Spotswood’s Ben Pope takes a leaping mark. 69517 Picture: KRISTIAN SCOTT
By Michael Esposito
SPOTSWOOD has set up a mouth-watering semi-final clash against Albion after mauling Altona by 96 points in a one-sided qualifying final clash on Saturday.
It was second versus third but the sides were streets apart on Sunday, as Spotswood stamped its credentials on the WRFL finals series.
An out-of-sorts Altona was bereft of plan to stop the marauding Woodsmen, whose suffocating zones, slicker ball use, stronger bodies and power forwards proved too hot to handle.
The first quarter was played almost entirely in Spotswood’s attacking half, but the first goal wasn’t scored until the 15-minute mark.
Spotswood had dominated in general play but kicked six straight behinds, before piling on six goals and keeping Altona scoreless.
Jason Cloke had three goals to quarter-time and finished the game with seven. Jason Hucker, who since coming back into the ones in July has averaged four goals a game, starred with five goals.
He could be a secret weapon in weeks to come.
“He was super for us a couple of years ago and then last year he was sort of in and out with injury but this year since he’s come back into the team he has been in outstanding form and making the most of his opportunities, which is all you can ask for,” Spotswood coach Chris O’Keefe said.
Spotswood simply found it too easy to find space against a listless Altona side. Its pressure around the stoppages and in its attacking half
was relentless, and the
youthful Vikings could not stand up to the physical pressure.
Altona saved itself further embarrassment with a seven goals to four final quarters, but by then the game was long gone.
O’Keefe said the club had been building for its finals campaign since its surprise loss to St Albans in Round 13.
“It’s another step forward. The St Albans game was another real reminder that we have to be at our top at all times.
“We’ve been building against the bottom sides and today was our first big challenge.
“To come out and do that in the first and play the way we did, and just our pressure and our work around the footy, was a stand-out feature of our game,” he said.
“We wanted to get a top three finish and whether we finished on top or second or third it actually was my preference to play the first week of the finals.
“Our week this week on the track was probably the best we had all year.
“The boys have been looking forward to the finals for
a couple of weeks now,
and they applied them-
selves really well on the track and then to come out today and to start like we did in the first half was really fantastic.”
O’Keefe’s only criticism of his team’s performance was the last quarter, in which they were outscored, albeit with the result well and truly determined.
“We really took the foot off the pedal a bit, which was disappointing because we spoke about making sure we had a four quarter effort, and it’s something we definitely don’t want to do in future weeks.”
The Woodsmen can’t
afford to get complac-
ent against flag favourites
Albion, who they will take on at Crofts Reserve on Saturday for the right to play in the grand final.
Altona will take on Port Melbourne in the first semi-
final, with the loser eliminated.
