By Lance Jenkinson
This was a victory of extra significance for Spotswood in the context of the Western Region Football League division 1 season.
The fifth-placed Woodsmen won a classic ‘eight pointer’ over the sixth-placed Sunshine Kangaroos, effectively sealing their finals berth at the expense of their opponents.
Woodsmen coach Anthony Eames was just thrilled to see his team get on the winning side of the ledger after three consecutive defeats.
“We needed the win,” he said. “We were pretty ordinary against Altona and got touched up there, we were alright for three quarters against Deer Park but they crucified us in the third and against Hoppers Crossing we were OK for the majority of the game, but we just turned it over in the last quarter.
“It was nice to put a solid four quarters together.”
Eames praised the Spotswood team for being a hard working group.
The Woodsmen ramped up their training in the midst of their losing streak and the fruits of that labour could be seen in the win over Sunshine.
“We had to turn it around,” Eames said.
“We’ve worked hard all year to be honest, but we’ve certainly picked the pace up in the last couple of weeks at training.
“We forced it.”
Trailing by 11 points at quarter-time, there was no panic in the Spotswood camp.
With Sunshine virtually at a do-or-die stage of the season, the Woodsmen knew they would take the visitors best shots early and needed to ride out the storm.
“We just stayed at it and gradually got back in the game,” Eames said.
Spotswood slowly but surely took control of the arm wrestle.
It was only the Woodsmen’s inaccurate kicking – a return of 7.14 from 21 scoring shots to half-time – that kept the Kangaroos in the game.
The Woodsmen never managed to iron out the creases in their goalkicking, finishing the match with 20 behinds, but they still found a way to win with a five-goal-to-two last quarter.
The inaccuracy in front of goal was a concern for Eames.
“We just didn’t capitalise on our opportunities as well as I would’ve liked,” he said. “We need to do that better.”
David Iaccarino played a starring role in the midfield for Spotswood before resting forward to kick two goals.
Tom Langlands copped a tag – “no different any other game,” Eames said – but certainly won the battle.
The Walshe brothers – Hayley and Brandon – received praise from their coach.
Spotswood will hit the road to play injury-hit Albion at J.R. Parsons Reserve on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Altona survived a scare in a seven-point win over St Albans.
The Vikings should have wrapped their win up earlier, but kicked a woeful 4.16 from 20 scoring shots.
All’s well that ends well for Altona as it moved a step close to a finals double chance.
Further afield, Werribee Districts and Hoppers Crossing played out a draw.
In division 2, Parkside came back from 31 points down at half-time to beat Newport Power by 13, North Footscray snapped its three-game losing streak in a 110-point win over Albanvale, Yarraville-Seddon cruised to a 105-point win over Manor Lakes, while West Footscray was thrashed by 99 points at home to Point Cook.
In division 3, Laverton had a heartbreaking six-point loss to Sunshine Heights, while inconsistent Braybrook went from chocolates to boiled lollies in a 108-point thrashing from Point Cook Centrals.
