The Hampton Rovers defeated Old Camberwell by 21 points at Boss James Reserve on Saturday to jump three positions on the ladder to seventh and take a big step forward in the fight to survive relegation.
Again it was windy conditions at Boss James, favouring the David Street end of the ground, of which the Rovers kicked towards in the opening term. It started a scrappy affair and the home side could only manage two goals however the Wellers failed to score at all.
The Rovers were far from dominant with the wind in the first quarter and it was always going to be interesting to see what transpired in the second term. Importantly the Rovers managed two goals against it while Camberwell managed the same with it, from their eight scoring shots. At half time, it was Hampton leading by 12 points.
The game opened up somewhat in the third term with the Rovers kicking five goals while the visitors could only manage a single point. At the final change, it was the Rovers holding a comfortable 43 point lead. The game was far from over though – last time the two teams met, Old Camberwell booted 10 goals with the wind in the last to come within 5 points of the Rovers, the conditions were very similar at the Boss on Saturday.
The Wellers kicked the opening goal of the final quarter and slowly began pegging back at the Rovers score. Throughout the final term, the visitors wasted plenty of opportunities, with four behinds, and more shots at goal going out on the full. With minutes remaining, Old Camberwell had reduced the margin to a few kicks and the atmosphere was tense.
However that tension somewhat eased shortly after with a lucky bounce handing Rovers a goal to stretch the lead to 27 points. An OC goal on the final siren reduced the winning margin for the Rovers to 21 points.
Ryan Semmel and Rob Alexander each kicked three goals for the Rovers while Tom Curry kicked two. Captain Matt Lawrence and Vice Captain Gary Carr were amongst the Rovers best.
Other results fell the Rovers way with Ormond going down by 95 points and Old Carey also heavily defeated by 45 points. The Rovers now sit seventh on the B Section ladder on 20 points and 88%. Also on 20 points are Ormond (79%) and Old Camberwell (69%), followed by Old Carey on 18 points and 84%.
There are just two rounds remaining and next week the Rovers face a tough road trip to play ladder leaders Old Melburnians at Junction Oval before returning to Boss James Reserve for the Round 18 clash against arch rivals Ormond.
With four teams at the foot of the table battling to avoid finishing in the bottom two, the Rovers need your support over the next two weeks to ensure we finish the season on a positive note and retain our position in B Section of the VAFA for 2010. Get behind the boys in the next two big games against OMs and Ormond.
HAMPTON ROVERS 2.2 4.6 9.8 11.8 (74)
OLD CAMBERWELL 0.0 2.6 2.7 7.11 (53)
Goals: R. Semmel 3, R. Alexander 3, T. Curry 2, R. White, E. Turner, L. De Boer
Best: M. Lawrence, G. Carr, T. Curry, M. Devereaux, L. Fletcher, T. McCarthy
The Reserves were defeated by Old Camberwell. After being up at three quarter time, the visitors came home strong with the wind and went on to win by seven goals. Jason Giasoumi kicked four majors for the Rovers while best players included Matt Law, Ben Kezilas and Jesse Donald.
The Under 19s came from behind to defeat Peninsula Old Boys by five goals and remain equal top on the ladder. Tom Youl and Matt Innes kicked two each while Jack Baxter, Brendan Culvenor and Richard Atkins were best. Click Here for the full U19 report.
