2016 ROUND 2 V PARKDALE VULTURES
| Teams | 1st Q. | 2nd Q. | 3rd Q. | 4th Q. |
| Beaumaris | 3.5:23 | 5.9:39 | 10.10:70 | 18.16:124 |
| Parkdale Vultures | 4.4:28 | 6.5:41 | 12.5:77 | 14.8:90 |
| Goalkickers : Stephen Milne 6, Tom Simpkin 2, Drew Kelly 2, Luke Globan 1, Jack Grange 1, Scott Braithwaite 1, Josh Ward 1, Matt Lovejoy 1, Rob Cathcart 1, Will Murton 1, Sean McLaren 1 | ||||
| No | Player | No | Player | No | Player | No | Player |
| 1 | Liam Hiscock | 2 | Robert Cathcart | 3 | Matt Petering | 7 | Tom Dean |
| 8 | Josh Ward | 11 | Scott Braithwaite | 13 | Will Murton | 17 | Anthony Carroll |
| 18 | Will Edmonds | 23 | Ben McLean | 26 | Michael De Fontenay | 27 | Jack Grange |
| 28 | Dylan Gabron-Uhe | 32 | Dylan Gabron-Uhe | 33 | Stephen Milne | 35 | Luke Globan |
| 38 | Sean McLaren | 40 | Tom Simpkin | 41 | Damian Johns | 45 | Drew Kelly |
| 48 | Matthew Lovejoy | 55 | Will Gillespie |
 |
Click on the icon to view the highlights. |
For Round 2 we had to travel all the way across to Parkdale. Such a change to travelling across town to the Snake Pit. The Vultures were coming off a good win over another of our neighbours in Hamptons Rovers where it appeared they were in control of the game for most of the day. We took a little while to get started the previous week against Monash Blues but finished off strongly to win comfortably. So the stage was set for an epic battle. I'm also sure the Vultures would want to make a statement against a team that had come down from the Premier Division.
The first quarter was a tight affair. Neither team could really get the ascendancy and the margin was never more than a goal or two. The Vultures had the upper hand on the scoreboard jumping to an early lead and every time the Sharks kicked a goal the Vultures managed to get one back just to keep the margin around 8 points. Stephen Milne was getting a lot of 'close checking' from the defenders which I'm sure is not completely unexpected. No opposition team can afford to leave a player with his experience wandering around a forward line unchecked. But then again it is one thing to try and stop him and another thing to achieve it. Last week the ball probably wasn't being delivered in the best way to the forward line but that changed a little this week and Milne had two first quarter goals. Both kicked from set shots deep in the forward pocket. Our third goal for the quarter came from a Murton snap. After roving the ball off a pack in front of goal the bounce of the ball went our way and we had our third goal for the quarter. As was the case last week we were getting good drive from both Petering (8 disposals) and Cathcart (9 disposals) out of the middle and Carroll was on top in the ruck, who also had 7 disposals for the quarter. However, while we were dominating the disposal count the Vultures were being more efficient going into their forward 50 and finished the quarter 5 points in front.
The second was very similar to the first. Only four goals were scored for the quarter, two by each team. Edmonds kicked a ball to the top of the goal square where McLarenusing his size to advantage took a strong mark and went back and duly kicked the goal. Our second goal started with another Tommy Dean kick in. A long kick to the middle of the ground saw a strong tackle by McLean, the ball spill to Ward who quickly kicked to the half forward line where Kelly gathered, turned and pumped the ball further forward. Some good work by Edmonds, Murton and Grange saw the ball kicked long to the goal square where Braithwaite standing his ground, marked strongly, turned and kicked our second goal for the quarter. Not necessarily the cleanest of ball movement but we managed to go the length of the ground without the Vultures getting a hand on the ball. But still we could not get in front. While we won the quarter, just, the Vultures always managed to reply to every goal we kicked. Once again we were dominating in the stats department but not able to gain control of the game. We had 89 disposals to the Vultures 69.
The third quarter was the same as the first half. Every time we looked like we might get on top the Vultures would answer our challenge. Two goals from Tom Simpkin, a Sandringham VFL listed player, another to Milne and one each to Lovejoy and Ward still wasn't enough to get our noses in front. While we kicked 5.1 for the quarter the Vultures managed 6 straight. We were still in front in the disposal count but behind on the scoreboard. The Vultures were leading 12-5-79 to 10-10-70. Our wayward kicking for goal was hurting us. Luke Globan appeared to bring his own ball for the quarter. With 8 kicks and 1 handball playing on the wing, he pumped the ball inside our forward 50 five times. Hiscock was also starting to get into the game after a quiet first half, Petering and Cathcart were also still causing some damage from the middle of the ground. Something that may have also had a bearing on the game so far was the fact that both Dean and McLean were not on the ground due to injury. The medical staff were working overtime to try and get them back on the ground. Being two down on the rotations was not going to help going into the last quarter.
It all came down to the last quarter. What we couldn't do all day we managed to do in the first 5 minutes of the quarter. It all started from another missed shot on goal. This time the kick in was read beautifully by Jack Grange just outside the arc. He marked the ball and not wasting anytime, played on and did his best impression of Babe Ruth*, kicked the ball long and straight and we had our first goal. With Dean off the ground injured Gillespie took the kickouts and like Tommy went straight down the ground. Carroll to Edmonds who found Kelly on the wing and with Milne leading up the ground the goal square was vacant. Kelly let it rip from just outside the centre square and we had our second goal. This time there was no Vulture reply in between the two goals. While we missed another shot on goal our pressure on the kickins kept the ball in our forward line, a tackle from Cathcart and the resulting free kick gave us another shot on goal. This time Cathcart in the wrong pocket for a left footer kicked truly and we had three unanswered goals in five minutes. It had taken three quarters but we were starting to get control of the game. By the end of the game the Vultures managed to add two more goals but we had also added some more goals. Milne with some vintage 'ducking and weaving' saw him winning the ball off the deck and breaking tackles to snap a goal. Dylan Gabron-Uhe, who was also having some injury problems, played the rover on another Vultures kickin to break out of a pack and 'head for home' outside the arc to kick another goal. After earning a holding the ball free kick in the goal square Kelly kicked his second and our 8th for the quarter and we were home by 34 points.
It took awhile but the Vultures just weren't going to give up the game easily. In the end we had 34 scoring shots to 20 and 86 more disposals.
Next week we are at home to Old Haileybury who also have two wins on the board in another of our 'Local Darbys'.
Don't you just love the footy.
*Footnote: Babe Ruth is a legend of American baseball who famously in the 1932 World Series pointed to centre-field when he went to bat in the fifth innings to let the fans that were heckling him know where he was going to hit the ball. Which he did for a home run
Go sharks.