Williamstown faces a massive task if it is to reach its fourth consecutive Victorian Football League preliminary final after a 7.14 (56) to 13.8 (86) qualifying final loss to Box Hill on Saturday.
The Seagulls will meet Port Melbourne in a knockout semi-final this Saturday at North Port Oval.
The teams have met twice this year, with Port Melbourne winning by 47 and 69 points.
Against Box Hill, the Seagulls found themselves locked in an enthralling arm wrestle for much of the afternoon.
Box Hill’s Sam Cust kicked the opening goal, but Patrick Veszpremi
and Willie Wheeler got two of the next three to tie things up late in
the quarter.
Dylan Addison kicked his first of the afternoon before the siren, giving the Seagulls an eight-point lead at the first break.
The second term saw Williamstown get out to an early lead with
goals to Ben Casley and Anthony Anastasio, but the Hawks found time and
space and kicked five for the term, giving Box Hill a narrow nine-point lead at half-time.
Williamstown had the better of a hotly contested third term, with two goals to one.
Addison got his second, while Jack Johnstone provided one for the
highlight reel with a running goal after several bounces. But Liam Tobin
kicked an important goal to give the Hawks a slim three-point lead at
the final break in a ripping contest.
For the first 10 minutes of the final term the pressure was
immense as both sides failed to do any significant damage on the
scoreboard.
But when Tobin finally broke the deadlock with his third goal, the Hawks piled on four more.
Sam Grimley had a terrific final term with three goals. Addison was Williamstown’s only multiple goalscorer. Michael Talia and
Johnstone impressed for the Seagulls, who were also well served by
evergreen skipper Ben Jolley and tireless ruckman Cameron Wood.
Williamstown now faces one of the toughest assignments in the VFL –
playing Port Melbourne at North Port Oval. The action kicks off at
11am, with the Williamstown development league team also playing Port
Melbourne.
