SPOTSWOOD remains undefeated and atop the ladder in division1 of the Western Region Football League after a hard-fought 14-point win over Hoppers Crossing on Saturday.
The Warriors led for most of the day against the Woodsmen, and went into the final break with a two-point lead.
But Spotswood kicked five goals to two in the last quarter to steal victory from a shattered Hoppers Crossing.
Poor kicking by the Woodsmen – they had 37 scoring shots to Hoppers’ 28 – kept the result in doubt for nearly the entire match.
Eighteen-year-old Mahmoud El-Hawli kicked five goals for the Woodsmen, while Jason Cloke and Steven Puhar booted four each.
Spotswood coach Chris O’Keefe praised his players’ ability to keep within reach under pressure.
“We’ve got a lot of respect for Hoppers and they played strongly early on,” he said.
“But we were right up to the challenge and we knew if we stuck with them and kept playing our footy we’d get over them at the end. We pride ourselves on working hard for four quarters.
“It hasn’t been easy [this season] and this game could have gone either way.
“We just fought all day and had enough momentum at the end.”
O’Keefe was also buoyed by the performance of some of the younger players. El-Hawli and Harley McKenzie are in their first year of under-18s and O’Keefe said they were keeping the older players on their toes.
“They really stood up for us,” he said. “With a few missing there are opportunities for the younger guys to stand up, take control and show what they can do.
“I think a fair few of the older blokes are looking forward to the week off.”
Warriors captain Brad Murphy said a 10-minute lapse in the final quarter cost them the chance of knocking off “one of the best local footy sides going around”.
“You can’t have those lapses against good sides,” he said. “If we’d played for 120 minutes instead of 110 we would have won the game.”
Despite the loss, Murphy said it reaffirmed the club was heading in the right direction.
“It was pretty shattering, but once we got in the rooms after the game [coach] David Mitchell was pretty positive.
“They haven’t lost many in the past few years and to get within a couple of goals shows we’re on the right path.”
