Deer Park’s Kevin Klix gets in the line of fire as Port Melbourne’s Brad Julier hunts for the loose ball. 81913 Picture: DAMIAN VISENTINI
By MICHAEL ESPOSITO
PORT Melbourne emerged three-point winners against Deer Park in an old-fashioned slog on Saturday to retain fourth spot on the Western Region Football League ladder.
Both sides kicked just one goal each in a tense final quarter, with the Colts holding on for a confidence-boosting 10.9 (69) to 9.12 (66) win.
“It was our first really close game this season, so to come away and win a game like that it was really good for the team in general and builds a bit of confidence … and it just brings the group a bit closer together,” Port Melbourne coach Ben Burke said.
“In that respect you’d take a close win in a hard slog over a 10-goal win.”
The ruck duel between Port Melbourne’s Brad Julier and Deer Park’s combination of Quentin Suckling and Chris Stewart, arguably the two best rucks in the league, was as fascinating one, with Julier just getting points.
Julier, Blake Twomey and Stacey Massis were the catalysts for a five-goal third quarter which set up the win for the Colts. “I told the boys at half time we needed a few of the harder one-percenters and those boys really stood up,” Burke said.
Port Melbourne is sitting on five wins and two losses – which came against Spotswood and Altona – and has tough assignments in Sunshine and Hoppers Crossing to round out the first half of the season.
“If we can be seven and two at the half-way mark it sets us up really well,” Burke said. “We’ve had 35 plus guys play senior footy this year, so it just goes to show that we’ve got that little bit of depth. We’ve tried to blood a couple of kids, and over the next few weeks we’re just probably going to settle down and really launch into the back half of the season.”
In other results, St Albans almost caused the upset of the season against the undefeated Spotswood, but the Woodsmen held on for a 6.15 (51) to 5.13 (43) victory.
In heavy conditions, Spotswood did just enough to get over the line, despite an inspired performance by two-time Barry Priest medallist Tim Jenkins.
North Footscray claimed its first win of the season with a 29-point win against bottom side Sunshine Heights.
The Dragons were far from embarrassed in a season that has yielded several heavy defeats, and claimed coach Mark Anderson, who has been replaced by last year’s coach Michael Grima.
Altona had a solid win over a plucky Albion, with the final score reading 18.9 (117) to 11.7 (73).
Travis Lunardi kicked four goals and was among Altona’s best players, while Jason Butina booted four for the Cats.
While never really challenging Altona, it was somewhat promising to see Albion being competitive against a genuine premiership contender, after the round-one abomination against Spotswood.
