By JARROD POTTER
VAFA – DIVISION 2
SENT to the repechage, St John’s will have to take the long road to the finale in VAFA Division 2 after a gallant 28-point loss to minor premiers Ivanhoe AFC.
Trailing for most of the day, the JOCs held onto the Ivanhoe coat-tails desperately as they had to battle not only the raging favourites but also the loss of Liam O’Connor, who was downed by injury while squaring off against Mitch Lovell.
Despite numbers dwindling to a scant 20 with the JOCs struggling to find fit bodies on the bench, there was fight left in the Dandy boys that managed to almost level the ledger part-way through the fourth term.
“Very resilient effort,” St John’s coach Ben McGee said.
“While you’re never proud of a loss and they were very gallant.
“We got within four points in the last quarter and then lost O’Connor and just for 10 minutes it upset us and they got out to 28 points.
“We were on the ropes but the boys were really brave and quite possibly could’ve hit the front at one stage.”
McGee praised the efforts of Gerard Ennis, Manny Jakwot, Anthony Brannan, Jarrod Gaget and full forward Aaron Thornton.
“Gerard Ennis played a crucial match-up and we just keep challenging him – he’s still young and will be a really, really good player with further commitment – he was exceptional,” McGee said.
“Manny Jakwot just really stood out in regards to his endurance and able to transition from ruck contest into a ruck rover.
“Anthony Brannan was very, very serviceable across the day and had to move onto the dangerous Roberts – their best player in the second half – and he played a vital shutdown role.
“Jarrod Gaget – thrived on contest to contest, and Aaron Thornton – who I’ve really been challenging to improve his defensive component of his forward play – got on the end and kicking goals through really hard work rather than being given the goals.
It sends St John’s to Sunday’s preliminary final against Old Paradians – with both sides having tasted defeat and victory at the hands of each other this year already.
Who will win? McGee thinks it’s a coin-flip and hopes his best dozen or more can rally to give the JOCs one last shot at Ivanhoe in two weeks.
“Off to face Parade this week – bested us at our last meeting and we’ll need to be at our best,” McGee said.
“Preliminary finals are always unique games and doesn’t matter what went on in the first part of the season – it’s a unique game and one we’ll need to have 11-12 winners across the ground to get the result.”
The match will be held at Aquinas College, from 2pm.
