Round 13 was TAC Round Safety Round which is a cause we hold close to our hearts at Monbulk FNC. Each of our teams wore blue bands to raise awareness of round safety to recognise the round. We also asked all players, families & support staff to reflect on their driving habits to create safer roads for all. If anyone has photos from the round with players, family’s or support staff wearing there blue band, please send them in!

FOOTBALL

Seniors
Monbulk travelled to the Clegg Road reserve in Wandin North to face the second placed Bulldogs. The Hawks had not won at this venue since 2010 but were not deterred by their recent track record there and played a determined and attacking game style.

Wandin were more measured and composed on the small ground, and regularly found avenues via short passes and switching sides to find free teammates. Although Monbulk fell behind late in the first quarter by a couple goals, they kept pace through the second term when scoring a few goals just before half time which had the team believing in themselves. The Bulldogs again established a break before the Hawks clawed their way back from 5 goals down to get within 13 points early in the last term. Wandin then steadied to run out 29 point winners in an entertaining contest.

Wandin 21.12.138 def Monbulk 17.7.109
Best: Lachlan Sheppard, Lochlan Beecroft, Lewis Oliver, Mackay Bateson, Glenn Strachan, Jayden Spencer
Goals: Lewis Oliver 4, Lochlan Beecroft 3, Mackay Bateson 2, Glenn Strachan 2, Ben Grimes 2, Josh Wentworth 1, Bailey Rutherford 1, Brodie Emmett 1, Max Thornton 1

Reserves
The fifth placed Monbulk Reserves were keen to atone for their disappointing result last week when coming up against fourth placed Wandin. The Hawks took control of the game early and then gradually kept extending their lead throughout the match until they emerged victorious by 62 points. Monbulk remain in fifth place as they head into the bye next week.

Wandin 4.5.29 def by Monbulk 13.13.91
Best: Steve Oates, Toby Versteegen, Cameron Griffiths, Brandon Shambrooke, Matthew James, Josh Rak
Goals: Shane Williams 3, Cam Griffiths 2, Michael Langworthy 2, Kallee Sas 1, Shaun Wiering 1, Dean White 1, Brandon Shambrooke 1, Aaron Smith 1, Benjamin Magnay 1

Under 19s
The Hawks were sitting fourth on the ladder but had only won one of their last six matches and needed to make a statement in this game. Monbulk got off to a good start in the first quarter but were then unable to take control of the match as they squandered scoring opportunities. By three quarter time they still led by just twenty-two points despite having 22 to 10 scoring shots. In the final quarter the Hawks were able to finally convert their control of the game into scoreboard results as they ran out comfortable 43 point winners.

Wandin 7.5.47 def by Monbulk 12.18.90
Best: Nick Taylor, Jai Farmer, Zeke Charlton, Graison Embleton, Nicholas Heron, Charlie Barge
Goals: Jai Farmer 5, Graison Embleton 2, Lachlan Smith 2, Charlie Barge 1, Noah Rutherford 1, Nicholas Heron 1

Women’s
Monbulk’s women’s team played their match at 7pm on the Friday evening at home against Upwey-Tecoma. In the previous two matches against Upwey this year, the Hawks had scored just a combined 3 points. As the side continues to improve, they were able to burst out of the blocks and were leading by 7 points to nil inside four minutes. Unfortunately they were not able to continue in that vein and were gradually overrun by the Tigers, although they fought out the game with their usual spirit and enthusiasm. They will play their final match of the season next week against Berwick Springs.

Monbulk 1.3.9 def by Upwey-Tecoma 9.8.62
Best: Maddison Dodd, Kathryn Gow, Genna Seamer, Laura Gillard, Shaye McLean, Ayla Short
Goal: Jennifer Pauw 1

NETBALL
A Grade
Wandin’s A Grade team proved to be too good for Monbulk and took greater advantage of their forward entries. The Hawks fought out the game to the end but were never able to fight their way back into the match as the margin increased every quarter.

Wandin 68 def Monbulk 43
Best: Jen Dewhurst, Nicole Macdowell, Tiana Mancarella
Goals: Peri Reid 33, Sophie Stubbs 4, Jen Dewhurst 3

B Grade
Monbulk started the day half a game behind Wandin and the match began evenly with the Hawks getting an early 7-6 lead before consecutive turnovers allowed the Bulldogs to edge ahead 12-10 at the first change. After that Wandin displayed a fairly flawless game plan and ended up running away with the game by 30 goals.

Wandin 65 def Monbulk 35
Best: Dayna Walsham, Elizabeth Cutting, Chloe Schmidtke
Goals: Paige Rondinella 17, Dayna Walsham 10, Chloe Schmidtke 8

C Grade
Wandin are one of the leading teams in C Grade, sitting in second place with just the 3 losses so far, while Monbulk find themselves in ninth with just 3 wins. The Hawks battled well throughout the match but the Bulldogs’ strong defence continually repelled many of the forward forays and won easily as a result.

Wandin 46 def Monbulk 18
Best: Simone Beattie, Courtney Witt, Sammi Kelly
Goals: Jamie Sands 10, Sammi Kelly 6, Laura Del Biondo 2

D Grade
Monbulk’s D Grade team played one of their best matches for the season so far. The last placed Hawks came up against the second placed Wandin. Earlier this year they had lost the corresponding fixture at home 53-6. This young team is rapidly progressing and showed marked improvement in their game. Wandin got the jump in this match and established a 16 goal lead by half time but Monbulk were not to be denied and won the second half 14-13. This was a very creditable performance against a finals bound team.

Wandin 34 def Monbulk 19
Best: Kate Smith, Leah Hansby, Brooke O’Loughlin
Goals: Kate Smith 17, Eireann Lawson 2

Please note that whilst our Seniors have a bye this weekend, there will still be lots of sport to watch!
Our Under 19s and Women’s Football play away games & all netball will be played at the Nest!