Ben Jolly was at his brilliant best for Williamstown on Sunday in the club’s nail-biting win over Werribee. 84391_13 Picture: DAMIAN VISENTINI
By ADEM SARICAOGLU
WILLIAMSTOWN kept its finals hopes alive with a thrilling come-from-behind win over western rival Werribee on Sunday.
The Seagulls trailed at every break and were down by 10 points heading into time-on of the final term.
However, buoyed by a healthy home crowd, they managed to scrape home for a memorable win.
Poor kicking restricted Werribee’s quarter-time lead to just five points, which by half time was extended to 10.
Both sides had their fair share of the footy after the main break, but it was the Tigers who looked better going forward.
They got themselves out to a 15-point lead late in the third quarter, but it was Williamstown’s midfield that slowly started to get on top.
In the final term the desperate Seagulls continued to feed the ball in, but struggled to score with the same ease Werribee had for most of the game.
Their persistence eventually paid off when James Wall bounced one through, before Matthew Panos put them in front at the 13-minute mark.
Just when Williamstown tried to ease the tempo, Werribee came again.
Poor kicking across half back gifted the Tigers a momentum swing with key forward Ben McKinley, who was the most dominant player on the ground with five goals, goaling from a Williamstown turnover.
Minutes later, he then kicked another one after taking a spectacular contested mark inside 50 to extend the Tigers’ lead to 10.
However, the Seagulls weren’t done with yet.
A strong mark and goal from Liam Jones put Williamstown back within a kick, before Zephaniah Skinner pounced on an opportunity among a cluster of players to steal the lead back off Werribee deep into time-on.
In the dying minutes, Werribee captain Robbie Castello had the game on his boot when he found the ball loose in the forward pocket.
After taking a few steps he shot for goal, but the ball slammed into the far goal post.
From there the Seagulls managed to hold on, sending hundreds of fans at Burbank Oval into frenzy when the final siren blew.
Williamstown coach Peter German was impressed with his side’s resilience when the game was on the line.
“Werribee are a good side, they don’t let you just waltz through the middle of the ground without any pressure,” German said.
“Our ability to be able to see the job right to the end was terrific.
“Losing (Jamie) McNamara in the first 10 minutes of the game all of a sudden, on a hot day, took us one midfielder out, so that meant it gave (Alex) Greenwood and Ed Carr and a few other players more opportunity to play in the midfield.
“But in the end, I think we probably just got on top in the midfield, I think that was pretty important.”
With another big clash coming up this week against Port Melbourne, German said his side needed to work on its ball-use.
“We’re doing the hard yards, but we’ve just got to get a bit cleaner and get more synergy with our forwards, so that’s something we can still keep working on,” he said.
Other results meant the Tigers held on to third position on the ladder, but they will have their work cut out for them once more when they travel to Box Hill this Saturday.
Williamstown: 14.7 (91) d Werribee: 13.11 (89)
Goals: Williamstown: L. Jones 3, E. Carr 2, D. Conway 2, J. Roughead, A. Hooper, B. Jolley, M. Panos, T. Campbell , Z. Skinner , J. Wall. Werribee: B. McKinley 5, B. Warren 3, M. Daw 2, N. Ablett, B. Moloney, R. Castello.
Best: Williamstown: B. Jolley, J. Johannisen, J. Wall, B. Goodes, L. Jones, E. Carr. Werribee: B. McKinley, C. Pedersen, M. Daw, B. Warren, B. Mangan, K. Hartigan.
