ST Albans fans can breathe a little easier after the Saints scored a crucial 38-point win over Hoppers Crossing in Western Region Football League division 1 on Saturday.
With the top four seemingly set in stone – barring disaster, none of Deer Park, Altona, Spotswood or Sunshine will drop out – the battle for fifth spot has become extremely important.
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And with Port Colts three games off the pace in seventh, it appears St Albans and Hoppers Crossing will spend the remainder of the season battling for the finals spot.
Saints coach Ian Denny described it as an “eight-point game” and felt his side controlled it for much of the afternoon, unlike the teams’ earlier meeting this season when the Warriors won by 16 points.
St Albans kicked four goals to two in the opening term to grab a 13-point lead at the first break. Another four goals in the second term saw the Saints’ lead increase to 17, but with the stakes high they couldn’t shake off Hoppers Crossing.
A tight third quarter saw three goals kicked by both teams, but a strong defensive effort in the final term kept the Warriors goalless, as St Albans booted three goals to ensure victory.
The Saints had 11 goalkickers for the afternoon, with Imran Muftarov (three) and Lachlan Baddeley (two) the multiple goalkickers.
“We felt we controlled the game for the whole day,” Denny said after the match. “But when you don’t shake teams off it keeps them in the game. We had our opportunities to do that in the third quarter, but we didn’t.”
“We held the ball in our forward line without scoring for a while in the last quarter, but we got the first goal.
“It was our most crucial game for the year. If we lost it wasn’t going to be the be-all-and-end-all, but it was an eight-point game for both sides, so it was important.” Denny said the Saints would improve further when backmen Teaghan Henderson and Peter Dalinkiewicz, who both missed, return this weekend.
Meanwhile, Albion suffered a 155-point belting at the hands of Spotswood.
The Cats, second-last with only two wins, were never in the hunt against the Woodsmen, who kicked nine goals to three in the opening term to set up the win.
