By LIAM TWOMEY
HOPPERS Crossing held on to defeat Port Melbourne by two points on Saturday.
Nothing could separate the two teams throughout the afternoon as the margin hovered around the single digits.
After taking a seven-point lead into the final quarter, the Warriors were challenged throughout as Port Melbourne peppered the goals.
Despite having double the amount of scoring shots, the Colts were unable to make it count on the scoreboard with both teams finishing the quarter with three goals.
That left the Warriors to celebrate the 13.15 (93) to 13.13 (91) win.
Luke Wilson was impressive for Hoppers Crossing, booting four goals to be among the club’s best players.
He was well supported by Kade Carey and Matthew Smith who were also good.
The win sees the Warriors move into outright fifth place on the WRFL division one ladder after St Albans was defeated by Deer Park.
It may be difficult to maintain the gap though with Hoppers Crossing set to take on Spotswood this week.
The Woodsmen are coming off a loss after going down to Altona by 17 points in a reply of last year’s grand final.
Elsewhere in the WRFL, Altona saw off a fast finishing Spotswood to take out the grand final replay by 17 points.
The Vikings made the better start to the contest, taking an 11-point lead into the first break thanks to four first quarter goals.
However, the damage could have been a lot worse, with Altona missing eight shots in front of the big sticks.
Spotswood wasn’t able to capitalize on their opponent’s inaccurate kicking though, as the reigning premier took control of the match in the second quarter.
Altona booted 4.5 to the Woodsmen’s 0.3 and the margin ballooned to 37 points at the long break.
The contest remained even for much of the second half with the two teams trading goals after the resumption of play.
Despite a fast finish from Spotswood they were unable to eat into enough of the margin and Altona was left to celebrate the 14.18 (102) to 12.13 (85) win.
