By Lance Jenkinson
Altona Vikings overcame a 21-point three- quarter time deficit to shock last season’s preliminary finalists Werribee Districts in the opening round of the Western Region Football League division 1 at Soldiers Reserve on Saturday.
The Vikings’ stirring four-point win came on the back of a five-goal-to-one last quarter and provided an early sign of their finals intentions after a big off-season recruiting campaign.
Vikings coach Josh Russo was delighted. “It’s always good to start the season with a win,” he told
Star Weekly. “It pays for the hard work we’ve done over the summer to get the points first up.”
It was a topsy-turvy affair, with the complexion of the game seeming to turn on a whim. The first quarter was a shoot-out with 11 goals kicked, and the message at both quarter- time huddles was to tighten up the defensive work.
“After quarter-time, we made it a bit more of a battle, rather than the free-flowing type of game,” Russo said.
The game turned into an arm wrestle with only 14 more goals kicked over the last three quarters. The first sign of breaking open the game came when Werribee Districts added to its six-point half-time lead with three goals to one in the third quarter.
The Vikings, however, had the aid of a slight breeze in the fourth term and a nothing-to-lose mentality as they set about eroding a hefty deficit. Russo got one last-gasp effort from his players. “I just asked for five or 10 per cent more because I didn’t want all their hard work to go to waste,” he said. “It’s the first game; you want to build a platform to move forward, so we gave it everything; we took the game on to try and win and, ultimately, that’s what we did.” Midfielder Lee Spiteri was the catalyst for the Vikings’ comeback. Brett Shiels, Jamie Cook, Travis Lunardi and Adam Camenzuli were influential. Matthew Cross was the most consistent four-quarter performer.
Cameron D’Altera led the Vikings’ attack with three goals, with two goals each to Josh Rafferty, Daniel O’Leary and Mitch Turnbull.
The Vikings will face defending premiers Deer Park at JK Grant Reserve on Saturday.
In division 2, West Footscray burst out of the blocks with an 88-point win over Caroline Springs, spearheaded by six goals to Damien Yze and a best-on-ground performance
from Jamie Zerafa, while North Footscray claimed a 27-point win over Yarraville-Seddon on the road after seven goals to Kaine Williams.
In division 3, Parkside had a 58-point loss to Albanvale, while Laverton had a disappointing 31-point home loss to Tarneit.
In the VAFA, Williamstown CYMS made its
Premier C debut. But on the day it unfurled its 2014 division 1 flag, the side coughed up 33 goals in a 124-point loss to Marcellin at Fearon Reserve.
The VFL starts its season this weekend with Footscray in a grand final rematch with Box Hill Hawks at the Whitten Oval at midday on Saturday.
Williamstown will face Northern Blues at IKON Park at 2.15pm.
