Altona got one over its rivals Spotswood, winning a physical encounter by 10 points on foreign soil at McLean Reserve in the Western Region Football League division 1 on Saturday.
The Vikings love nothing more than to beat their crosstown foes and the importance of the game was magnified after they split their opening two games of the season.
“For our footy club, Spotswood is probably the rival,” Altona coach Saade Ghazi said.
“You’ve got ‘Eamesy’ [Anthony Eames] who has coached both clubs and he’s a premiership coach at our footy club.
“The players know each other and there’s past players who have played at both clubs.
“I’m grateful we had a win too because if we dropped to 1-2 instead of 2-1, it wouldn’t have been good going into Deer Park next week.”
PHOTO GALLERY: Altona vs Spotswood
It was not a match full of highlights, but it was not for the feint hearted.
Altona managed to grind out a result after trailing by 21 points midway through the second term.
The Vikings were their own worst enemy at times, converting just 11 of their 30 shots into goals.
“Spotty had the upper hand early and for most of the first three quarters,” Ghazi said.
“We were able to turn it around in the third quarter probably at the non-preferred end.
“We kicked three goals, got in front by a point at three-quarter time and had the scoring end in the last quarter.”
Altona’s stars came to the fore the longer the game wore on.
Utility Thomas Mundy, a Williamstown VFL-aligned player, was outstanding with four goals.
“He plays forward and midfield and he’s hard at the contest,” Ghazi said.
“He’s a tough kid and that helps us because we’re a young group.”
Jayden Post underlined his standing in the competition with another big-game performance. He is one of the premier key position talls in the competition, getting the job done at both ends.
“He’s in the best three to five players in the comp I believe,” Ghazi said.
“In the last quarter, he played centre half-back and took three or four really strong marks that stopped Spotty from scoring.”
Steven Kennedy was checked closely all game. The Preist medallist was able to shake the tag through hard work and have an impact for Altona.
Onballer David Iaccarino was the standout for Spotswood.
Brydan Hodgson and Charlie Nastasi kicked three goals apiece for the Woodsmen.
Altona will host Deer Park at Grant Reserve on Saturday, while Spotswood has a tough examination away to Hoppers Crossing.
Elsewhere in division 1, Hoppers Crossing beat Werribee Districts by 21 points in the Anzac Day game, St Albans came back from 25 down to beat Caroline Springs, Deer Park cruised to a 230-point win over Albion and Sunshine crushed Point Cook by 70.
In division 2, Newport stunned Yarraville Seddon in a two-point win, Parkside took advantage of West Footscray’s inaccuracy to win by 24, but North Footscray will do some soul searching after a 116-point loss to Wyndhamvale.
In division 3, Braybrook copped a 76-point battering from Albanvale and Laverton went down by 25 points to Wyndham Suns.
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