Tara Murray
Altona became the first side to knock off reigning premiers Werribee Districts in the Western Football League division 1 on Saturday.
The Tigers have had two draws this season, but on Saturday the Vikings put in a strong quarter performance to claim the points and inflict the Tigers first loss, 5.10 (40)-3.11 (29).
After a poor performance in the previous round, Vikings coach Travis Varcoe was thrilled with how they had bounced back.
“It was a really good team effort,” he said. “To be honest from our crew, I’m not sure whether the weather helped us or not.
“With the amount of outs we have for the day, it was a solid consistent effort on the day. You do want your full strength side on the park to play but we were able to manufacture a way to find a win.
“It was a really nice effort of the boys to dig in and do what I asked of them and implement.
Varcoe said the five outs they had were key players and it gave other players an opportunity to stand up and have their shot at the senior level.
He said the result showed that their brand of footy was able to stack up against the top sides.
The Tigers led at quarter time by six points.
They didn’t kick a goal after the first quarter in a strong defensive effort by the Vikings.
Varcoe said they returned to what they know they can do defensively.
“We felt like we’d had a good block to build off apart from the last game against Spotty where we were off.
“Credit to Spotty they put a score on us. Not too many sides have been able to do that.
“It reaffirmed that we are a good defensive side. Werribee is a formidable side and can score quickly and kick a large amount of goals.”
James Salder was the only multiple goal kicker on the ground, kicking two goals for the Vikings.
Colby Redpath, Kosta Arapidis and Jay Hansen were the Vikings best.
The Vikings remain in fifth spot, percentage ahead of Spotswood.
Varcoe said every clash in the run home is important.
This week they face Hoppers Crossing which sits two points above them in fourth spot.
The beauty of the competition is quite close,” he said. “We would love to be in a better position..
“If you have an off week you are potentially out of it. We set ourselves for a five week period and that was week one.
“We narrow our focus and give the boys things week to week stuff.
“Hoppers Crossing is an eight point game. I think it will be a ripping game to be honest.”
Spotswood also had a win on Saturday beating Point Cook, 8.15 (63)-4.5 (29).
Yarraville Seddon won a thriller against Parkside, 9.15 (69)-9.4 (58).
