Harper Sercombe
Williamstown are now only two points outside the Victorian Football League’s top four after securing its fourth win in a row against Richmond on Saturday.
On an unusually still day in the bayside suburb, the Seagulls conceded the first goal but managed to get the game back on their terms with a nine point lead at the first break.
The sides went goal for goal in the second quarter before the Seagulls were able to break away late in the third with Joel Ottavi booting his third with only minutes left in the quarter.
The Seagulls added another on the stroke of three quarter time, with Corey Ellison kicking his third to give them a 26 point advantage.
The Tigers came home strong but inaccurately with eight scoring shots in the final term garnering only four majors. Williamstown matched with four of their own, with Ovatti and Ellison adding one each to their tally, winning the game 13.5 (83)- 8.13 (61).
Seagulls’ director of coaching Jeff Andrews said the game was a grind.
“It was great to get a win at the end of the day,” he said. “We hadn’t beaten Richmond in quite a few years so it was good to get the win.
“There wasn’t much of a difference in the game other than the scoreboard at the end.”
The Tiger’s on paper seemed on top, having 10 more clearances and 13 more inside 50s than their opponents. Andrews said the Tigers won a lot of the stats categories.
“There were a lot of turnovers, we thought we didn’t use the ball as well as we could have,” he said.
“Our backs in Marty Hore, Oscar MacDonald and Finbar O’Dwyer were pretty exceptional in intercepting the opposition’s kicks, that then led to our offence.
Hore was a standout throughout the game, having 35 possessions and 14 marks, many of them intercepts. Hore was a late out the previous week.
“He’s a high quality player,” Andrews said.
“A really good fella who we’ve brought into our club, and he’s having an impact on our club and we couldn’t be happier with how he’s going.
“We were hopeful that he’d get picked up in the mid-season draft but not disappointed in the way the second half of the year is working out for him and us.”
Next week the Seagulls take on the Brisbane Lions where the winner will see themselves in the top four with a week to go. The Seagulls are now two games clear of seventh and finishing in the wildcard spots.
“We get to go out there and play against a really good side,” Andrews said.
“We’ve played some really good sides in the last six to eight weeks, we’ve had our wins and our losses.
“Hopefully we’re just on the path, getting better each week and we’re looking forward to the challenge for sure.”
After missing finals last year, finishing second last, a top four spot in 2023 would be a dream turnaround for the Seagulls.
