After the battle between the only two remaining unbeaten teams lived up to the hype, the coach who came out on top was quick to admit that his side had some areas to work on.
Trailing by 26 points at three-quarter time, St Joseph’s stormed home to snatch a five-point victory over arch-rivals St Mary’s at Anthony Costa Oval, 16.15 (111) to 16.10 (106) to extend their home-and-away winning streak to 25 matches.
“I think there’s times that, you know, in games like this, that you look at some of the things that you didn’t do so well rather than the things you did well,” Joeys mentor Ron Watt told K rock Football in the moments after the siren.
So, probably on reflection, we’ll sit back and have a look at the things we did well to get us into the game, and that was the pressure and the way we used the ball and the positions we pushed them into.
“But there’s a few things that we’ll take out of it that we’ve got a bit to learn.”
St Mary’s, who trailed for the majority of the contest, appeared in the box seat to claim top spot at the final change following late third-quarter goals from Sam Bourke and Chris Jansen that improved the hosts’ lead from 14 to 26 points.
Joeys star Paddy De Grandi and livewire forward brought that deficit back to 14 points with consecutive goals.
But it appeared the Saints might have done enough when Charlie Lang goaled after being the beneficiary of a double-50m penalty – the second for dissent.
However, Felix Henderson kicked a nice goal on the run, before back-to-back majors from Lewis and ruck Ed McCoy tied the score 23 minutes in.
Lewis’ third goal of the quarter gave St Joseph’s a seven-point buffer, before St Mary’s young gun Michael Rudd, following an impressive pack mark, missed a chance to cut the margin to one from almost directly in front, 25m out.
Following the resultant kick-in, the Saints put the ball back inside 50, with Ollie Flynn having a chance to tie the contest with a quick snap that rolled across the face of goal.
“I thought we were gone a number of times there during the last quarter, particularly, but it just shows a little bit of spirit,” Watt said.
“(And it) says that we’ve got two pretty good teams that are evenly matched, and we both came with our strengths, and we found a few flaws – they found some and we found some – and different players stepped up in different moments.”
Luke Webb was a standout in defence for St Joseph, as was Ryan Pendlebury for St Mary’s, with the experienced pair setting up numerous attacks for their respective teams.
Bannockburn product James Hose continued his impressive start to his GFNL career for Joeys, while Saints’ second-gamer Jack Willson kicked an equal-game-high three goals.
St Mary’s captain Jack Blood didn’t see out the game after suffering hamstring awareness.
St Joseph’s features in another marquee match-up in Round 7, hosting Autumn Street neighbours Newtown & Chilwell at Drew Oval on Sunday, with the day doubling as the 10-year reunion for the 2015 premiership team.
St Mary’s will ‘host’ North Shore at Windsor Park in a match shifted from Anthony Costa Oval, with the first bounce brought forward to 1:00pm.
X: @krockfootball
St Mary’s 5.1, 9.3, 15.7, 16.10 (106)
St Joseph’s 3.4, 8.8, 10.11, 16.15 (111)
GOALS: St Mary’s: J. Willson 3, P. Dowling 2, C. Jansen 2, S. Bourke 1, E. Wales 1, B. Cockerill 1, C. Lang 1, M. Keast 1, J. Blood 1, B. Ham 1, O. Flynn 1, H. McMahon 1,
GOALS: St Joseph’s: P. De Grandi 3, H. Lewis 3, O. Morrison 2, F. Henderson 2, M. Chafer 1, J. Gow 1, O. Hanneysee 1, J. Hose 1, L. Kershaw 1, E. McCoy 1,
BEST: St Mary’s: R. Pendlebury, B. Ham, J. Willson, F. Hughes, N. Connors, J. Blood,
BEST: St Joseph’s: L. Webb, J. Hose, J. Gow, H. Lewis, O. Morrison, A. Hickey,
| PLAYED | WON | LOST | DRAWS | POINTS | % | |
| St Joseph’s | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 166.38 |
| St Mary’s | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 246.92 |
| Newtown & Chilwell | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 117.43 |
| Colac | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 172.51 |
| South Barwon | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 187.98 |
| Bell Park | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 179.57 |
| Leopold | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 163.17 |
| St Albans | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 152.87 |
| Grovedale | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 102.26 |
| Geelong West | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 71.81 |
| Lara | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 15.37 |
| North Shore | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 8.33 |
LEADING GOALKICKERS
23 – (1) – Sam Bourke – St Mary’s
22 – (*) – Tom Higgins – St Albans
20 – (2) – Oscar Morrison – St Joseph’s
19 – (2) – Patrick Dowling – St Mary’s
18 – (*) – Fraser Fort – South Barwon
17 – (*) – Mitchell Dodos – Newtown & Chilwell
17 – (*) – Connor Giddings – Leopold
16 – (*) – Matthew Caldow – South Barwon
16 – (*) – Lachie Horniblow – Geelong West Giants
*did not play
NEXT WEEK – ROUND 7
Saturday, June 7
- St Mary’s vs. North Shore @ Windsor Park, 1:00pm
- Geelong West Giants vs. Colac @ West Oval, 2:10pm
- Grovedale vs. Bell Park @ Burdoo Reserve, 2:10pm
- Lara vs. Leopold @ Bisinella Oval, 2:10pm
- St Albans vs. South Barwon @ Concept Oval, 2:10pm
Sunday, June 8
- St Joseph’s vs. Newtown & Chilwell @ Drew Oval, 2:10pm* krockfootball.live Match of the Day
