The Hampton Rovers were defeated by Old Haileybury to the tune of 35 points at McKinnon Reserve on Saturday.
The home side who had their AFL ring-ins Rob Harvey and Tony Brown lining up for them alongside regular Brett Voss got off to a flyer with the wind in the opening term kicking seven goals. However as was the case last week, the Rovers again struggled early on and didn?t manage to kick a major for the quarter.
From then on, the Rovers were playing catch-up footy and the second term produced eight goals to the Bloods three to bring the margin back to 14 points at the long break.
It was proving to be a quality game of amateur footy between the two local rivals and the Rovers continued on from the second quarter and had the upper hand in the third however on the scoreboard it was all square with both sides managing five goals apiece.
The home side saw Guy Martyn, who had already kicked a bag, as the danger man and subsequently dropped Brett Voss back onto him. However unlike the corresponding game earlier in the season where the Rovers finished the strong, on this occasion it was Old Haileybury who slowly but surely shut the game down for Hampton and ended up running away with it by 35 points.
Best for the Rovers were Leigh Fletcher, Mark Devereaux, Guy Martyn, Ryan Semmel, Jay Ting and Josh Verlin. Martyn again dominated up front kicking seven goals with Josh Verlin and Ed Turner were the other multiples with two each.
Luckily for the Rovers, results went their way in Round 14 of the VAFA B Section season. Old Camberwell defeated Old Carey meaning the Rovers remain in eighth position, just clear of the relegation zone, and one game below Ormond who were defeated again.
Next week the Rovers return to Boss James Reserve to take on second-placed St Bernards.
HAMPTON ROVERS 0.1 8.5 13.8 16.11 (107)
OLD HAILEYBURY 7.5 10.7 15.7 22.10 (142)
Goals: G. Martyn 7, J. Verlin 2, E. Turner 2, M. Devereaux, L. Fletcher, R. Semmel, R. White, J. Lovig
Best: L. Fletcher, M. Devereaux, G. Martyn, R. Semmel, J. Ting, J. Verlin
It was better news for the Reserves who recorded a win, getting up by eight points over a strong finishing Haileybury. While back at Boss James Reserve, the Thirds were defeated by St Marys Salesian by five goals in their final game of the season.
The Under 19s took on Ajax in a top-of-the-table fixture and ended up big winners by 40 points to shoot to the top of the ladder with three rounds remaining. Click Here for the full report.
