FOOTBALL
SENIORS
Winter finally arrived after ten perfect Saturdays opened season 2024. Round 11 was met with cold, dark, wet and windy conditions, which prevailed as Monbulk travelled down to Clyde North to meet the Berwick Springs Titans, with the lights being turned on before midday. Despite the conditions a good contingent of Hawk supporters made the journey. These teams had only ever met once before, back in 2021, shortly after Berwick Springs became a senior club, and Monbulk notched a 158 point win on that occasion. A second meeting being curtailed by Covid. The Titans have come on quickly though and were runners up in Division 1 last year and had beaten 5th placed Olinda-Ferny Creek this season. Round 11 also marked the point where all teams had met each other once in the 12 team Premier Division, and an accurate picture of the ladder was possible.

Berwick Springs started with the wind in their favour however, after grabbing an early lead, the Hawks hit the front by quarter time when Nic Wall kicked two goals in a minute. From the second quarter Monbulk began to control the contest. Even with the slippery conditions the Hawks were superb around the packs, winning the clearances with a regularity, as the onballers linked up brilliantly. Once they won possession they cut their opponents up with precision passing, covering the wide wings more effectively when going on the spread. The Titans struggled to get their hands on the ball and when they did drive it forward, found the Monbulk backline hard to penetrate.

After quarter time the Titans were restricted to just 2 behinds while Monbulk scored 10.19 for the same period. It was only the finishing touches with the goalkicking that let Monbulk down on the day as the Hawks cruised to their fourth consecutive win with a dominant display in the conditions. Monbulk have now moved up to eighth and have a big home clash against fourth placed Upwey-Tecoma this week. With injuries to Kai Linde (broken collarbone) and Dylan Werts, Tim Rickard was named for his first senior game and acquitted himself well. 

Monbulk 13.20.98 def Berwick Springs 2.4.16
Best: Nicholas Wall, Hayden Finlay, Josh Rak, Tim Rickard, Joel Wensley, Lochlan Beecroft
Goals: Lochlan Beecroft 3, Hayden Finlay 3, Josh Wentworth 2, Nicholas Wall 2, Ben Hughson 1, Mitchell Dekker 1, Max Thornton 1

RESERVES
Monbulk were two games above Berwick Springs on the ladder going into their clash, but there was to be nothing separating the two sides once the ball was thrown up to start hostilities. Both sides attacked hard and applied pressure in equal measure, which made for a day-long arm wrestle. It was to be a low scoring affair as neither side gave an inch but Monbulk wasn’t able to find the match winning goal required in the second half and fell 2 points short.

Monbulk 2.7.19 def by Berwick Springs 3.3.21
Best: Adam Banks, Harry Fleming, Lachlan Smith, Charlie Barge, William Mutschler, Lewis Oliver
Goals: Noah Rutherford 1, Steven Shankly 1

WOMEN’S
Monbulk bounced back from last week’s loss to Woori and exacted their revenge upon the Seville girls at Seville. With Brielle Tipping, Indy Bakker, Kathryn Gow, Molly Licciardi and Scarlett Henderson missing, the Monbulk team worked hard to set up scoring options while also restricting Seville’s ability to impact the scoreboard. The win entrenches the Hawks in second spot as they face Thornton-Eildon this week.

Monbulk 10.14.74 def Seville 0.1.1
Best: Shania Turner, Ruby Ross, Hannah Joy, Ayla Short, Maddison Dodd, Madeline Caarels
Goals: Hannah Joy 2, Laura Gillard 2, Stephanie Pauw 2, Madeline Caarels 1, Maddison Dodd 1, Grace Emmett 1, Jade McCormick 1

NETBALL
A GRADE
Places at the top of the A Grade netball ladder come at a premium with just two wins separating Wandin in 2nd (36 points), Mt. Evelyn 3rd (34), Pakenham 4th (32), Monbulk 5th (30) and Emerald 6th (28). Each win is not only important but the margin could also be critical in final placings. With this in mind Monbulk were not just looking to beat the winless Berwick Springs combination, but also to add to the goal differential. The conditions were totally against cohesive netball, which made the display by Monbulk all the more impressive. On the rained drenched slippery court the Hawks compiled a score that would have impressed on a sunny day. Had the conditions been better the team might well have set a new club record. 86 goals was a remarkable return as Monbulk look to make a big impression in the run home.

Monbulk 86 def Berwick Springs 20
Best: Sophie Stubbs, Nicole Macdowell, Stephanie Ferguson
Goals: Peri Reid 64, Stephanoe Ferguson 22

B GRADE
The B Grade team required some shuffling of the magnets as regular scorers Jorja Wragg and Dayna Walsham were unavailable. The void was filled with Chloe Carmichael stepping up from C Grade and the return of Olivia Crook, while Tiana helped cover for Rihanna and Katrina being unavailable in defence. Berwick Springs held an early lead of 11-9 by quarter time but after that Monbulk powered away to a convincing win by 28 goals.

Monbulk 52 def Berwick Springs 24
Best: Chloe Carmichael, Tiana Mancarella, Elizabeth Cutting
Goals: Chloe Carmichael 33, Olivia Crook, 14, Chloe Schmidtke 5

C GRADE
The Hawks were in complete control of their match against the Titans as they are now in clear sixth spot. This team has flown under the radar somewhat and, despite losing Grace Sands to injury a month ago at Emerald, are looking to make finals for the first time since 2018, when they reached the Preliminary Final.

Monbulk 50 def Berwick Springs 9
Best: Kate Smith, Sammi Kelly, Lisa Boyle
Goals: Jamie Sands 33, Chloe Carmichael 8, Laura Del Biondo 6, Lisa Boyle 3

D GRADE
With the Under 15s having a bye, Isla Stubbs and Kaitlyn Summers stepped up to play their first senior games with the development squad, and were joined by Elli Ritchie making her club debut. Possibly having the worst conditions of the day, Berwick Springs kept Monbulk goalless in the opening term and held a 10-6 lead at half time. In the second half it was all the Hawks as they ran over the Titans, despite losing Isabel Connell to injury. D Grade have now recorded successive wins for the first time in six years.

Monbulk 21 def Berwick Springs 14
Best: Hayley Donald, Caitlin Utting, Jessica Steele
Goals: Hayley Donald 13, Ella Flynn 8