R14 2024 | Reserves at Whitefriars

With the 2024 VAFA Division 2 Reserves season coming into its final stretch before finals, the Unicorns took the trip out to Donvale for a clash with Whitefriars, a formidable opponent on the expansive Whitefriars ground. Their previous encounter resulted in a strong win to the Unicorns in dry conditions at the Woodfull-Miller Oval, both sides looked up to the heavens, with heavy rains anticipated.

Despite it never raining on a Reserves game ever before, the skies duly opened and remained as such for the majority of the encounter. Perhaps utilizing the slightly drier conditions from the first bounce, the Unicorns were able to execute quickly to nab an early one, as Jake Smith hit Byron Gunn to open proceedings. Unsurprisingly, the chances dried up for both sides as the rains set in, but a truly engrossing battle of wills began. Alistair Rogers started with a magnificent term, his tenacity and physicality in tagging and around the stoppages (the latter also ringing true for Zac Comley-Burns) unmatched. Despite the speed of the game lessened, the intensity continued to grow between the two sides aware of the importance of four points, and the siren blew at the end of the term with a slender 8-point MHSOB margin, 2.2-14 to 1.0-6.

Head Coach Matt Brancatisano addresses his team at quarter time. Image courtesy of Jim Wilson.

What was a steady stream became a deluge in the second term, and both teams battled on fiercely, neither willing to cede an inch of territory. With the game mostly stuck between the two Attacking 50s, the work of the entire side defensively was immense, as Mason Fenessy-Kent showed grit but also polish with the ball at foot, a rarity in this fixture. Both teams ground throughout the quarter, and a meagre return for both teams on the scorecard was hardly surprising, but the Unicorns held onto their lead at the main break, though lessened, a seven-point buffer, with the score reading 3.3-21 to 2.1-13 at half time.

Both teams did their best to restore some warmth to their extremities in the rooms and made their way back out to start the third term, in which the great arm-wrestle continued between the sides. Down Back, Bryce Dowling was dominant and unrelenting despite the conditions, and the work of him and the rest of the back six limited Whitefriars to just two scoring opportunities for the term – and five for three quarters played. Aaron Turner was in the right place at the right time to register the Unicorn’s fourth major of the game, but the match was still very much in the balance, with the Unicorns leading 4.5-29 to Whitefriars’ 3.2-20.

Understanding that any run could result in victory, both teams came out for the final term ready to give it everything. Much to the delight of the damp MHSOB supporters, their team was in the ascendancy. Nicholas Campbell was a constant all game and used his high-end endurance and stamina to put himself and his team first, but the best work of the term was James Cusack, working tirelessly between the forward line and the ruck all match, delivering two goals to put the game beyond any doubt, including a deft kick from 40 metres out to seal a memorable victory.

Next weekend the Unicorns take on Elsternwick, back at home, looking to continue to solidify their top two credentials and keep the pressure solely on top-placed Brunswick.

Final score: MHSOBFC 6.5-41 defeated Whitefriars 4.3-27

Goals: James Cusack 2, Nafi Anaan, Byron Gunn, Robert Rae, Aaron Turner

Best Players: Mason Fennessy-Kent, Zac Comley-Burns, Alistair Rogers, Bryce Dowling, Nicholas Campbell, James Cusack