Albion’s Shylo Smith looks to get a kick away as Chase Morgan lays a tackle. 69926 Picture: KRISTIAN SCOTT
BY MICHAEL EPOSITO
ALBION is the first team through to the WRFL Division One grand final after edging out rivals Spotswood by eight points in yet another epic encounter on Saturday.
The game was shifted from Avalon Airport Oval to the far less imposing Crofts Reserve in Altona North, but the two combatants made sure the grandeur of the occasion was not lost, putting on an enthralling display of finals footy.
Spotswood will now take on Altona on Saturday for the right to take on reigning premiers Albion in the grand final.
In a tense last quarter, Spotswood clawed back a three-goal deficit to hit the front, but could not hold on. An exhausted Albion side had enough in reserve to kick two final goals and secure a chance to defend its title.
Shaydon Bloomfield top-scored with four goals, while Marcus Smith and Romain Grenville kicked three each. For Spotswood, Jason Cloke, Torin Baker and Cameron Sharp all kicked three.
Albions’s Sam Stephens, who was a stand-out in the all-important third quarter, sat out the last quarter with a knee injury, while Grenville was concussed in the third quarter. Both players will be available for the grand final.
The Woodsmen made use of the wind in the first quarter, opening up a 22-point lead, but Albion coach Marcus Barclay was not concerned.
“Deep down we thought if we can just hold them to five or six goals because they are a very good side and considering the way the wind was if we could just hold on enough and get a couple ourselves we’d be right in the ground,” he said.
“We were four goals down but it didn’t seem that way. We seemed to have a fair control of the footy but it was just difficult to score. You just had to make sure every time you did get it in there you put a little bit of scoreboard pressure on.”
Albion booted seven goals to one in a dominant second quarter, but the third term was perhaps the defining quarter.
“Our third quarter was fantastic, we threw a couple of loose blokes down which was pretty much the scene for the day. Spotswood did the same when we were downwind,” Barclay said.
“A lot of guys just couldn’t lift their legs in the fourth quarter. I think we put all our eggs in the one basket by playing our midfield almost for the whole quarter and not rotating as much as we should have.”
Spotswood coach Chris O’Keefe agreed about the importance of the third quarter in determining the result.
“Out third quarter really cost us. We had the breeze and we weren’t able to capitalise, and all credit to Albion they played a bit better than us in that third quarter and stopped us from scoring and they did enough.”
“I was really happy with the last quarter, we really finished the game off strongly and hit the front, but weren’t able to hold it.”
Albion will go into the grand final having not played a game on Avalon Airport Oval, while Spotswood and Altona will have played five between them after this weekend. O’Keefe said his side was suited to the wide expanses of the Werribee oval.
“It’s no secret that we’re a running team. That’s the way that we try to play so hopefully we can get out here and show out best at Avalon.”
