Port Melbourne has extended their unbeaten streak to 28-matches with an 80-point thrashing of rivals Williamstown at North Port Oval on Saturday and James Gray-Foster reports.
In wet conditions, Saturday's afternoon game in Port Melbourne between last year’s grand finalists had the billing of a scrap and a true grand final replay, but in the end simply failed to live up to the hype, as Port Melbourne dominated the game from start till finish, registering a: 15.15.105 to 3.7. 25 win.
Prior to the game, pundits believed that given Williamstown's strong form of late, and due to the poor conditions, the game would be significantly closer than the 56-point margin that separated the two teams at the conclusion of last year's grand-final.
But, from the get-go, the Seagulls were simply second best, failing to register a score in the opening quarter and managing just three majors for the game.
In wet footy conditions, skills and structures often go out the window in favor of winning the contested ball, and for the majority of the game, The Borough were not only first to the ball, but simply used it more effectively than the Seagulls - being able to hit up targets inside their forward 50 and convert chances.
Billy Burston was clinical in the win for Port Melbourne, booting 5 majors and using the ball efficiently in the wet conditions. Forward Dean Galea also pitched in with three goals of his own, while Shane Valenti and Sam Dwyer were influential from midfield gathering 29 and 31 disposals respectively.
Gary Ayres men are renowned for having the biggest and fittest bodies in the Peter Jackson VFL and the side Port Melbourne fielded on Saturday featured 12 survivors of last year's winning grand final side. Conversely, Peter German's Seagulls had just seven players that appeared in last years grand final and the difference in experience proved to be telling, as Port Melbourne were able utilize and adapt to the wet conditions, winning the ball at ground level and disposing of it effectively at the stoppages.
After a scoreless first quarter where Williamstown turned the ball over and trailed in just about every key area, the visitors would add some intensity to their game in the second term with Tory Dickson scoring his sides first major for the game and ensuring the blue and gold had some hope going into half-time trailing by 46-points.
Needing an instant respite in the third term, a further two goals for Dickson would prove a mere consolation for the Seagulls, as Port Melbourne would score early majors and put the game beyond a shadow of doubt, before kicking a further four unanswered goals to ensure the match ended with a dramatically one-sided scoreline.
Speaking to ABC after the game, Ayres was delighted with the result, particularly with their opponents coming into the fixture on the back of some impressive results.
"You can't get too much better than that. We were up for the challenge today. Willy had obviously come off some good form so for us to be challenged in these conditions as well, and to be fairly clinical... I’m really pleased with our effort"
Port Melbourne's ability to win the contested ball, was perhaps the key ingredient in defeating their rivals on Saturday, as it opened up avenues to win other key statistics. One of Port Melbourne's best players on the day and one of their more experienced campaigners, Sam Pleming, said his sides’ success of late was down to utilizing their bigger bodies and ensuring they're always first to the ball.
"It's all head-over the ball sort of stuff. We've got a lot of mature body's here and I think it's a real strength of ours to be strong over the ball.”
Saturday's win sees Port Melbourne extend their unbeaten streak to 28-matches and leaves them 8-points above second placed Casey Scorpions, while the loss sees Williamstown drop down to 5th and with plenty to think about.
Last Modified on 09/05/2012 17:59