By ADEM SARICAOGLU
THE state of Burnbank Oval’s playing surface has again come under fire after Williamstown secured a home final with its fifth consecutive win, smashing Sandringham to the tune of 66 points on Saturday.
The ground again provided for sloppy footy with the majority of it covered in heavy mud, but the Seagulls, aided by a stunning six-goal haul from Stephen McCallum, still managed to kick 15.14 (104) to Sandringham’s 5.8 (38).
When asked if he would like to play finals footy at their home ground, Williamstown coach Peter German said: “Not in these conditions I won’t no, not at all.”
Many players for both sides got covered in mud throughout the day, making it difficult to see their numbers, and in some cases, what jumper they were actually wearing.
German said that doesn’t make things easy for anybody, from spectators to the players themselves.
“It’s a spectator sport, and also for the players, they want a ground that’s nice,” German said.
“So if it’s fine here then great. But if it’s not, then I just want to play on a good deck where you can see good footy and play good footy.”
The Seagulls, who have now become accustomed to playing in such conditions, completely dominated the Zebras after halftime.
With the breeze blowing steadily to the city end, Williamstown came out of the blocks all guns blazing and went into quarter time 35 points up as the Zebras went scoreless.
Scoring again proved difficult at the grandstand end in the second term as the Seagulls could only manage one point, however with Sandringham only kicking 2.4, the home side went into the main break 20 points ahead.
It was in the third quarter where Williamstown stamped its authority on the game.
The Seagulls kicked 1.5 up to the halfway mark of term before they found their kicking boots.
Andrew Hooper got the ball rolling with one of his two goals for the game as Williamstown ended up piling on eight goals for the quarter to go into the final change with an unassailable 76-point buffer.
The exclamation point came just 21 seconds into the final quarter when Tom Hill waltzed into an open goal, which was the first goal kicked at the grandstand end for the entire day.
Severely lacking potency in its forward line, Sandringham couldn’t penetrate and replicate the efforts of its opponents in the previous quarter, winning the final term by just 10 points despite having the stiff breeze at their backs.
German said he had been impressed with the way his team had gelled defensively in recent weeks.
“Our tackling and everything has probably just taken a big step over the last couple of weeks,” German said.
“We’ve just put ourselves in the bottom part of the eight, which makes it tougher, but I’m just really pleased more so that we’re actually starting to create some good momentum and starting to get some confidence.”
Saturday’s result kicks off a week of celebrations for Williamstown with the club also holding its annual fashion show on Friday night.
All proceeds from the event will go to the Cancer Council and tickets can be purchased for $45 by contacting the club.
Williamstown: 15.14 (104) def. Sandringham: 5.8 (38)
Goals: Williamstown: McCallum 6, McHarg 2, Georgiadis 2, Hooper 2. Sandringham: Polo, Marigliani, Archer. Best: Williamstown: McCallum, Georgiadis, Grant. Sandringham: Archer, Siposs, Dunell.
