MCC Herald Sun Shield, Celebrating 30 Years of Secondary School Football

The final of the MCC Herald Sun Shield will be contested on the MCG on Sunday August 13th between Penleigh Essendon GS and St. Josephs College Geelong. Both teams had convincing wins in their semi final matches and are confident in their chances of taking out the 2006 MCC Herald Sun Shield.Semi Final One: St Joseph’s College Geelong vs. St Patrick’s College BallaratAll players went in really hard from the start of the game, all players struggling to get a clean possession. It didn’t take long for St Josephs to open their scoring with the first goal of the match to Christian Messer. St Pat’s were giving away clumsy free kicks and St Joe’s continued to push into attack and take advantage of the free kicks with their midfield getting on top. Two more goals through Liam Jackson and Jak Kennedy-Hunt brought their total up to 18. St Pat’s finally attacked with some purpose but Josh Caldow could only convert a minor. Then Robert Clifton shifted St Pat’s score up to 7 with a goal but Joseph Macula replied for St Josephs with a goal, ending the first quarter.It was obvious at quarter time that the number of fans greatly favoured St Joe’s. They instantly started attacking again but gave away a 50m penalty which resulted in Josh Caldow of St Pat’s kicking his, and the teams second goal of the game. St Joe’s replied with a good mark and goal to Jak Kennedy-Hunt who was starting to look really dangerous from full-forward. St Joseph’s were giving the forwards first chance at the ball through great delivery with Kennedy-Hunt presenting and kicking another goal. St Joseph’s midfield was still on top due to great smothering pressure and a lot of clearances but St Pat’s started pushing numbers up around the ball and stole the momentum from St Joe’s but couldn’t capitalise due to too many numbers around the ball and each contest. Ryan Williams of St Joseph’s College was sweeping up the footy every time it entered St Pats forward 50 and then delivering beautifully up the field. Jak Kennedy-Hunt took another mark and kicked a goal after the siren to extend St Joe’s lead to 28 points going into the half time break.Chris Quinlan of St Pats opened the scoring for the second half with a goal and St Pats quickly added another one to make it two goals in two minutes. St Joe’s seemed to be defending their lead but kept on delivering the ball into the forward fifty perfectly enabling Jak Kennedy-Hunt to score another goal. It didn’t seem like Ryan Williams had a man. He continually swept across the half back line and through the midfield as St Pat’s kept on attacking but didn’t have a key forward target up the ground. After resisting the early pressure from the Ballarat boys St Josephs turned it around and started attacking but couldn’t capitalise kicking 5 behinds for the quarter.During the three quarter time break a slight wind kicked in favouring St Josephs. St Josephs were defending the attack of St Pat’s as they tried to get back into the game. However whenever St Joe’s went forward they delivered it beautifully yet again to Kennedy-Hunt who put it through for a goal. St Joe’s midfield got on top again and kept on giving it to Kennedy-Hunt’s advantage giving him the chance to kick another 2 goals, bringing his tally up to seven for the game. Luke Ryan of St Josephs booted another one and St Pats still couldn’t kick on due to a large amount of marks taken by the back 6 for St Joe’s. St Patrick’s kicked a late compensation goal through Nicholas Suban but it wasn’t enough to snatch victory, giving St Joseph’s a commanding 35 point victory ticket into the grand final.Final Scores:St. Josephs College Geelong 11.8.74 defeated St. Patricks College Ballarat 5.9.39St. JosephsGoals: J. Kennedy-Hunt 7, Messer, Jackson, Macula, Ryan 1Best: Bucovaz, Sutcliffe, Trevaskis, Kennedy-Hunt, Macula, WilliamsSt. PatricksGoals: Caldow, Clifton, Leach, Quinlan, Suban 1Best: Suban, Jenkins, Grigg, Elder, SaundersSemi Final Two: Penleigh Essendon Grammar School vs. Parade CollegeThe scoring opened early for both teams. Parade College struck first through Justin Banbury and PEGS second through Adamm Maric. Parade ruckman Daniel Currie started the game in excellent form, dominating the hit outs and also around the ground. The game was played in-between the two 50m arcs for majority of the opening quarter as the contest was very even and not as open and free running as the previous game. Luke Shelton from Parade kicked a goal and it looked like Parade’s tactics in the midfield were working. PEGS instantly replied through Dylan Joyce and made it two goals in two minutes and then three goals in three minutes through Trent Cotchin and then Dylan Joyce again who finished off two very fast centre breaks.PEGS started the attacking in the second quarter, their midfield on top. PEGS midfielder Adamm Maric kicked the first goal for the quarter but strong play by Parade forward Luke Shelton replied by kicking straight to put through two goals for Parade. Parade was starting to play the better footy and their harassing was starting to frustrate flowing play of PEGS. A scuffle broke out allowing Daniel Currie to put through a goal for Parade ending the first half. At half time the score saw PEGS leading by 11 points.The third quarter was to be even and congested. PEGS snapped up the first goal thanks to James Saville but Justin Banbury from Parade replied with two goals thanks to his team’s midfield that were beginning to get on top. PEGS midfield were no where to be seen but Maric produced some magic in the forward line to kick an excellent running goal. Shelton took advantage of PEGS loose backline by taking a great mark and successfully converting. Parade College were playing the corridor and PEGS were making poor skill errors. Nick Dimartino kicked a goal for PEGS on the three quarter time siren to maintain same margin as halftime.The game was up for grabs with the Parade midfield using the ball well and winning around the packs but within 90 seconds PEGS midfielders Dylan Joyce and Adamm Maric kicked goals to extend their lead to 23 points. When it looked like they were running away with the match PEGS gave Andrew Sturgess a free kick with a 50m penalty enabling him to convert for Parade. Shelton added another for Parade thanks to great delivery and we were back where we started. Then PEGS started running away with it again thanks to great forward line pressure giving them two more goals through Jarryd Rogers and Maric again. PEGS continued to apply the pressure creating a number of turnovers and restricted Parades entry into forward fifty. To cap off an outstanding game Adamm Maric took a great mark on his hands and knees, kicked truly to seal a 29 point victory over a gallant Parade College.Penleigh Essendon Grammar School 14.7.91 defeated Parade College 10.2.62PEGSGoals: Maric 6, Joyce 3, Cotchin 2, Saville, Dimartino, Rogers 1Best: Joyce, Cotchin, Dimartino, Williams, Maric, TurnerParadeGoals: Shelton 5, Banbury 3, Sturgess, Currie 1Best: Sturgess, Currie, Connelly, Spagnolo, Shelton, Williams, SciolaSt. Pats Ballarat celebrating their 2005 MCC Herald Sun Shield victory