By ASH BOLT - Under-19 Division 1
ALTONA have claimed a spot in the preliminary final with a nail-biting four point win over Hoppers Crossing at Burbank Oval.
The Warriors got off to a strong start with a goal from Jackson Fullerton giving them the lead within the first minute and a burst of three goals in three minutes late in the quarter meant Hoppers Crossing held a 12-point lead at the first change.
The game picked up the intensity in the second quarter as both teams went hard at the ball, but Altona weren’t able to drag in the margin and the Warriors went into the main change with a comfortable 16-point lead.
Altona came out of the half-time break with something to prove and kicked three goals within the first seven minutes of play to take the lead for the first time.
A goal for Hoppers Crossing gave them back the lead half-way through the term, but two quick goals from Joel Menadue and Suren Bowala gave Altona a four point lead at three-quarter-time.
Both teams had chances to seal the win in the final quarter, but poor kicking kept the game alive.
A goal from Bowala put Altona up by nine-points half-way through the term, but from that point on Hoppers Crossing could only manage one more goal and ultimately fell by four-points.
Bowala ended the game with three goals while Matthew Wright was solid in defence for Altona. Lochlan McDonald was the standout for Hoppers Crossing.
The Vikings will meet Werribee Districts in the preliminary final at Avalon Airport Oval after the Tigers fell by 64-points to Deer Park.
In contrast to the last time the two teams played, Deer Park dominated the game early and set up the win in the first half.
The Tigers kicked the first goal of the day through Gavin Donnon in the fourth minute but had to wait until the ninth minute of the second-quarter to kick another as Deer Park piled on eight unanswered goals in between.
Deer Park had no trouble getting the ball into their forward line and led by 45-points at half-time before a four goal to one third term pushed the margin out to 68-points.
The Lions took their foot off the pedal in the final term and a couple of unanswered goals allowed Werribee Districts to pull the margin back to 64-points by the final siren.
Mark Galea was the standout on the day, getting a lot of the ball and finishing with three goals.
The win means Deer Park are straight through to the grand final next week.
Last Modified on 29/08/2016 14:24