Werribee Districts had to withstand the full force of local rivals Hoppers Crossing before powering to a 41-point victory on the back of a six-goals-to-zip last term in a cut-throat Western Region Football League division 1 semi-final at Chirnside Park on Saturday.
No more than a kick separated the two Wyndham sides at every change, but the Tigers ran the game out better in the last term to book a third meeting in five weeks with Spotswood in Saturday’s preliminary final at the Watton Street ground.
“We were under no illusion that this week was going to be a pretty tough game,” Tigers co-captain Matt Dean told Star Weekly.
“A couple of us went down last Sunday and watched Hoppers Crossing against St Albans and they played some pretty impressive football.
“It was obviously close up until three quarter time, but our forwards got a few through the big ones in the last quarter, which gave us some breathing space.”
Chris Molivas was the x-factor for the Tigers with five goals.
The forward had to take control of the forward line with his partner-in-crime Andrew Panayi a late withdrawal with a lower leg injury.
Molivas, who booted more than 50 goals in the regular season, also needed a bounce-back performance after a quiet outing against Spotswood a week earlier.
“He said that he had a pretty quiet game last week and was keen to make amends, which he did,” Dean said.
“He’s a good match up for us when he’s up and going because he’s medium-sized, quite quick across the ground and hard to match up on.
“He kicked 5.4, so he might have ended up with a few more.”
Aaron Taylor booted two crucial last-quarter goals.
Once the floodgates opened, the Tigers kept piling on the goals, leading to a somewhat flattering margin.
“Getting a couple of goals early in the last quarter broke their backs a little bit,” Dean said.
“Once you get that three or four goals up in a final, it’s hard to come back from.
“That scoreboard pressure mentally hurts the opposition and once you can smell a victory, you run on top of the ground a bit more.”
Dean and his co-captain Brent Morrow were named best for the Tigers – Dean for his tireless work in the midfield and Morrow for being a pillar at centre-half back.
The unsung hero for the Tigers was ruckman Tate McCutcheon, who battled manfully against the pre-eminent big man in the competition, Wayde Skipper.
“We valued everything Tate did today competing against a class ruckman, probably the best ruckman in the league.
“He nullified as much as he could with the massive height difference.
“He’s a competitor, he hates being beaten no matter who he’s up against.”
The Warriors were eliminated from the finals, but they can head into the preseason with a pep in their step after an impressive finals campaign.
They shocked St Albans in week one of the finals when everyone was writing them off and gave the highly-fancied Werribee Districts a run for their money.
A young squad with first year coach Steven Kretiuk at the helm, the future is looking bright for the up and coming Warriors.
