Hampton Rovers had a largely disappointing day Saturday losing to Oakleigh at Boss James Reserve to put a major dent in their finals aspirations.
After the 50-point victory back in Round 4, the Rovers went in quite confident but they failed to get out of first gear and it was Oakleigh who looked more desperate all day and deserved the win.
Plenty of overnight rain made Boss James Reserve very wet for the clash and that no doubt had a bearing on what was no doubt an unattractive game of footy for the majority.
It all came down to the first quarter with the visitors starting well kicking four goals to the Rovers one. If not for inaccurate kicking it could have been more with the Krushers kicking seven behinds.
Three second-term Hampton Rovers goals to Oakleighs two reduced the margin to a little more than two kicks at the main break.
Five goals each in the third stanza kept the margin the same as it was at half time, with Oakleigh leading by 14 points and the Rovers well and truly still in the game even if they didnt look like it.
An Anton Duddy goal reduced the margin to 9 points but thats as close as the Rovers would get with the visitors hitting back and both sides kicking three goals each for the term, handing Oakleigh an 18-point win.
Duddy kicked three goals with two each to Corp, Turner, Curry and Semmel. Duddy, Carr and Devereaux were amongst the better players.
The Rovers now must re-group for a must-win game against Old Essendon this Saturday in another home game at Boss James Reserve. The VAFA Premier B ladder has the top 6 teams all sharing the same number of points (28), followed by Uni Blacks (24), Hampton Rovers (20), and Old Essendon & Melbourne High (4).
HAMPTON ROVERS 1.1 4.6 9.11 12.11 (83)
OAKLEIGH 4.7 6.8 11.13 14.17 (101)
Goals: A. Duddy 3, D. Corp 2, E. Turner 2, T. Curry 2, R. Semmel 2, C. Gleeson
Best: A. Duddy, G. Carr, M. Devereaux, J. Lovig, E. Turner, D. Robbins
The Reserves went down to Oakleigh by four goals with Jason Giasoumi kicking four goals. Best players were Shem Curry, Kyal McNeil and Tom Cougan. The Under 19s went down to Old Mentonians by 16 points in the Grand Final replay. Collins, Pavlou and DeLisle were best for the Rovers.
