Altona has created a wedge between the top five and the chasing pack after a hard-fought five-point win over high-flying Hoppers Crossing in the Western Region Football League division 1 at Grant Reserve on Saturday.
The Vikings finally got some breathing space on the ladder, moving two games and percentage clear of the sixth-placed Sunshine Kangaroos, though the Roos have a game in hand.
Vikings player-coach Josh Russo urged his side to keep building on its current three-game winning streak, and not to take their position in the five for granted.
“It’s important to write your own destiny rather than waiting for someone else to slip up,” he told Star Weekly.
“The facts are, if we keep winning and keep doing the right things, we’ll get a spot on merit as opposed to luck or something like that.
“We want to earn our spot and we want to get there by winning games.”
The victory has gone some way to validating the Vikings finals push. Before the round, they had not beaten a side currently above them on the ladder since round one.
With the win over the Warriors, the Vikings sent a message that, not only do they want to feature in the finals, they want to make a deep run at the business end.
“It was really pleasing to beat a quality opposition and build a bit of belief moving forward that we can compete with the top sides,” Russo said.
The big-name players stepped up once again for the Vikings.
Jordon Allen, Brett Shiels and Trent Rafferty were dominant, while Travis Lunardi (three goals), Jordan Robbins and Jayden Post (two each) impacted the scoreboard.
Mitch Norton returned from the Western Jets for a week and impressed in his senior debut. In fairness, you could reel off a long list of Vikings players who won the positions, such was the overall team effort needed to topple a red-hot Warriors outfit.
“It was very hard to pick best-on on the basis that everyone played their role and did their bit,” Russo said.
The Vikings will feature in the match of the round on their trip to Spotswood on Saturday.
The Woodsmen will go in with a bit of confidence after a six-goal win over Albion at McLean Reserve, where Murray Boyd kicked four goals and Jye Orchard was named best.
Meanwhile, Deer Park’s 23-month unbeaten run came to a halt when it lost by 55 points to Werribee Districts. More WRFL: page 64.
