ALTONA has come back from the dead to steal the Western Region Football League division 1 reserves premiership.
The Vikings staged a miraculous last-quarter fightback to overcome Port Melbourne Colts by 25 points in the grand final at Avalon Airport Oval on Saturday.
Down 22 points and with just three goals in as many quarters, the Aaron Freeland-coached side appeared a dispirited bunch at the three-quarter-time huddle.
But the body language was deceiving as the Vikings came out in the last quarter and played with breathtaking confidence to bang on seven goals to nil and overrun the more experienced opponents.
Vikings co-captain Adam O’Keefe told the Weekly his side was always confident it had one last rally in it for the season.
“We knew Colts are a big side. They’re physical and they were going to throw everything at us,” he said.
“We kept grinding and grinding and grinding and eventually ran over the top of them.
“We’ve been training since November last year, three nights a week, and we knew we had the legs and the toughness on the inside to get the job done.”
Justin Russo kick-started a big day for his family by winning the best-on-ground medal.
The hard-nut is the brother of Josh, who would be the Vikings’ first division 1 premiership captain later that day.
Russo has a similar head-over-the-ball approach to his brother and it came in handy when the game was on the line.
“He brings a real hardness,” O’Keefe said. “He makes everyone walk a bit taller in our team.”
The Vikings were thrilled to have ruckman Riak Riak in the ranks in the last part of the season.
The youngster has a massive presence around the stoppages and his tap work is first class.
“He was a bit stiff not to be playing in the senior game,” O’Keefe said.
“His form has been really good, but [No.1 ruckman] Liam Gardiner came back from a long-term injury.
“Selfishly, it’s unreal for us; we know he’s the best tap ruckman in the comp. He was sensational today.”
Ben Fogarty, Jordan Allen and James Mead were the most consistent performers for the Vikings.
David Molley, Matt Cross and Ben Stornebrink were rock-solid across half-back. Brad Comeadow proved a game breaker with three goals, while there were multiples to Brett Miller and Adam Magnabosco.
O’Keefe said his side’s depth was the key to victory. “We had 14 guys miss out on a game today. There were tremendously hard decisions we had to make.
“It’s bittersweet, in a way, because you know you had some mates that missed out.
“It’s sensational in another that we’re playing with really close friends and won it, and I couldn’t be happier.”
Meanwhile, the Vikings under-18s could not make it three flags in a day for the club.
Hoppers Crossing, which won both the under-18 A and B grades, were far too strong in that age group.
