Saturday 17 May
This past weekend, the Junior and Senior MHS Rugby teams played on their home grounds at Fawkner Park. The Juniors faced a tough challenge against both St Kevin’s College and the weather. Despite the U16s’ best efforts, their game ended in defeat. But the U18s were about to make their mark in the history books as they faced off against Melbourne Grammar.
The match kicked off with Melbourne Grammar quickly scoring the first try. They entered the game confident that Melbourne High would be an easy opponent. But that confidence soon turned to concern as they realised the strength and determination of the MHS Senior team.
Jakob Marley sparked the comeback for MHS, charging through the defence to score a try. Shortly before halftime, Senior captain Zach Huynh put Melbourne High in the lead with a quick, short line-out. The first half ended 10–5 in Melbourne High’s favour.
In the second half, Melbourne Grammar evened the score, but Duchene Keerthipala powered through their defence—backed by strong team support—to reclaim the lead for MHS.
The score: 15–10 to Melbourne High.
With 10 minutes to go, Melbourne Grammar tied the game again. Then, the fearless Bao Tran stormed forward, sending defenders flying before offloading the ball to Duchene, who scored once more to put Melbourne High ahead.
The score: 20–15 to Melbourne High.
In the final moments, Melbourne Grammar launched a desperate attack down the field, with a try seemingly inevitable—until Oscar Nguyen tackled their player out of bounds, stopping what could have been a game-saving score.
Ten seconds remained. The crowd counted down, urging MHS to kick the ball out and end the match. 3 seconds…2…1… Mr Hernden blew the final whistle, and Matthew Hill booted the ball out sealing a thrilling victory for Melbourne High!
Congratulations to the senior team and head coach Mr Herden for their first win of the season!
Thank you to the juniors who played with the senior team, Hewitt, Sanchay, Dulain, Lennon, Sanuk, Kenneth, Pranav, Vansh. And thank you to all the parents who came out to support!
Photographs by Isaac Ho.
