Spotswood remains alive in the WRFL division 1 finals race after a gutsy three-point win over Wyndhamvale at the Wyndham Vale South Oval on Saturday.
The Woodsmen travelled to the bottom-of-the-ladder Falcons under no illusions of the task that lay ahead, having lost to the newly promoted side at home earlier in the season.
It took the Woodsmen 120 minutes of tough, uncompromising football to eventually shake the Falcons in a low-scoring affair.
Michael Knight was named best for Spotswood, while Elliott Wood and Grant Williams had strong outings.
It was a great end to the week for Wood, who signed a two-year deal to remain with Spotswood.
Only 12 goals were scored for the match, divided evenly by the two sides.
The Woodsmen’s six goals for the day came courtesy of six individual goalkickers, while Falcons star Daniel Bunworth was the only multiple goalkicker on the ground with four.
Spotswood sits outside the top five on percentage, but has a game in hand over fifth placed St Albans, which still has a bye to come.
The Woodsmen will host second-last Sunshine Kangaroos in a crucial game at McLean Reserve on Saturday.
Altona was swamped early by three-time defending champions Deer Park in a 64-point loss at John McLeod Oval.
The Vikings were held goal-less and staring at a 44-point deficit at half-time.
Their only forward threat came through Elliot Cavallaro, who bagged three goals.
Travis Lunardi and Kelly Pickard continued their impressive recent form for the Vikings.
Altona kept hold of fourth spot despite the loss, ahead of a date with Wyndhamvale at Grant Reserve on Saturday.
In division 2, North Footscray was too good for Glen Orden, winning by 57 points at Hansen Reserve.
The Devils kicked away in a four-goal-to-zip third quarter.
Tyren Montebruno kicked seven goals for the Devils to take his season tally to 49.
Montebruno is second on the goalkickers list behind Caroline Springs’ Mathew Sutton.
The two premier forwards will face each other this Saturday when Caroline Springs host North Footscray in a top-three showdown.
Yarraville-Seddon is still the front-runner of division 2 after easily accounting for West Footscray by 60 points at the Yarraville Oval.
In division 3, Parkside suffered a shock two-point loss on home soil to the inform Wyndham Suns.
It was a costly loss for the Magpies, who relinquished top spot to Newport Power in the process.
The Power jumped up a rung on the ladder with a 63-point win over North Sunshine.
In other games, Braybrook lost a close one to Sunshine Heights by 11 points, while Laverton suffered a 10-goal loss to Tarneit.
