ST THERESE has maintained its unbeaten streak in the M-League Victorian Men’s Premier Division, after defeating Seahawks in a top-of-the-table clash. Both sides headed into the contest with four wins apiece, but it was St Therese that emerged victorious in a surprisingly one-sided contest. Switched on from the first term, St Therese bolted out to an 11-goal lead and was never headed, winning by 27 goals, 61-34.

Though St Therese’s victories had been more emphatic coming into the contest, few saw a result of this magnitude coming. From the opening centre pass it was clear the eventual winners were on-song. Sam Bury piled on 12 goals in the opening quarter, with the entire opposition side only managing the six, five of which came from reliable volume shooter Danny Loats.

With only seven players available, the Seahawks had limited rotations in the contest, whilst St Therese had a few options if need be. In the end, they largely stayed the same with James Sutton coming on at wing defence for Chris Cameron in the second half, and Connor Lilly rotating from wing attack to gaol attack, switching with Tom Hardwick. Young gun Lilly’s move into the goal circle certainly helped, because after the Seahawks had broken even with St Therese in the second term (11 goals apiece), Lilly scored 13 of his side’s 18 goals, and they doubled their lead with an 18-7 term.

The Seahawks had kept the same team on, with Hadley Dixon and James Robertson rotating the centre and wing attack bibs each quarter. Winning the final term 15-10, St Therese put an emphatic rubber stamp on their performance to send a message to the rest of the competition ahead of the final few rounds. Midcourter Riley Richardson was superb throughout in the centre bib, with Lilly’s influence at goal attack in the second half – shooting 20 goals – another key performance. For the Seahawks, Tim Malmo worked tirelessly at goal keeper to limit Bury after quarter time, with the goal shooter only managing 17 goals in the final three quarters after 12 in the first.

At the other end of the table, DDNA picked up its first win of the season against fellow bottom two side Ariels, winning 57-56. Though DDNA had drawn with Sirens previously, neither side had been able to salute, but this time DDNA took home the full points. The defensive combination of Adam Franz (goal defence) and Ethan Spiteri (goal keeper) really stood out on court, whilst Christian White shot 45 goals in an enormous effort in goal shooter. For Ariels, Kurt Thompson contributed 36 goals in a trying performance, with Dan Stone good in goal defence, restricting his opponent to 12 goals.

In the final game of the Men’s Premier Division, Netblacks came and delivered against Sirens to remain right up in premiership contention. Leading at quarter time then level at half-time, the Netblacks extended the lead back out to three at the final break, before piling on 17 goals to six and running away 14-goal winners, 52-38. The result meant Netblacks will leapfrog Seahawks into second, and did it all in the absence of powerful volume shooter Junior Levi. Instead, the combination of Cameron Powell (25 goals) and Brodie McCleish (27) stepped up. Continuing his outstanding season, midcourter Deepak Patu was also impressive, whilst wing defence Sam Dugan was the best for Sirens.

MEN’S PREMIER DIVISION ROUND 7 RESULTS:

St Therese (61) defeated Seahawks (34)
DDNA (57) defeated Ariels (56)
Netblacks (52) defeated Sirens (38)