HOPPERS Crossing could only marvel at the way defending champions Spotswood handled the wet weather conditions in the Western Region Football League division 1 at Hogans Road Oval on Saturday as their own double chance aspirations washed away with the rain.
The Warriors got jumped at the start of their blockbuster and were never in the frame thereafter as they succumbed by 48 points.
Warriors captain Brad Murphy told the Weekly that the Woodsmen’s slick ball-handling skills in the wet was the difference between the two sides.
“It was almost like we were playing with different footballs,” he said.
“We kept fumbling the ball like it was a bar of soap. Then they’d pick up the footy as clean as anything.
“They’re a really good outfit.”
The Warriors were competitive over the final three quarters.
The problem for the home side was their ordinary start.
They conceded five of the six goals scored in the first term and you do not want to do that against a side that has won four of the past five flags.
“The start is the thing that killed us,” Murphy said.
“If they hadn’t got the jump on us that they did, we might have been able to put them under pressure later on.”
The Warriors were careless with the football.
They overused the ball when coach David Mitchell instructions were they go direct in the slippery conditions. Their reluctance to go long into the forward line might have been due to the absence of a powerful marking forward with Kade Carey and Luke Wilson out with injury.
The Warriors had few clear winners on the day. One of them was Tagger Jason Giaini.
The youngster added to his list of big scalps over the past month by shutting down Woodsmen player-coach Chris O’Keefe.
“Four weeks in a row he’s got the better of a premier small. [Kevin] Klix, [Kieran] Murphy, [Tim] Jenkins and now O’Keefe, they are four of the best small players in the league,” Murphy said.
“It’s a good effort from him and shows how much he is maturing with his consistency.”
The other standout from the Warriors was powerful defender Chris Latella.
The centre-half-back spent the bulk of last season on the sidelines after a shoulder reconstruction and has taken little time returning to his top form of two years ago when he won the club best-and-fairest. “He’s a rock at half-back, he just doesn’t get beaten,” Murphy said. “He is back to his best form of 2010.”
The Warriors will face third-placed Port Melbourne Colts in the final round away on Saturday.
They will have to win in excess of 100 points to bridge the 10per cent gap in percentage that exists between the two clubs if they want to sneak into double chance territory for the finals.
A dead rubber it might prove to be, but not for the Warriors, who will be desperate to regain some form and get some kilometres into the legs of their players returning from injury ahead of the finals.
WRFL scoreboard: Division 1
Around the grounds: Albion 18.15 (123) d Sunshine Heights 5.4 (34), Deer Park 14.11 (95) d Altona 12.5 (77), Hoppers Crossing 4.9 (33) lt Spotswood 11.15 (81), North Footscray 7.6 (48) lt St Albans 22.15 (147), Sunshine 9.10 (64) lt Port Melbourne Colts 17.6 (108).
Ladder: Altona (244.24) 60, Spotswood (217.95) 60, Port Melbourne Colts (141.89) 52, Hoppers Crossing (131.73) 48, Sunshine (123.18) 36, Deer Park (104.61) 32, St Albans (92.99) 24, Albion (70.60) 20, North Footscray (55.86) 8, Sunshine Heights (21.53) 0.
Next round: Altona v Sunshine (Grant Reserve), Port Melbourne Colts v Hoppers Crossing (Murphy Reserve), Sunshine Heights v Deer Park (Ainsworth Reserve), Spotswood v North Footscray (McLean Reserve), St Albans v Albion (Kings Park Reserve).
