Football
Seniors
Monbulk’s roller coaster late season run towards the finals continued with a visit to premiership fancies Mt. Evelyn. The ground was heavy around the cricket pitch but the sunny afternoon was a welcome compensation. Kai Linde lined up for his 100th senior match and Will Henderson made his 50th appearance. The Hawks played a brilliant first half, restricting the Rovers to two goals four behinds with superb pressure, structure and link up play.

Monbulk’s 11 point half time lead was tested in the third term as Mt. Evelyn found avenues through the centre of the ground and left the Hawks 8 points in arrears at the last change. The Rovers continued with a strong last quarter leaving Monbulk with a 36 point loss which had however been full of merit throughout. Monbulk’s yo-yo season continued as they dropped back to seventh, but again less than two percent out of fifth place behind Upwey and Woori. Over the last four weeks they have been fourth, seventh, fourth and seventh respectively, and will face the undefeated flag favourites Wandin at home this week.

Monbulk 6.4.40 def by Mt. Evelyn 11.10.76
Best: Ben Hughson, Caleb Quirk, Joel Wensley, Joshua Spencer, Riley Finlay, Will Henderson
Goals: Joel Wensley 3, Ben Hughson 1, Josh Wentworth 1, Riley Finlay 1

Reserves
When your season is on the line and you are playing the undefeated ladder leaders you want to have your best available. It was not ideal for Monbulk to learn by game day that the bare 18 players selected on Thursday had dwindled to 16 by match day. Under 18s players Finley Ede, Isaac Mullinder and Mitchell Clark agreed to play a second game to allow the Hawks one player on the bench. Matt James, who had first played in 2010, finally notched game 100 after an interrupted career while Dale Ross notched up his 50th. While the final margin was significant, the Hawks battled hard against the odds all through.

Monbulk 1.7.13 def by Mt. Evelyn 14.12.96
Best: Lewis Oliver, Karl Ravenhorst, Isaac Mullinder, Jacob Defina, Finley Ede, Steven Shankly
Goal: Dale Ross

Under 18s
Mt. Evelyn are reigning grand finalists while the Hawks sit in tenth place with 5 wins. This disparity wasn’t obvious as the much improved Monbulk side put up another strong performance of committed team play. The Hawks eventually succumbed by three goals but will eye off a few more wins in the run home.

Monbulk 6.8.44 def by Mt. Evelyn 9.8.62
Best: Eamon Dawson, Darcy Spry, Finley Ede, Oliver Ziaja, Isaac Mullinder, Cohen Mitchell
Goals: Darcy Spry 4, Riley Broadbent 1, Finley Ede 1

Netball
A Grade
Another undefeated Mt. Evelyn side is their A Grade netball team. This perennial powerhouse had defeated Monbulk by 41 goals earlier in the season but the Hawks put up a much better performance on Saturday, with plenty of intercepts, turnovers and good transition play. Monbulk eventually went down by 17 goals, a very meritorious effort considering only Wandin had gotten closer than that this year. Jorja Wragg was great in her 50th club match.

Monbulk 38 def by Mt. Evelyn 55
Best: Jorja Wragg, Sophie Stubbs, Asha Jones
Goals: Jorja Wragg 20, Peri Reid 18

B Grade
Top side Mt. Evelyn and fifth placed Monbulk put up an interesting game. While the margin blew out in the second quarter it remained an intriguing struggle to the end as Monbulk fought hard for every possession and score. Mid-season recruit Catherine Braniska has been a star in every game she has played since.

Monbulk 43 def by Mt. Evelyn 58
Best: Catherine Braniska, Chloe Carmichael, Alice McCormick
Goals: Chloe Baker 25, Dayna Walsham 15, Chloe Carmichael 3

C Grade
Monbulk’s performance against another of the premiership favourites shows the continued improvement of this team. The Hawks gave Mt. Evelyn their biggest challenge in weeks before going down by 19 but holding the Rovers to their third lowest score of the year.

Monbulk 16 def by Mt. Evelyn 35
Best: Hayley Donald, Isabelle Cross, Courtney Witt
Goals: Grace Sands 12, Macy Giling 2, Maddy Buckland 2

D Grade
The match of the day would have to go to these girls. Applying great pressure and cohesive systematic play, the Hawks stunned the second placed Mt. Evelyn from the start with a 10-3 opening term. Monbulk did not relent for the full four quarters and handed the Rovers just their third loss of the year while strengthening their own finals claims.

Monbulk 29 def Mt. Evelyn 23
Best: Jamie Sands, Katrina Wragg, Brooke O’Loughlin
Goals: Jamie Sands 18, Ella Flynn 11

Under 17s

Monbulk Gold battled hard against the ladder leaders but were outclassed by a better team. Monbulk Maroon meanwhile met Wandin at Wandin and virtually sealed their finals spot with a commanding performance against a challenger for their fifth place.

Monbulk Gold 13 def by Mt. Evelyn 80
Best: Amelia Magarry, Kaia Stewart, Kaitlyn Summers
Goals: Kaitlyn Summers 6, Kaia Stewart 3, Amelia Magarry 2, Stevie Mullinder 2

Monbulk Maroon 41 def Wandin 20
Best: Shiloh Koole, Layla Murray, Chelsea Ferguson
Goals: Chelsea Ferguson 31, Ahliya Wragg 10

Under 15s
The two Monbulk teams travelled to Pakenham and both came away with the spoils of victory. The match of the day was top side Monbulk Gold against third place Pakenham Maroon who were only a win behind. The match was even through the first half before the Hawks put their foot down. Monbulk Maroon’s win keeps them in sixth place and within striking distance of a finals spot, a game behind Wandin Blue.

Monbulk Gold 34 def Pakenham Maroon 27
Best: Eden Murphy, Indiana Kirk, Ria Greenaway
Goals: Eden Murphy 26, Amelia Magarry 8

Monbulk Maroon 27 def Pakenham Gold 18
Best: Olivia Dalman, Isabelle Kos, Katie Moody
Goals: Isabelle Kos 21, Grace Gaunt 6