By Lance Jenkinson
There was total devastation at the end of another season for Altona in the Western Region Football League division 1.
For the second time in three years, the Vikings have been eliminated by Hoppers Crossing at the preliminary final stage.
In 2016, the Vikings lost to Hoppers by nine points on the penultimate weekend of the season, but on that occasion they went into the game as underdogs.
This one was more of a bitter pill to swallow, as the Vikings went down to Hoppers by just three points at the Williamstown Cricket Ground on Saturday, leaving their finals goal unfulfilled following a straight sets exit after finishing the season as minor premiers.
In absolutely terrible conditions, with the wind sweeping off the bay and rain bucketing down, it was always going to be a close, low scoring preliminary final with one team to be the hard luck story.
Unfortunately for Altona fans, who also had to endure the shock of missing out on the finals last season on the back of a one-point round 18 loss to St Albans, preliminary final history repeated as their team could not get the job done against Hoppers in a cut-throat final.
Altona coach Saade Ghazi is always honest in his assessment, but cut his team some slack on this occasion.
In a struggle of a game where only six goals were kicked with Hoppers victorious 30 to 27, Ghazi felt there was little to separate the sides over the course of the four quarters outside of a bit of luck with the bounce of the ball.
“It’s disappointing, but I can’t fault the way the boys had a go,” Ghazi said.
“It was just a real nasty day to play footy and both sides worked hard and had a crack.
“It was three goals each and a lot of rushed behinds, so it could’ve gone either way, but it was Hoppers’ this time.”
Ghazi was understandably flat after the game.
He delivered one of his toughest post game speeches because he knows how hard the side worked all season to get itself into a position to be challenging not only for the finals, but the premiership.
“I waited five minutes before I spoke to them,” Ghazi said.
“There wasn’t a lot I could say, but I just told them I was proud of their efforts and that it could have gone either way.
“It was more of a toss of the coin with the way the conditions were.
“They had a go and there’s no issues there.”
Jayden Post, who kicked two of Altona’s three goals, was one of the stand out players on the ground.
He was a forward target for two quarters and a defensive pillar for the other two quarters.
Joel Magnabosco, Kevin Johnson and Josh MacDonald were the Vikings to impress, not only against Hoppers Crossing, but in both finals.
Ghazi has not looked beyond 2018 because he felt his team was a chance to make it to the grand final this season.
He will hold talks with the club in the coming weeks that will determine his coaching future.
“It will depend on the new president and new committee,” Ghazi said.
