Jason Dorazio takes a chest mark for Hoppers Crossing. 68894 Picture: KRISTIAN SCOTT
By Michael Esposito
HOPPERS Crossing coach David Mitchell did not want to end his playing career this weekend, but despite his side’s 24-point win against St Albans on Saturday, the Warriors’ finals dream is over.
Port Melbourne’s eight-point win against Altona ended Hoppers Crossing’s chances of sneaking into the top five.
Mitchell, who will continue as head coach next season but from the sidelines, said inconsistency, particularly in the first half of the year, cost the Warriors dearly.
“Inconsistency over the whole year hurt us a fair bit. We’ve been competitive in all games apart from three. That just hurts you in the end,” he said.
As for Mitchell himself, his body is no longer up to the rigours of competitive football.
“My body’s pretty much shot. I’ve got lot of injuries coming through now, I play sore every week,” he said.
“I think it will be better for me, and for the club especially, that I coach from the sidelines and have full control from there.”
Mitchell identified three games that he says may have cost his side a finals berth. Two of them were against flag favourites Albion. In round two, a Matthew Smith mark in the goal square was disallowed in the final minute and the Warriors went down by five points to the Cats. The return match in round 11 ended in a draw.
But perhaps the game the Warriors will rue most was the two-point loss to Port Melbourne in round six when they were six goals up at three-quarter-time.
Had Hoppers Crossing won that game it would be in the top five, two points ahead of the Colts, rather than six points behind.
“All through the year there have been opportunities for us to win those games and we just haven’t got over the line,” Mitchell said.
“Hopefully from a senior point of view next year those roles will be reversed and we can win those close ones.
“Throughout the whole year we’ve left it to too few and I can’t stress it enough to our group that 22 players win a game of footy, not one or two.”
Mitchell said Hoppers Crossing’s two wins against St Albans were its two best performances.
Shannon Downey was the star of Saturday’s game, booting seven goals.
“I think it was his best game that I’ve seen him play,” Mitchell said.
Hoppers Crossing is well positioned to be a top-five team next year, according to Mitchell.
“I didn’t think we were easybeats in the end. I think we’re slowly gaining the respect back form the competition after a dismal last year.
“This year I played a lot of kids. It’s mostly under-18 boys that have come up and this year have all played senior footy apart from a couple.
“I think the club’s heading in the right direction now and it’s going to be very competitive for senior spots.”
IN OTHER results, Sunshine Heights had its most satisfying win of the season with a 14.20 (104) to 10.7 (67) victory over local rivals Sunshine.
It was a cakewalk for the two heavyweights of the competition. Albion had a 213-point win over Glen Orden, while Spotswood accounted for North Footscray by 158 points.
