Williamstown’s Will Minson takes a hanger at Etihad Stadium. 67174 Picture: SARAH MATRAY
By Michael Esposito
WILLIAMSTOWN stormed into the inaugural Foxtel Cup grand final with a clinical 71-point win against East Perth at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
The Seagulls will take on the winner of the Saturday semi-final clash between Claremont (WAFL) and Port Adelaide (SANFL) in either Perth or Adelaide on 6 August.
Playing under a closed roof, Williamstown trampled over the hapless Royals in the first half, kicking the first 10 goals and only allowing East Perth its first goal in the 16th minute of the second quarter. The visitors were more competitive in the second half, kicking three goals to Williamstown’s five, but never looked like worrying a Williamstown side that fielded several younger players who have spent most of the VFL season in the reserves.
Bulldogs-listed forward Patrick Veszpremi was a stand-out with four goals in a performance that showcased his canny goal sense. He had plenty of support up front from fellow Bulldogs Jordan Roughead, Mitch Hahn, Will Minson and Zephaniah Skinner, whose first-quarter screamer was one of the match’s highlights, but the team’s decidedly less inexperienced backline was equally as impressive, restricting East Perth to just four goals.
“I was really pleased with guys like Phil Smith who’d come in, guys like Nick Walters and Steve McCallum,” coach Peter German said.
“We’ve really got a bit of a makeshift backline that’s a bit new and is inexperienced in some ways, but I thought they did the job. Mulligan coming back from three weeks off on Josh Smith (two goals), I thought he did a reasonable job.”
IN the VFL, Werribee won its fourth game on the trot after dismantling Frankston by 77 points on Sunday.
After a first half slog fest in tough conditions, Werribee slammed on eight goals to one in the third to set up the comprehensive victory. The Tigers were just five points up at half-time but in the third quarter the likes of Dom Gleeson, Travis Tuck and Ben Sharp started to dominate the centre clearances and use the ball more effectively.
Coach Paul Satterley said his side didn’t immediately adapt to the howling coastal wind and soggy ground as a result of a downpour just before the match started.
“At half-time I thought we were overusing the footy too much, we had more handballs than kicks so our big focus was just to be a bit more direct and get the footy inside 50 quicker,” he said.
Satterley said ruckmen Hamish McIntosh and Majak Daw were influential in conditions not suited to talls.
“I thought they had a real presence around the ground, gave us first use and got on the scoresheet as well.”
Ben Ross, Ben Speight and Ben McKinley kicked three goals each for the Tigers, while key defenders Kyle Hartigan, Sean Tighe and Nathan Grima shut down their opponents.
