Local Footy: Tigers end Xavs’ winning streak on windy day at Mentone

On a day to top even all the other windy days that have blighted footy in Victoria this season, the home ground advantage of St Bede’s-Mentone Tigers played its part in the Tigers’ victory over A-section rival Old Xaverians by 28 points on Saturday. The results ended Xavs’ winning streak at 14.

The Tigers’ home ground is small and quirky. Most opposition clubs struggle there, but on a difficult day on which the ball was blown towards the south-east forward pocket, the Tigers’ advantage became more pronounced.

Robust St Bede’s forward Peter McGettigan kicked two goals from outside the 45-metre arc, a feat that no Xavs player came close to matching. McGettigan’s perfect weighting of both long shots belied home knowledge as well as a player with a big-game temperament.

Tigers’ midfielder and captain James Tyquin exemplified his team’s fierce attack the ball, while former captain Luke Wintle kicked four goals from centre half-forward.

Old Ivanhoe kept alive its mathematical hopes of avoiding relegation when it defeated a disappointing Old Scotch by nine points at Chelsworth Park. It was the Hoers’ first win since replacing coach Dan Winkel with playing-coach Brad Thompson last month, while Scotch’s loss all but puts it out of the race to snatch fourth spot.

Uni Blues remain fourth after turning around their match against Old Essendon at East Keilor. Old Essendon led by three points at half-time but kicked only three behinds in the second half. The Blues kicked 13.11 in the second half to forge an 83-point victory.

Collegians also remain in the hunt for fourth spot after defeating Old Brighton by 74 points at home. Fergus Watts kicked six goals.

De La Salle remains in third place after seeing off Marcellin by 21 points at Waverley Oval. Before the game, De La dropped club icon Ben Mannix and former captain Ben Coren while welcoming back flying forward Leigh Harrison after a stint overseas. De La onballer Jacob Gotch, the son of former St Kilda rover Brad, was best on ground.

In B-section, second-placed St Bernard’s suffered an extraordinary hiding when it went down to University Blacks by 135 points, 25.10 (160) to 3.7 (25), at the uni oval. The Blacks had 14 goalkickers, none of whom kicked more than three.

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