By Matthew Sims
Altona have taken one step closer to securing premiership glory in the Western Region Football League division 1 competition, defeating Deer Park 96 points to 75 points in a qualifying final.
Altona coach Corey McCall said Deer Park kicked away in the first quarter, with the margin at the sound of the first siren at 25 points, with Deer Park ahead at 40 points to Altona’s 15 points.
“They kicked six goals in the first quarter,“ he said.
“We sort of played some dumb footy.
“We made a couple of plays.“
Altona chipped away at the margin over the second quarter but still ended up with a 23-point margin at half time.
McCall said scoring seven goals to Deer Park’s two points put them ahead by 20 points at the end of the third quarter, with the seven straight goals putting them at 77 points to the Lions’ 57 points.
“We flipped the game,“ he said.
McCall said the team had to regroup at half time to turn the game around and fight back control.
“They forced us to play a type of game we didn’t really want to play,“ he said.
“We made some small adjustments.
“It was just more a belief in our abilities.“
McCall said the team also came out of the first 10 minutes firing, scoring a further three goals to Deer Park’s two points, stretching the lead to 36 points.
However, Deer Park clawed back 16 points to reduce Altona’s lead at the final siren to 21 points, finishing up with a 14.12 (96)-10.15 (75) win.
McCall said the team’s key players on the day included Connor and Joel, who each kicked three goals a piece and Thomas Szanyi, who defended against Lachlan Smart.
He said Saad El-Hawli also helped with the team’s ball movement around the midfield.
“It really was a lot more of a team effort than five or six players,“ Mr McCall said.
Altona has now started to gear up for their semi-final against Caroline Springs next Saturday, September 3, while Deer Park faces Werribee Districts on Sunday, August 4 in their semi-final.
McCall said with Caroline Springs finishing up with a minor premiership this year and Altona finishing in second place, Altona would have a difficult four quarters ahead of them.
“We respect them highly,“ he said.
McCall said there were a number of points of difference between some of the key players across all positions on the field, so they would have to take a detailed look at the whole field to turn the state of play to their advantage.
“We definitely need to concentrate on ourselves at lot more,“ he said.
“(Previous games) have been really close.“
McCall said the team were hoping for a win to place them directly in the grand final on Saturday, September 17.
