Tara Murray
St Albans was able to do enough to hold on and come away with the points against Tullamarine in the Essendon District Football League division 1 competition.
The battle between fourth and fifth came down to the final kick of the game, with a shot from Stephen McCallum to win the game for the Demons missing.
For the Saints, it gets them back on the winners list after two straight losses.
“It’s good to be back on the winners,” coach Zammy Muhtari said,
“It was a tough game and the conditions were tough. We lost a couple of games and have six to eight players out at the moment.
“We had to make some adjustments and just find a way. We have the mentality of the next person come in and play a role.
“We take the four points and move on.”
Muhtari said the breeze at one side favoured one side of the ground before it became swirly.
There was also a bit of rain for the Demons first foray to Leo Dineen Reserve.
Muhtari said the Demons really fought hard and it was whichever team took their opportunities in the end that would get the win.
“We were 16 points up at three quarter time,” he said. “We had the first two shots of the final quarter.
Tulla, they fought and made the most of their opportunities late [to get back into the game]
“They had their opportunities to win the game and we were able to hang on. McCallum marked with 20 seconds to go.
“He ran in and kicked it on the siren. He kicks that we go down. This time we were on the right side which is pleasing.”
Mason Dipetta kicked three goals for the Saints while Ben McManus and Andrew Papazoglou kicked two each.
Muhtari singled out the performance of Jayden Kretiuk, who stepped up in the ruck, and did a good job against Michael Sikora.
He said it was also good to see Alex Tsia overcome some diversity earlier in the year, to make his senior debut.
The Saints sit fourth on the ladder. Just one game and percentage separate the top four.
“It feels like a real even competition,” he said. “We lost two games in a row, but we had opportunities to win, we were in front in both games.
“We weren’t able to produce that four quarter performance. We want to push for that third spot, but we have a tough run home.”
The Saints this week face Keilor Park before they have the bye.
Muhtari said it would give them a chance to freshen up some players with a number to return in the coming weeks.
Andre Srour, Bol Kolang, Adeola Akintola and Jackson Volpato are among those set to return.
In other results, Hillside lost to West Coburg, 15.10 (100)-9.13 (67).
