St Albans’ Peter Dalinkiewicz takes the mark in front of Hoppers Crossing forward Jason Butty. 68894 Picture: KRISTIAN SCOTT
By Michael Esposito
ST ALBANS is destined to miss out on a double chance after going down to Hoppers Crossing for the second time this season on Saturday.
Hoppers Crossing defeated St Albans 20.8 (128) to 15.14 (104), but it was a bittersweet victory for the
Warriors, who will miss out on a
finals spot after Port Melbourne beat Altona by eight points to secure a finals spot.
This leaves Altona, Port Melbourne and St Albans locked on 44 points with one home-and-away game to go, but Altona looks almost certain to nab third spot with a likely win against Glen Orden this weekend and superior percentage.
St Albans failed to capitalise on its opportunities and at quarter time was six points down despite having four more scoring shots. At three quarter time St Albans had kicked 13.13, while a far more accurate Hoppers Crossing had 14.3. The Warriors took control in the last quarter to seal the victory, but will finish the season in sixth place.
St Albans welcomed back Aaron Henneman from injury, and he kicked five goals for the saints, but Shannon Downey was just as big a presence for the Warriors, and booted seven goals in a break-out performance.
The result means St Albans will take on Port Melbourne in the final game of the home-and-away season this Saturday, and will almost certainly take on the Colts again the week after in the elimination final.
MEANWHILE, Sunshine Heights had its most satisfying win of the season with 14.20 (104) to 10.7 (67) victory over local rivals Sunshine.
The season cannot end quickly enough for the Kangaroos, who were touted as premiership contenders but have only five wins to their name.
The Dragons, sitting one position below Sunshine in eighth, have a lot to smile about after the win, which reflected a massive improvement in the side during the course of the year.
Compare the following first and second half of the season results: Round eight: Sunshine defeats Sunshine Heights by 172 points; round 17: Sunshine Heights defeat Sunshine by 37 points (a 209-point turnaround).
Round two: North Footscray defeats St Albans by 51 points; round 11: Sunshine Heights defeat North Footscray by 21 points.
Round six: Altona defeats Sunshine Heights by 189 points; round 15: Altona defeats Sunshine Heights by 30 points.
Round five: Port Melbourne defeats Sunshine Heights by 107 points; round 14: Port Melbourne defeats Sunshine Heights by 31 points.
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.
