Old Xaverians reinforced their position as the benchmark of VAFA ‘A’ Section with a resounding 47 point win over St Bedes/ Mentone Tigers at Toorak Park on Saturday and in so doing sent the Tigers tumbling from top of the table to third.
Xavs were out-of-the-blocks quickly and had the first 2 goals of the game into the breeze before the Tigers had settled and continued to play hard contested footy while using the open spaces to great effect and held a deserved 4 point lead at quarter time.
In the second quarter the Tigers matched the Xavier team in ferocity at the football but were unable to hit a target going forward and were hurt on the rebound as Xavs ran hard and kicked to position superbly but fortuitously only took a 10 point lead into the long break.
After half-time Xavs, consistently winning the centre breaks, continued to attack with precision kicking, running to position and strong marking and subsequently broke the game open with 6 unanswered goals before the Tigers could add a couple of late majors to stem the bleeding.
Mentone were consistently at the bottom of packs and scrapping for the ball but were again unable to get their running game going and consequently struggled moving the ball effectively into the forward line.
Into the last quarter, the Tigers continued to work hard at the football but any thought of an upset was quickly stemmed by the home team’s quality ball usage as they ran out very comfortable winners and took top position from the Tiges.
The mid-year break over the long weekend now proves timely for the Tigers to re-group for the next game at home against the improving 2008 ‘B’ Grade premiers Marcellin after 5 weeks on-the-road away from Fortress Brindisi Street.
The Reserves had an outstanding 40 point win with some exhilarating run-and-carry football in easily their best win in their 2 years in ‘A’ Grade ranks and the U18s also had another good win to remain in 3rd position.