DESPITE a case of the goalkicking yips, Hoppers Crossing claimed a 30-point win over last year’s Western Region Football League division 1 grand finalist Albion on the road at Parsons Reserve on Saturday.
The Warriors’ inaccuracy in front of goal was all that kept the scoreboard close as they racked up 35 scoring shots to 20 in a dominant display.
Warriors captain Brad Murphy said it was a “really good win” for his side, particularly in the absence of first team regulars Terry Knight and Mitch Merrifield.
“To be as competitive and as ruthless as we were and not get behind on the scoreboard all day was a really good sign,” he said.
“The only disappointing thing is we didn’t kick as many goals as we could have and we kept
letting them back into the game.”
The Warriors burst out of the blocks with a seven-goals-to-one opening term after Murphy won the toss and went against coach David Mitchell’s wishes and kicked with the breeze.
The Warriors’ 42-point quarter-time lead almost evaporated by half-time, dwindling to just 13 at the main break after being held to four behinds in the second term.
“We should’ve kicked 10.4 instead of 7.7 in the first quarter,” Murphy said.
“It would have shut them out of the game.
“We left the door open a little bit and they came back strong in the second quarter.”
The Warriors learned from their mistakes and converted their chances in the third term, reeling off seven goals to none to pull away from the hosts.
All that was good about the Warriors began with young ruckman Scott Greenhough.
The teenager, who only two years ago played basketball as a No.1 sport, fought one-out in the ruck for most of the game and beat two experienced Cats bigs.
Powerful forward Kade Carey had a huge role to play for the Warriors with the club’s injured leading goalkicker Knight on the sidelines.
The former Doutta Stars front man shook off a double tag and entertained with four goals.
“He was sensational. He gets two blokes every single week and I don’t know how he does it, but he still manages to mark them and kick goals from the boundary,” Murphy said.
The Warriors have unearthed some young gems in the opening three weeks and found another in Ryan Kitchen.
The slight-of-body midfielder played to his potential with a performance that is likely to see him become a permanent fixture in the senior side.
Few players put a spanner in the Cats systems than Warriors rebounding half-back Daniel Riosa.
The Cats like to direct a lot of their play through star lead-up forward James Stephens and this main artery was clogged by a persistent Riosa.
“He [Stephens] is probably their best player and I thought ‘Rio’ did a pretty good job on him,” Murphy said.
The Warriors, who improved to 2-1, will be overwhelming favourites to beat the winless Sunshine Heights at Hogans Road Reserve on Saturday.
