By PEPPE CAVALIERI – Division 1 Seniors
IT is certainly unusual to admit that football took a back seat at the weekend, but that is exactly what occurred on Saturday, as some quite extraordinary weather lashed the western suburbs, causing delays in a number of Division 1 clashes.
With high winds whipping across venues making for tough conditions, the unwelcome visitor of lightning became a legitimate cause for concern amongst the officiators in green.
With the lightning hovering near enough to some ovals, half-hour delays were put into place to move players, officials and spectators to safety, with matches to be resumed if the danger moved on before the 30 minutes was complete.
The only match to not reach its completion was the clash between Altona and Hoppers Crossing, which was called off midway through the third term with the Warriors ahead by seven points.
It was a somewhat unlucky result in the end for the Vikings, who were performing well against one of the early-season premiership fancies.
The seven-point loss hurts, especially given the side is in form, but finds itself reeling at 0-2.
Next round’s clash against St Albans looms as a must-win.
The biggest result from the weekend came from Spotswood, which signalled its credentials with a well-constructed 34-point win against Deer Park.
The Woodsmen trailed by three points at the first change, but piled on eight goals in the second term to set up the victory.
Ten individual goal scorers from the Woodsmen and strong showings from Wayne Patak and Nicholas Ryan see the green and gold unbeaten through the opening fortnight of the season.
Werribee Districts also remain undefeated after round two, holding off a St Albans side which almost snatched an unlikely victory.
Andrew Panayi was productive with three goals as an eight-goal opening stanza saw the Tigers lead by 41 points at the opening break.
But they only managed two goals from that point onwards, as the Saints clawed their way back.
A goalless final quarter was reflective of the ruthless Saturday conditions, but Werribee Districts did just enough to win by four points.
Usual suspects Nathan Black and Matthew Dean were important, as were newcomers Mark Pozzuto and Trent Lee, while Matt Quigley led the way for St Albans and Adem Asani snagged three majors.
Albion never quite got going as it set out to gain a 2-0 start to its 2017 season, and despite working very hard to remain within four goals after the lightning delay, it was irony that prevailed on this Saturday, as Sunshine claimed its maiden win of the year.
The Kangaroos added another 10 goals to the seven they already had up to three-quarter-time, as the margin ballooned to 83 points at the final siren.
Aaron Searle, five goals, was opportunistic inside 50, while youngster Ben Dessent, three goals, showed good nous in attack as well.
Liam Cavanagh was instrumental down back for the Kangaroos for the second-straight week - especially in the first half when the game was in the balance - while Ben Christodoulou and Lachie Hutchesson showed plenty of class.
Paul Cutajar-Milosev battled hard for two goals for the Cats, while Mitch Wilson and Danny Grantham looked to ignite their side with some run on an otherwise dark day.
And in perhaps what would have been played in the most benign conditions of the day, the night clash between Wyndhamvale and Caroline Springs saw the Falcons win by 20 points.
Two goals and a best-on-ground performance from Brian Lake was not enough to lift his side across the line, as poor kicking again plagued the newly-minted Division 1 side.
Caroline Springs trailed by 27 at three-quarter-time, and despite holding Wyndhamvale scoreless in the final term, managed only seven behinds itself to fall short 8.14 (62) - 5.12 (42).
Tyler Tessari and Devan Ellis were superb for the Falcons in their first win of the season, and two goals apiece to Anthony Daw, Bior Malual and Majok Ngong afforded the home side some unpredictability.
While most division one clubs can enjoy a week off for Easter, Hoppers Crossing and St Albans will meet on Good Friday to finally close the book on a delayed round one.
The Warriors barely played half a game in round two thanks to inclement weather against Altona, and can move to 2-0 with a win against the Saints on Friday.
St Albans - on the other hand - risk slipping to 0-2 after falling just shy against Werribee Districts in Round 2.
The Warriors will be keen to put in a strong showing ahead of a round-three clash against the current ladder-leading Tigers.
On their home deck at Hogans Road Reserve, they should have a bit too much class.
*NOTE: Altona v Hoppers Crossing: Match was stopped during the third quarter with the score Altona 5.6. 36 to Hoppers Crossing 5.13. 43. Hoppers Crossing is deemed the winner of this match, with the score at the time play was stopped to be the final score.
Last Modified on 11/04/2017 13:37