdale team rallied with some late goals to make the scoreline look a little more respectable at a final deficit of 41 points. The Tigers are starting to show that not only are they capable of winning the tight ones (as good teams do) but also putting teams to the sword when the occasion arises (as they have now demonstrated a number of times this year). And on Saturday, having Luke Vellutto, Erish Uthayakumar, Michael Barnes, George Rowlands and Brayden O’Toole all multiple goalkickers, St Bedes are starting to demonstrate the depth of their forward half and more importantly the breadth and flexibility of their goal scoring capability – a fairly handy asset in what now appears to be an upcoming finals campaign in September. The Development Team had another shocker and certainly need to re-group to regain some pride after a very poor showing against a team well below them on the table. The Thirds had another home game at Brindisi Street but found Williamstown CYMS too strong. The Under 19s played local rivals Parkdale and after a tight and entertaining game, with Andrew Wilson, Jordan Pastura, Sean Randall and James Mangoni amongst the best, lost by 5 points with a Parkdale goal after the siren. However, there may be more to this one as the umpires have reported that Parkdale had 19 players on the field for a period after half time – watch this space….. The Under 19 Development Team took a massive step forward with a resounding 12 point victory over second top team De La Salle with Will Sedgwick, Connor Shaw and Cam Clark among the best. Next Saturday the Seniors and Development Team journey to the old Brunswick Street Oval to take on finals-aspirant Fitzroy while the Thirds travel to Marcellin. The Under 19s and 19s Development Team play important games against Old Melburnians and Oakleigh respectively at Brindisi Street.