By NICK GALEA - Under-19
IT'S that time of the year, finals footy is back, it's where the best teams compete for the ultimate prize, where dreams are made and finals heroes are made.
A dominant last quarter has seen the Altona Vikings defeat the Yarraville Seddon Eagles by 27-points in the qualifying final as they re-found their hard edge.
Whereas Hoppers Crossing flexed their muscle eliminating Albion 20.10. (130) to 5.4. (34) from the premiership race.
In a fiery contested start both the Eagles and Vikings struggled finding the goals early in the match. It took Yarraville's Lachlan Huell's snap to break the deadlock with the first goal of the final at the 14 minute mark before Jack Robinson responded soon after for the Vikings.
Unfortunately early in the second quarter, Eagles playmaker Blake Green was stretchered off with a suspected knee injury leaving his finals campaign potentially in doubt.
With much at stake, the Vikings simply wanted it more in the last quarter as they started to dominate the general play as well as the clearances which saw them continuously pump the ball inside their forward 50.
The weight of numbers soon began to tell with Altona slotting four final quarter goals to seal the victory.
The final score was, Altona 8.9. (57) to Yarraville Seddon Eagles 4.6. (30).
Nicholas Papakalodoukas and Ethan Taylor were Altona's best, with Oliver Lanning also kicking three goals. For the Eagles, Thomas Webster and Demitri Bolkas contributed strongly.
The second final of the week saw the Hoppers Crossing Warriors display a clinical performance against Albion in the Elimination Final.
Hoppers Crossing got off to a blazing start and immediately put Albion on the back foot with an eight goal blitz in the first term, which saw them up hold a 38-point lead at the first break.
Despite Albion kicking the first goal of the second quarter it would be as close as they would get for the remainder of the match as they trailed 12.3. (75) to 4.3. (27) at half-time.
After the main break the Warriors would not ease its pressure as they piled on a further eight goals to one to record a very impressive win.
The best for Hoppers Crossing were Jamian Camilleri and Brendan Neville whilst Rhys Boys and Ahmed Haddara kicked three goals each.
For Albion, Bradley Kendall-Coyle and Soni Rainbow tried hard in tough circumstances.
The second week of the finals will see Altona face ladder leaders Werribee Districts for a place in the Grand Final on Saturday whilst Yarraville will look to keep its premiership ambitions alive against a dangerous dark horse in Hoppers Crossing on Sunday.
Last Modified on 28/08/2017 13:43