Altona remain in the hunt to defend its title as the champions of the Western Region Football League division 1 competition.
The Vikings were ready to prove their doubters wrong on Sunday afternoon against Yarraville-Seddon Eagles in the knockout semi final and started on fire kicking the first six goals of the game.
The Eagles stopped the bleeding just before halftime with two goals of their own to bring the margin back to 29 points at the break. However, inaccuracy hurt the Eagles missing six shots in the second term which could have really really bring them back into the game.
It was the Vikings turn for Inaccuracy in the third term, missing nine of their 11 shots on goal, however they were still able to extend their lead to 40 points at three quarter time.
In the last, with the wind behind them, it seemed like the Eagles were ready to fly, keeping the Vikings scoreless, while having 11 of their own shots on goal. Unfortunately for the Eagles, only three of them were majors.
The Vikings held on and won, 9.14 (68)-6.18 (54).
“We felt confident going in,” Vikings coach Corey McCall said. “We’ve got our list to a point where we’re fit and healthy for finals which is great.”
With the Eagles charging hard and the Vikings a couple of men down McCall said he was confident his side had done enough work early.
“After halftime we had a big load on some of the young guys that we had out on the football ground,” he said.
“We probably played silly and went away from what we were doing, which gave them the opportunity to keep launching in and hit the scoreboard.
“We executed really well for the first half… but we’ve got to look at that and how we get better with the way we finish the game.”
Former Richmond and North Melbourne AFL player Connor Menadue was once again best on ground for the Vikings, with his two goals.
“Connor has had an injury plagued season, but that’s one player that we need in finals if we’re going to go further,” McCall said.
“He really stood up yesterday, he’s such a competitor, he played a great game.”
The Vikings will now face Point Cook in a preliminary final. The Bulldogs are coming off a 51 point loss to Werribee Districts in the other semi final.
“[I’m expecting] a response for sure,” McCall said.
“Most people would say that the team that loses that double chance, usually bounces back and comes back into a grand final.
“We’ll be looking to put a stop to that.
“Our mindset is ‘win and advance’, we’ve won one and advanced, if we can win another we get a shot and that’s half the battle is getting there.”
Harper Sercombe
