Williamstown has suffered a major letdown, losing on a day when three of its players were celebrating VFL milestones.
The Seagulls, defending champions, were below their usually excellent best in an 18-point loss to Essendon at Windy Hill on Sunday.
It was the Gulls’ second loss in as many weeks and it will likely cost them a top-two berth and home final.
The result left a bad taste in the mouths of milestone players Willie Wheeler (100 games) and David Fahey and Dylan Conway (both 50 games).
Seagulls football manager Chris Dixon said the side’s inability to honour those players with a win was disappointing.
“It’s something as a club that we really pride ourselves on – getting up for those milestone games – so it adds to the disappointment of the day,” he said.
Williamstown prides itself on being a tough side to breach defensively, so conceding 119 points to Essendon was a recipe for disaster.
“It was a bit too much of a shoot-out for our liking,” Dixon said. “That’s the most we’ve conceded against us in over a year.”
Williamstown has tumbled to third on the ladder. With the Seagulls having the bye in the last round after Saturday’s trip to the Northern Blues, there is little hope of them returning to the top two.
But that does not mean the meeting with the Blues is akin to a dead rubber.
“It looks more than likely we’ll finish third,” Dixon said. “For us, the last game is really about getting some form and going into the finals with a bit of confidence.”
One player back in form is Seagulls midfielder Michael Gibbons, who has enjoyed his best season at VFL level, but had his colours lowered a week earlier against Footscray.
“It was really good to see him bounce back,” Dixon said. “He, by his own admission, had his worst game of the season last week. He responded well from that and was clearly our dominant midfielder on the ground.”
Seagull bigs Nick Meese and Ayce Cordy worked extremely hard against Essendon’s bevy quality ruckman.
“Ayce’s really mobile around the ground so he gives us that great one-two punch with Meesey,” Dixon said. “They had a huge battle because Essendon had four guys you would classify as good ruckmen in Mark Jamar, Gach Nyuon, Sam Michael and Shaun McKernan.”
Sam Dunell bobbed up with three goals for Williamstown, while defenders Jack Charleston and Ben Bese fought hard against the Essendon tide.
Lance Jenkinson
