Sport

Cricket

BAS Second XI

The final round of BAS Second XI for the home and away section of our 2024/25 season saw SPC Blue up against Ballarat Grammar at home. Batting first, Ballarat Grammar got off to a flyer with both openers hitting the SPC Blue bowlers to all parts of the ground including one huge six, which on Main Oval is quite a feat and not seen all that often! 

With unfortunately only eight players available to play this week, SPC Blue were looking down the barrel of their first defeat as the Ballarat Grammar openers scored 94 runs between them by the end of only the 12th over. Ballarat Grammar, seeing an opportunity to offer some lower order batsmen an opportunity, retired both of their openers at the same time and it was from this stage that the SPC bowlers recovered somewhat from the initial onslaught of big hitting. 

Will Steenhuis captured the only wicket to record solid bowling figures of 1/13 off his four overs and saw Ballarat Grammar finish off their 20 overs on 1/130. This is better than a run per ball so I can only imagine that Ballarat Grammar was feeling very confident over the break for change of innings, and the SPC Blue batsmen knew that they had a real run chase on their hands. 

Without the fire power shown by the Ballarat Grammar openers, Ryan Cook 15 and Zac Symonds 45 both took advantage of any wayward Ballarat Grammar bowling by considered stroke making, stealing any available single and turning 2’s into 3’s with mastery. Will Steenhuis came in and continued with this technique scoring a patiently crafted eight leaving us at 3/85 in the 13th over with still a solid run chase ahead. 

Ethan Bartlett and Ben Buckland were now in the hot seat, and all was dependant on them if SPC Blue was to steal the game away from Ballarat Grammar which is exactly what ensued. Ethan played the assistive role in support of Ben, repeatedly hitting the first ball he faced and returning the strike to Ben, until he was captured LBW on 11. This now saw 

the score at 4/121 at the end of the 18th over and the game was now ours for the taking! 

Ben Buckland finished off on 22 Not Out whilst Ben Brodie hit the winning runs to remain also Not Out on four and create history as SPC Blue finish up with a clean sweep of the home and away part of the season sitting on 4/138. The cheers from the sidelines, at what had just been the turnaround of a lifetime, were heard throughout the College. I must say a win like this, with only eight players, made my night equally comforting. We have no game next week, so I am hoping we will have a number of players return from injuries to play in the first half of the season Grand Final. 

- 2nd XI Coach Michael Busscher

BAS 2nd XI SPC Blue v BCC

Today we ventured across the road to take on Ballarat & Clarendon College. Mr Busscher was away on Year 9 Camp with a couple of players. Clarendon were batting first and Ethan Bartlett and Aayush Ahlawat opened the bowling. With three quick wickets, we were well on top as we had them 3/5 after four overs. A 21-run partnership helped Clarendon improve their position but once Will Steenhuis and Jude Kerlin came on to bowl and claim the next three wickets, we had them 6/26, and despite having extra players they were not going to bat and therefore finished at 6/26.

In response Ryan Cook and Aayush made short work of the total. Aayush fell after passing the total in a mix up running between the wicket and was run out for 20. Ryan retired on 23, Will Steenhuis, Zac Symons, Ethan Bartlett all batted well before being retired not out to give more players an opportunity. Will made 14, Zac 22 and Ethan 29, before Finn Delahunty and Jude Kerlin came in. Unfortunately, rain then finished the match with five overs to spare, and we finished on 1/118. Another great result as the boys remain undefeated for the year. 

- Steve Biggin

Football

AFL 9‘s Tournament

The AFL introduced an AFL 9’s competition for Years 7 and 8 students from schools across the Ballarat region. We entered seven teams in the competition - three in the Year 7 competition and four in the Year 8 competition. One of the teams entered into the Year 8 competition was a group of Year 7 students. The day was viewed as an opportunity to reward students that had:

• 80%+ attendance
• Actively participated in whole school events such as Edmund Rice Day, St Patrick's Day and House Athletics day
• No serious behavioural incidents for the year
• Played school football

Both staff and students enjoyed beautiful sunshine and had a terrific day. All of the SPC boys teams managed to get a win which was great.

In the Year 7 competition, Mr Stahl’s team managed to make it through to the Grand Final where they were unfortunately beaten by a strong Ballarat High School team. This team was made up of: Charlie Nunn, Zephyr Niehus, Paddy Sims, Nick Bingham, Dane LaFranchi, Liam O’Keefe, Bailey Jarvis, Rafter Castles, Lachie Barr, Patterson Taylor, Billy Molloy and Kaianu Landt.

In the Year 8 competition, the Year 7 team lost their first game in a close one to BHS, but won their next four games to storm into the Grand Final where they would again meet the much bigger BHS Year 8 boys. The game started really poorly for the Paddy boys and we were four goals down at half time and kicking into the breeze. The score was SPC 2.1.13 to BHS 6.1.37. Things were looking bleak, but the boys' eyes were hope filled, confident that we could stage an upset comeback. The side was tweaked a little and the boys exploded from the first CB. Jack Ward’s move to the forward line provided an immediate impact. Joe Knobel and Jake Cheeseman were moved to the midfield where they started dominating around the contest, pumping the ball forward at will and giving the forwards a chance. Ollie Wilkie was moved to defence where he refused to let anything get past him.

Within six minutes the Paddy boys had piled on four goals to one and were within a goal of BHS with time to spare. The next six minutes was absolute domination by the younger SPC side who used their electric speed and dynamic skills to overpower their much bigger opposition. This was one of the great comebacks with the Paddy boys kicking 7.4.46 to 1.0.6 for the second half. All the boys contributed to the win.

Final score SPC 9.5.59 def BHS 7.1.43.

The winning team was made up of Majok Majok, Joseph Knobel, Isaac Thomas, George Britt, Louis Britt, Oscar Britt, Abe Sosinski, Jordan Korosec, Jake Cheeseman, Ollie Wilkie, Jack Ward, Jackson McKee.

Thanks to the following staff who made a big effort to come along and coach the boys on the day: Sam Cue, Mike Kent, Carly Twaits, Simon Dwyer, Jack O’Brien, Mark Stahl. 

Special thanks to Howard Clark, Simon Dwyer and Jack O’Brien for all of their planning and support on the day to make the occasion run so smoothly.  

- Jason Lappin

Rowing

Melbourne Head 2024

Saturday saw the rowing program attend the 2024 Melbourne Head regatta, a 3.5km time trial down the Yarra River into Melbourne’s CBD. The program entered seven crews across five events and delivered the College’s best ever result at the regatta winning four events. 

First away was the Open Division 3 Eight where the 5th and 6th senior fours combined and ranked 9th among a strong field of Melbourne programs. 

The first of the wins came from the Open Division 1 Four, beating local rivals BCC by 2 seconds. Reclaiming the title not won since 2021. The Open Division 2 Four followed suit by winning their event by 20 seconds and defending their title from 2023.

Our senior 3rd and 4th fours where also in the Open Division 2 event, our 3rd four finished ahead of their local counterparts by 1.7 seconds and our 4th four finished behind their local counterparts by 12 seconds. Indicating that this season will be full of close and exciting racing amongst the Ballarat schools right down the open division ticket.

Our Intermediate quads continued the golden day winning both the Yr 9 Division 1 and Yr 9 Division 2 events. The Intermediate 1st crew finished 12 seconds crew of second place Trinity Grammar. While the Intermediate 2nd crew finished a with a commanding 1 minute and 28 second margin over Melbourne Grammar.

This year marks the first time in the program’s history that four events have been won at Melbourne Head, well done boys! Also of special note was the many Old Boys who have continued their rowing and competed for clubs at the regatta, featuring regularly among the event winners:

• William Gilbert (2020) - Male Club Eight, Male Club Coxed Quad Scull and Male Club Single scull winner
• Austin Reinehr (2021) – Male Open Pair winner 
• Tom Foley (2022) - Male Open Eight winner
• William Hexter (2023) - Male Club Double Scull and Male Open Coxless Quad Scull winner
• Dan Stute (2023) - Male Open Double Scull and Male Open Coxless Quad Scull winner
• Angus Murfett (2024) - Male Club Eight and Male Club Coxed Quad Scull winner
• Nedd Bennett (2024) - Male Club Eight and Male Club Coxed Four winner
• Paddy O’Brien (2024) - Male Club Eight and Male Club Coxed Four winner

Well done and thank you to all the boys, coaches and families on a fantastic regatta. 

SPC Sport Uniform

All sport uniforms can be purchased at Dobson's Ballarat retail shop in Mair St East. Students need to ensure they are in the correct uniform to participate. The general sport uniform is the navy polo top, navy shorts and white socks. Certain sports will require very specific clothing e.g. Soccer will need to purchase SPC soccer shorts and socks, and Basketball will need to purchase SPC Basketball shorts. Students should check with their coach as to what is required. Also remember to wear sunscreen at all times outdoors.

I wish all students and coaches the best in Term 4. Always play the game in the right spirit, wear the correct uniform and respect the facilities, home and away. St Patrick’s College is steeped in sporting tradition, and you are encouraged to add more chapters to our past endeavours. 

Please do not hesitate to contact me (jlappin@stpats.vic.edu.au) or our Sports Administrator Mr Simon Dwyer (sdwyer@stpats.vic.edu.au) at the College with any questions.