WILLIAMSTOWN rules the west once more after it stormed fortress Watton Street to beat Werribee Tigers by seven points in a thrilling Victorian Football League western derby on Sunday.
It was a familiar result, with the Seagulls maintaining their stranglehold over their arch-rivals in a winning run that dates back to 2008.
This one was unscripted. Twists and turns lurked around every contest in a game that will go down as one of the modern derby delights.
Click on the image below for our picture gallery of the big game.
The Seagulls came back from the brink more than once to produce a stunning victory that will be talked about for years.
The travelling Gulls made a horrible start, slipping 39 points behind at quarter-time before bit by bit getting back into the contest through unrelenting persistence.
The long road back seemed to sap the Seagulls’ energy because midway through the final quarter the Tigers moved out to a 17-point lead.
Then, in the blink of an eye, came the cliffhanger finish noone saw coming. The Seagulls reeled off the last four goals to snatch an unlikely win.
Seagulls assistant coach Andrew Mirams lauded the courage under fire of his young team.
“We made it a bit hard for ourselves,” he told the Weekly. “The boys showed plenty of character to come back the way they did.”
For the opening 30 minutes of the game, the Seagulls were shellshocked. One goal was all they could manage as the Tigers ran rampant with seven of their own.
“If the game was played over one quarter then obviously we were shot,” Mirams said. “The beauty of footy is you get to reset and restart.
“A lot of our messages were just addressing the key parts of the game we were getting beaten in.
“We got smashed in the stoppages. We weren’t laying tackles, we were second to the footy. But they were all things we can fix.”
Seagulls captain Ben Jolley stepped up in a remarkable second quarter when he said to his team, “come with me”.
“His courage is second to none,” Mirams said. “In the second quarter, he pretty much picked us up and carried the whole side on his shoulders.
“He had 10 tackles in the second quarter alone and probably half a dozen clearances.”
The Tigers still led by 16 at the half-time break, but you could sense a grandstand finale in the offing. When you have leaders of the calibre of Jolley, Brett Goodes and Jamie McNamara, all you need is a sniff.
“They picked the group up and showed the young guys the way,” Mirams said.
The Tigers led at three-quarter-time, but only by four points as an arm-wrestle ensued.
A match-winner was needed with the game on the line. He was Damien Bugeja, who snagged two late goals.
But every single player in a blue and gold jumper had make a contribution to overcome the Tigers.
Young key forward Tom Hill was huge with four goals. The 21-year-old is demanding a good defender play on him every week. Mirams says Hill’s commanding presence is making it easier for youngsters Zephaniah Skinner and Jack Redpath to have an impact with less attention.
“I’m staggered last year that he didn’t play a senior game,” said Mirams, who was an assistant coach with Port Melbourne last year. “Like all big boys, they take time to develop and he’s just starting to find his feet.”
Lin Jong announced his arrival for the Seagulls. The 18-year-old was praised for his role curtailing dangerous Tiger midfielder Sam Gibson.
“It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster for Jongy and all these young blokes,” Mirams said.
“It’s a massive step-up from TAC Cup and the amount of information they have to consume, work through and understand, and then you’ve got the dynamic situation of a game happening around you.
“Jongy has probably struggled a bit with that, but yesterday we set him some specific tasks in going to Sam Gibson, who has been in absolutely red-hot form and he did a couple of impressive things, kicked a nice goal off the wing, and his courage is unquestionable.”
The Seagulls were again predominantly young and inexperienced.
Mirams says this factor could not be discounted when reflecting on the inconsistent performance.
“We counted yesterday that we had 12 first-year players and three or four second-year players.
“We’re an unbelievably young group and sometimes you’ll get inconsistency with performance over different quarters, which in hindsight you can say we got in the first quarter.
“But to their credit they were able to fight tooth and nail and get a good result in the end.”
The Seagulls’ next test is a grand final rematch with Port Melbourne on the road at North Port Oval at 1.10pm on Saturday.
The Borough is on an incredible 27-game winning streak in the VFL, but the Seagulls will take good form over the last month into the game.
SCOREBOARD
Werribee 15.13 (103) lt Williamstown 17.8 (110)
Williamstown: Goals: T Hill 4, T Dickson 3, D Bugeja, J Redpath 2, J Tutt, C Smith, M Panos, B Jolley,
C Lockwood, L Jong. Best: B Jolley, L Jong, T Hill,
B Goodes, T Campbell, D Pearce. Werribee: Goals:
B Warren 6, L Hansen 3, R Castello 2, M Lynch,
J Purton-Smith, B McKinley, S Gibson. Best: B Warren, L Harding, B Sharp, S Gibson, C Pedersen.
Development: Werribee 7.13 (55) lt Williamstown 10.12 (72)
Williamstown: Goals: A Anastasio 3, J Frost,
D Conway 2, M Cravino, N Georgiadis, J Gray. Best:
N Giles, J Mulligan, P Smith, J Morris, M Cravino,
A Anastasio Werribee: Goals: N Ablett 2, J Treloar,
T Ruffles, W Martiniello, J Tom, M Sodomaco. Best:
T Ruggles, J Mather, W Martiniello, B Moloney,
J Treloar.
